Fluffy Double Chocolate Buttercream

 Although I don't think I've ever talked about it here, I kind of have my own "business." It's not huge or fancy, but I love making cakes for other people. My customers are mostly my parents friends, with a few of my own here and there. The reason I haven't mentioned it before is just that when I'm being payed to make a dessert for somebody's party, that's not exactly the best time to try out new recipes. Better to stick to the tested, old favorites.

swirly little swirls

 This weekend, I was hired to make a cake for a little boy's first birthday. Happy birthday Sam! I made my favorite moist yellow cake recipe, but the only request for frosting was to make it chocolatey. The recipe I usually use is this one, but I wanted something creamier and fluffier. And this little creation was born.

 This recipe is actually quite similar to the one I used to use- I basically just added some more chocolate and beat it for longer to make it so fluffy, I wanted to eat it straight out of the bowl. Somehow, those two little changes made quite the big difference. And by the way, that's not to say that I didn't eat a few spoonfuls out of the piping bag once I was done making those little swirls...

a cake for the family, and a cupcake for the birthday boy to smash :)

 The chocolate flavor really comes through, and this frosting is perfect for any flavor of cake you can think up. A spicy ginger cake for the holidays, tall, dark, chocolatey layers, or my favorite (and the birthday boy's parents'), classic yellow vanilla. This is so easy to spread, but still firm enough to pipe without a problem. I used a star tip for the swirls on the cake above, but feel free to decorate as you wish. Enjoy!

happy 1st birthday!

Fluffy Double Chocolate Buttercream

(adapted from Savory Sweet Life)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Beat the butter with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

Beat in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. (At this point, I removed about 1/4 cup of frosting to use for the white letters.)

Add in the cocoa powder, and beat for about 3 minutes, until smooth and airy. Beat in the melted dark chocolate. Decorate as desired.

     -makes enough to generously frost and fill one 9" 2-layer cake