Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Steps

1. Soften your butter.*** Leave 1 and 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks) out at room temperature for at least an hour, until it is soft enough that you can easily press your finger into it. See notes for softening in the microwave!

2. Melt chocolate and cool. In a small bowl, break up a 4-ounce bar**** of 60% dark chocolate. Melt in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring every time. Once the chocolate is not quite melted, meaning it's heading in that direction but there are still some lumps, stop microwaving. Stir until all the lumps are smoothed out. Set the chocolate aside to cool a bit.

3. Beat the butter. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 1 and 1/2 cups of very soft butter on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides after 1 minute. This step is super important to whip air into the butter! And to make sure the butter is consistently soft and ready to absorb the sugar.

4. Add cream.** Beat in 1/4 cup cream until smooth, scraping down the sides. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

5. Add vanilla and salt. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Beat on medium speed for another 2 minutes, scraping the sides.

6. Add the melted chocolate that has cooled slightly. Beat well, scraping the sides, until incorporated. Continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed, until it is smooth and creamy.

7. Sift. In a medium bowl, use a strainer to sift together 3 cups powdered sugar with 3/4 cup cocoa powder.

8. Add the sugar and cocoa. Add the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa in 2 additions, beating on LOW each time. Scrape the sides as best you can. At this point, only beat on LOW speed just until the sugar and cocoa is incorporated. Do not beat more than necessary. You do not want to whip in air! We want to keep this frosting smooth, creamy, and glossy.

9. This is a generous amount of frosting for a 2 layer cake, and a sufficient amount of frosting for a 3 layer cake. (Using 8-inch cake pans.) This amount will generously frost 24 cupcakes, and not so generously frost 36 cupcakes. I love being generous, so the nutrition facts are set for 24 servings.

10. Storage: Buttercream frosting keeps very well on the counter for several days! Keep cupcakes in a tupperware, cakes under a cake dome, or you can carefully cover it with plastic wrap. If you have a bowl of frosting leftover, store it covered in the fridge. Let soften for an hour on the counter, then beat with a mixer before serving.

11. Freezing. Add frosting to a freezer ziplock bag, get out the air, and seal. Smooth it out till it's flat, then store in the freezer for 2-3 months. To use, simply set it in the refrigerator overnight to use the next day or set it out on the counter a few hours until it's soft. Use a hand mixer to refluff the frosting before serving.