Everything you ever wanted to know about the best chocolate frosting recipes, including chocolate buttercream, ganache, and Swiss Meringue! Perfect for topping your cakes and cupcakes!

Okay, let's talk chocolate frosting! Paired with chocolate cake or yellow cupcakes, chocolate frosting is one of the all-time top frosting flavors, second only to vanilla.

But, did you know there are many different types of chocolate frosting? From traditional American buttercream to silky ganache, each type has its own texture, flavor, and best uses.

So if you've ever wondered which kind is right for your recipe (or are just looking to try something new) here's a closer look at the most popular types of chocolate frosting and what makes each one unique. Let's break down the major players:

Chocolate American Buttercream

Time to Make: 15 Minutes (not including time to soften butter)

Difficulty: Very Easy

Main Characteristics: Fluffy and Sweet, Good for Cake Decorating, Stable at Room Temp

Chocolate buttercream is the easiest and most common chocolate frosting out there. It's just cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and butter (maybe some vanilla and salt if you're feeling crazy). That's it!

This frosting is so easy to make and has the classic chocolate frosting flavor and texture we all know from our childhoods. It's super fluffy, sweet, and what we grew up eating on our birthday cakes and cupcakes. It's a go-to for a reason and one of my most popular recipes! Check out all the 5 star reviews here.

Pros:

Classic sweet flavor that pairs well with most cakes
Fluffy and easy to pipe or spread
Quick to make with simple ingredients
Stable at room temperature and good for piping, cake decorating, and layer cakes

Cons:

Can be too sweet for some people
Can have a slightly grainy texture from the sugar

chocolate cream cheese frosting

Time to Make: 15 minutes (not including time to soften butter or cream cheese)

Difficulty: Easy

Main Characteristics: Smooth, Creamy, Tangy, Easy to Make

Also super simple to make, chocolate cream cheese frosting has a nice tang to it from the cream cheese, making it super creamy and slightly less sweet than traditional chocolate buttercream. It's a delicious option that pairs perfectly with red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate cake.

Pros:

Has a rich, tangy flavor that pairs great with most desserts
Smooth and creamy texture that spreads easily
Less sweet than traditional American Buttercream

Cons:

Needs to be refrigerated and can soften quickly at room temp
Not the best for piping or cake decorating

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Time to Make: 35 minutes

Difficulty: Advanced

Main Characteristics: Super Silky and Smooth, Buttery, Not too Sweet

chocolate swiss meringue buttercream on cupcake up close.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a common frosting you will find at professional cake shops, but thankfully you can totally make it at home!

It is made by heating up egg whites and then whipping them into a meringue, and adding butter and chocolate for a delicious and elegant chocolate frosting. It's light, silky, and has the perfect amount of sweetness. No gritty or overly sweet frosting here! There is a reason this is commonly found on wedding cakes and layer cakes in general; it's perfect for piping and cake decorating.

Pros:

Silky smooth and perfectly sweet
Elegant, bakery-style frosting
Stable for piping and great for cake decorating and layer cakes
Light and airy texture with rich buttery chocolate flavor

Cons:

Takes more time and effort to make
Requires cooking and whipping egg whites (a stand mixer can be helpful, although you can make it with a hand mixer)
Can be intimidating for beginners

Chocolate Ganache

Time to Make: 2.5 hours (10 minutes active time and 2+ hours cooling)

Difficulty: Moderate

Main Characteristics: Versatile, Super Rich and Chocolatey, Smooth

close up of warm, cooled, and whipped ganache on cupcakes

Chocolate Ganache is a super versatile type of chocolate frosting. It's made with just chocolate and heavy whipping cream, so it's very rich and chocolatey in flavor.

Since it’s so versatile, you can use it as a chocolate icing or glaze, thick frosting, or whip it for a more traditional frosting texture. It's delicious and also along the lines of Swiss Meringue frosting in that it is smooth, creamy, and often found in professionally made cakes.

Pros:

Rich, decadent chocolate flavor
Only two ingredients
Versatile (can be poured for a chocolate icing or chocolate glaze, whipped, or used as a thick chocolate filling)

Cons:

Measurements can vary depending on type of chocolate used (milk, dark, white, etc.)
Needs to cool or set to achieve certain textures
Can help to use a kitchen scale to ensure the proper ratio of chocolate to cream
Can split or get oily or grainy if not made properly

Honorable Mentions

Chocolate Whipped Cream: While not technically a frosting, you can stabilize it using the method in this stabilized whipped cream recipe which will allow you to pipe onto cupcakes or spread on a cake without it getting weepy or soft.

While not as common, you can also turn any of the below frosting recipes into a chocolate version by mixing in 1/4 cup cocoa powder or 1/2 cup melted and cooled chocolate into the frostings:

Ermine Frosting: Also known as boiled milk frosting, this is a buttercream that has a milky whipped cream-like texture and flavor, but can still be piped for cupcakes.
Russian Buttercream: Made with sweetened condensed milk and butter, this a simple buttercream but can be on the softer side so not always the best for piping or layer cakes.
Italian Meringue Buttercream: Similar to Swiss Meringue Buttercream this is a bakery style frosting that is really common on wedding cakes and other professionally made desserts. It pipes beautifully and is the most stable of all buttercream frostings against heat and warm weather.

Best Cakes to Pair to With Chocolate Frosting

Honestly, most types of cakes, cupcakes, and desserts pair great with chocolate frosting. Obviously chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and yellow cake are all delicious. As are peanut butter cakes, and strawberry cakes.

And, let's not forget about using chocolate frosting to top or fill cookies, brownies, and other desserts! All these chocolate frosting recipes are great for filling macarons and topping sugar cookies. They would also be delicious piped on these brown butter cookies (for a Crumbl style cookie).

Looking for other frostings and fillings to pair with chocolate frostings? Here are some of my favs: Cookie Dough Frosting, Marshmallow Frosting, Strawberry Cake Filling, Strawberry Frosting, Coffee Frosting, Mint Frosting, Peanut Butter Frosting (both buttercream and cream cheese).

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