Chocolate Frosting Recipes For Cake Decorating

As versatile as a basic vanilla cake frosting can be, it will never beat chocolate for overall appeal. Chocolate glazes give cakes sheen and interest while chocolate frosting forms the perfect backdrop for fanciful cake decoration in varying shades of vanilla flavored buttercream. Here are three chocolate frosting recipes that are as tasty as they are easy to make.

This frosting recipe will cover a short layer cake with enough left over for chocolate buttercream piping along the edges. Then make some vanilla buttercream frosting in a variety of colors to decorate the cake's chocolate frosted surface.


Ingredients


• 1 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
  
  

Kitchen Supplies


• A microwave safe bowl.
• A fork for creaming the butter and a knife for spreading the frosting
• A metal spatula for smoothing the frosting
• A microwave for melting the chocolate
• A cake decorating kit

  
  

What To Do


1. Melt the chocolate. Be careful not to burn it.
2. Let the chocolate cool a bit, then add the powdered sugar and the butter. Cream the mixture together.
3. Add the vanilla extract. If the frosting is too stiff, add a few drops more of the extract or add a few drops of milk.
4. As with basic vanilla buttercream frosting, only start applying this chocolate frosting to cakes that have cooled completely.
   
   

This glaze is a quick, effortless way to decorate a cake. It works particularly well on cakes with rounded tops — cakes baked either in a loaf or cakes baked in a Bundt pan — as it dribbles neatly down the sides of the cake.

Ingredients


• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 3 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

  
  

Kitchen Supplies


• Small saucepan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Spoon

  
  

What To Do


1. Heat the chocolate, butter and sugar over low heat until the chocolate is melted and the sugar has dissolved.
2. Mix together the milk and the cornstarch. Add the mix to the saucepan.
3. Stir until the mixture is thick.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and keep stirring for another two minutes.

   
   

Cake Decorating With Thin Chocolate Glaze


• Unlike with buttercream frosting, you can pour this glaze over a cake while the cake is still warm.
• Pour it slowly and evenly across the surface of the cake and allow it to dribble lightly down the sides of the cake.
• This glaze will not work with a cake decorating kit. It must be poured over — and not spackled onto — the cake.
• The glaze will stiffen as it cools, but it won't harden completely. Light pressure will still leave an indentation.

This glaze is like pouring liquid candy onto a cake. After cooling and spending a short amount of time in the refrigerator, the glaze hardens into a thick, fudge-y shell around the cake. It's a little like encasing the cake in a chocolate candy bar.


Ingredients


• 4 ounces of Semisweet chocolate
  
• Up to 1/2 cup of whipping cream or heavy cream

  
  

Kitchen Supplies


• Microwave
• Small bowl
• Fork or spoon for stirring

  
  

What To Do

1. Start melting the chocolate in the bowl, stopping to check every 15 to 30 seconds.
2. When the chocolate is mostly melted, stir in a tablespoon of cream, then heat for another 10 seconds.
3. Continue the process of adding small amounts of cream, stirring, then heating, then stirring again until the mixture is smooth and it is a thick liquid.

   
   

Cake Decorating With Thick Chocolate Glaze


• Quickly pour the glaze over the cake. Use a fork or spoon to draw out the glaze to the edges of the cake and down the sides.
  
• While the glaze is still a thick liquid, there's a chance to attach decorations such as fresh fruit slices and edible flowers to the top and sides of the cake.
• Chill the cake until the glaze hardens. Add any buttercream frosting decorations at this point.