What is it about chocolate that mesmerizes us to the point of distraction? In my case, when I crave chocolate, no amount of attempting to curtail my craving works. And, I give in.
My grandmother, Dorothy, was known for her chocolate cake with creamy homemade chocolate frosting. She made her Crazy Chocolate Cake with no eggs and vinegar, in a 9-inch by 13-inch glass pan and it was perfect every time. Thanks to the internet, I’ve learned that this recipe is also called Depression Cake or Wacky Cake. Whatever you call it, she always frosted her Crazy Chocolate Cake with creamy homemade chocolate frosting.
A young married woman with 3 children during the Great Depression, she learned to cook many things in a different way. Born into a family of privilege with servants, she didn’t learn to cook growing up at her mother’s side, but taught herself after her marriage when cooking became a necessity because of the stock market crash spiraling our country into the Great Depression.
She was a simple cook, but the dishes she learned to prepare well have become family favorites. Crazy Chocolate Cake and Dorothy’s Stuffed Mushrooms (click on the links!) are two of my favorites that I’ve made for this blog.
Creamy homemade chocolate frosting is a cinch to make. With a few ingredients from your pantry and refrigerator, most that you probably already have on-hand, in minutes you have a creamy, decadent and delicious frosting ready to spread on your cake, cupcakes, cookies or more.
Plus, this recipe for creamy homemade chocolate frosting doesn’t require that you melt chocolate bits and pieces over a pot of boiling water on your stove top! And, this creamy homemade chocolate frosting can be adjusted to the thickness needed for your baking project.
If you want it light and fluffy to spread over a sheet cake, add more heavy cream. If you want it thicker to frost cupcakes using a pastry bag, use less heavy cream. Either way, creamy homemade chocolate frosting is the perfect amount for a 9-inch by 13-inch sheet cake or a normal 2-layer round cake or 2 dozen cupcakes.
If you need a thicker frosting for fancy cupcakes, just decrease the amount of heavy cream adding the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Scoop this homemade chocolate frosting into a pastry bag (or a homemade pastry bag, made from a gallon plastic storage bag with the end snipped off, the Sandra Lee way) and you are ready to pipe it onto 2 dozen cupcakes in a fancy, swirly fashion.
Whatever “application” you use this creamy homemade chocolate frosting on (cakes, cupcakes, sandwich cookies, brownies), your family will beg you not to buy canned frosting again!
Here’s the recipe:
PrintCreamy Homemade Chocolate Frosting
Easy to make with a few ingredients, this chocolate frosting recipe is a keeper!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream (depending on desired consistency)
Instructions
- Measure powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt into a small mixing bowl.
- Mix together gently with a wire whisk until well-combined.
- Add butter to a separate large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Reduce speed and add vanilla, mixing well.
- Add powdered sugar/cocoa mixture a cup at a time, along with a few tablespoons of heavy cream, and mix well.
- Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula and add a few more tablespoons of heavy cream.
- Increase speed of electric mixer to medium and continue beating frosting until fluffy and creamy.
- Add more cream, if needed, until reaching desired consistency.
Notes
I used all 3/4 cup of heavy cream for this recipe. For a stiffer frosting for piping onto cupcakes, add heavy cream by tablespoons, beating until well-combined until desired consistency is reached. Makes enough frosting for one 9″ x 13″ cake or one 2-layer round cake or 24 cupcakes.
Tootles,
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