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Dark Chocolate Frosting

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Recipe photo courtesy of Bryan Gardner

This deep, dark, satiny frosting (thanks to the addition of melted semisweet chocolate) is a favorite of our food editors, since it has just the right consistency for spreading or piping into beautiful swirls. It also has a wonderful sheen. Use it to decorate our Candied Hazelnut Cupcakes or Easy Chocolate Cupcakes.

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  • ddali0321
    19 AUG, 2016
    Has anyone tried refrigerating this frosting and whipping it up the next day? I've made this frosting several times and it's super amazing, I use it for a salted caramel chocolate cake. However this last time I made it, I refrigerated it overnight and when I brought it to room temperature the next day and whipped it up, it not only got much lighter in color (more like a milk chocolate color), it also had specks of chocolate in it!! I whipped and whipped, but it didn't help :(
    Reply
  • ddali0321
    19 AUG, 2016
    Has anyone tried refrigerating this frosting and whipping it up the next day? I've made this frosting several times and it's super amazing, I use it for a salted caramel chocolate cake. However this last time I made it, I refrigerated it overnight and when I brought it to room temperature the next day and whipped it up, it not only got much lighter in color (more like a milk chocolate color), it also had specks of chocolate in it!! I whipped and whipped, but it didn't help :(
    Reply
  • marieeray
    20 JUN, 2016
    I made this frosting following the recipe in her book - as pointed it out by others, the book calls for 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar. I halved it and used Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate, we added a couple of extra tablespoons of confectioners sugar to get the consistency we wanted - it was incredible! smooth, satiny, oh so tasty on a 3 layer chocolate cake. We have Martha's Cupcakes book - highly recommend getting it for the frosting section alone.
    Reply
  • karengreenfield
    17 OCT, 2015
    The same recipe appears in the book Martha Stewart's Cupcakes but calls for 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar (not 1/4 cup). The other ingredients are the same.
    Reply
  • sarai05m
    7 FEB, 2015
    This was a fantastic recipe! I did not find it too thin at all, it was the perfect frosting consistency for me. I made sure to thoroughly cool the chocolate and cocoa mixture...
    Reply
  • tidymom
    18 NOV, 2012
    I made this frosting for a cake and it was WAY to thin, after adding a lot more sugar I got a nice consistency that I wanted and it was fabulous.
    Reply
  • Chrislyn Ivy Lozano
    10 OCT, 2012
    H
    Reply
  • SharronP
    20 JUN, 2012
    Today I baked Martha's fabulous Mint-filled Brownie Cupcakes... for the third time. Previously, I have dipped the tops of these yummy cupcakes into melted chocolate with a little shortening for shine. Today I decided to try the Dark Chocolate Frosting on pg 302. Because of other reviews, I added 1/4c conf. sugar to this recipe. The cupcakes are amazing and will be added to the cupcakes I am baking for a Canada Day Party ... thank you, Martha. Your recipes are amazing.
    Reply
  • SweetF
    29 JUL, 2011
    This is absolutely delicous! It isn't a stiff enough icing to pipe but perfect to spread on a layered cake. YUM!!!! For those who like thiers a little sweeter I added just a touch more icing sugar and the consistency was still perfect.
    Reply
  • apugh91
    10 JUL, 2011
    This was awful. It comes out like water. 2.5 lbs of chocolate is way too much. I couldn't get it to pipe at all and had to trash it and start over because no matter how much sugar or cocoa you add to balance it out, it stays watery and thin. Yes, it's sheeny, because it's essentially melted chocolate with butter added in.
    Reply

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