I’ll show you how to make thick, creamy chocolate fudge frosting with only 2 ingredients: melted chocolate and butter. It’s smooth, chocolatey, and perfect for frosting cakes and cupcakes.
This is an easy alternative to classic buttercream frosting that’s quick to make and just as versatile. Try my pourable chocolate ganache for another delicious cake topping!
This chocolate fudge frosting is like a whipped, spreadable, pipeable version of chocolate fudge. And you need just 2 ingredients, chocolate and butter, to melt on the stovetop! Since it’s made without powdered sugar, the frosting isn’t overly sweet, and just the right amount of fudgy. Once you’ve made 2-ingredient chocolate frosting, you’ll be hard-pressed to go back to anything store-bought again.
Why This Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe Works
- Only 2 ingredients. Traditional chocolate buttercream frosting calls for a short list of ingredients, including heavy whipping cream. But all you need to make this frosting is 1) a package of chocolate chips and 2) plenty of butter.
- Thick, stable buttercream. Melted chocolate thickens this fudge frosting without powdered sugar, for an extra-rich, stable consistency. It holds its shape well, whether you spread it, pipe it, or otherwise. Unlike some whipped cream-based frostings, this chocolate frosting is resistant to melting, leaking, and wilting at room temperature.
- Easy method. You don’t need any fancy tools to make creamy chocolate frosting. A stand mixer makes things easier, but an electric hand mixer works, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I’ve included some quick ingredient notes for this chocolate fudge frosting recipe below. You’ll find the full, printable recipe with amounts in the recipe card after the post.
- Chocolate Chips – I recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips. The better quality chocolate you use, the better your frosting will be. You can also make this frosting with chopped chocolate bars (like you’ll find from Lindt, Ghirardelli, or Guittard). You may find that chopped chocolate melts more smoothly than chocolate chips.
- Butter – This recipe calls for a good amount of butter. I use salted butter, but it’s a preference, and you can absolutely make it with unsalted butter if you prefer.
How to Make Chocolate Fudge Frosting
The key here is to not overheat the chocolate and butter, which can cause the chocolate to seize. Melt the ingredients slowly and stir often. It’s worth mentioning that this method also works with white chocolate chips (see my white chocolate frosting). Follow the steps here, and scroll down for the printable recipe card.
- Melt the chocolate. First, combine the chocolate and butter in a saucepan. Keep that over low heat and stir often while it melts. It will look thin from all that melted butter.
- Cool. Once melted, take the saucepan off the heat. Cool the mixture completely, and chill it in the fridge until it’s solid. The butter might separate as it cools, but that’s OK. The mixer will take care of that!
- Whip the frosting. When you’re ready to whip your buttercream, transfer the solid chocolate/butter mixture to your mixing bowl and bring it back to room temperature. Once softened, whip the frosting. It takes about 2 minutes to get it light, thick, and fluffy. That’s it! Your chocolate fudge frosting is ready to use.
Ways to Use It
This recipe makes enough chocolate fudge frosting to fill and frost an 8-inch two-layer cake or 24 cupcakes. Pro tip: Use the “2x” and “3x” options in the recipe card to scale the recipe as needed. And if you need some inspiration, here are a few easy ways to use your fresh, fudgy frosting:
- Cakes. Use this frosting to frost and fill a frosted fudge cake or classic yellow cake.
- Cupcakes. Pipe or spread this frosting over your favorite homemade vanilla cupcakes, or try it in place of the peanut butter frosting in my banana cupcakes!
- Brownies. I think this chocolate fudge frosting would be amazing slathered over a batch of fudgy brownies or buckeye brownies.
- Cookies. Spread your frosting over chocolate sugar cookies or pipe it between two chewy chocolate chip cookies to make a cookie sandwich.
How to Store Homemade Frosting
- Refrigerate. This homemade chocolate buttercream frosting lasts up to 1 week in the fridge. Store it in an airtight container and bring it back to room temperature before you use it. I recommend re-whipping the frosting, too, to bring back the fluffy texture.
- Freeze. You can freeze this frosting for up to 1 month. Thaw it in the fridge and bring it back to room temperature. Again, give the frosting a fresh whip before you frost your cakes or cupcakes.
More Easy Frosting Recipes
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups (approx.) 1x
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 2-ingredient chocolate fudge frosting makes a thick, creamy, chocolatey frosting that’s perfect for frosting cakes and cupcakes!
Ingredients
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 pound (2 cups) butter
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and butter over medium-low heat, whisking frequently.
- When melted, cool completely and chill until solid.
- Remove from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature.
- Put all the chocolate in a mixing bowl and beat on medium for 2 minutes until light in color and fluffy.
Notes
- Makes enough frosting to fill and frost an 8″ layer cake, or frost 24 cupcakes.
- Store refrigerated, but allow to come back to room temperature before serving.
Looks amazing! Do you think this would work to frost a cake with before adding fondant?
Yes, it does work for that.
Hi Shelly, Cannot wait to try out this recipe. Have you used this frosting when using cupcake toppers made out of sugar paste? I have a project which this frosting would work brilliantly with!
Thank you
I haven’t tried that, but I imagine it would work perfectly!
HI shelly. sounds great.
Pls can you tell me if the weight of 2 cups of choc chips in grams?
and also if i could use cooking chocolate instead of chocolate chips, as chips are hard to get in my part of the world.
thank you dear.
2 cups of chocolate chips works out to be 12 oz. And it looks like 12 oz is 340 grams. I wouldn’t recommend using cooking chocolate, but if that’s all you have it will be fine. It’s simply a taste preference for me!
I wonder if this would work with Raw Cacao instead of chocolate chips?
This is genius! I don´t eat dairy so I used vegan margarine and it worked very well. Finally a vegan buttercream that isn´t too sweet.
I live in Hawaii and made this for my son’s birthday cake. I was nervous it wouldn’t work because it’s warm here, but it was superb! I did have to keep the cake in the refrigerator but it only needed to sit out for 20 minutes before serving. Having a diabetic son I was so happy to make a frosting that wasn’t full of sugar – Thank you for this easy and excellent recipe!
This looks beautiful and delicious, and the consistency was accurate to your description, but I found the frosting to be very disappointing flavor-wise. This was extremely bitter and otherwise tasteless. I tried to add some powdered sugar (even though it wasn’t part of the recipe) to try and sweeten it a bit but it didnt not help. I would not recommend this or make it again in the future.
Did you use salted or unsalted butter?
I just tried to make this for a nearly-last-minute birthday cake for a friend who cannot eat corn(starch/etc). I, too, was very disappointed! Semisweet is just too, too bitter for a frosting with just the two ingredients, especially when it’s supposed to be the sweetest part of the cake! The consistency was okay, but I agree that it was bitter and otherwise flavorless. Perhaps chip brand DOES matter? Generic semisweet did NOT cut it! If I tried again, I might use my favorite brand of milk chocolate chips, a little less butter, and a dash of vanilla.
Perhaps this would work better for dark chocolate fans?
Hi Shelly!
I would like to check with you, how long will the frosting will able to hold up its shape after piping it on cupcakes? I would love to try this recipe. I am living in a warm climate country .
My frosting held it’s shape completely for 2 days… If the climate is very warm, however, you might have an issue and need to keep it refrigerated.
I make the same frosting using Baker’s brand white baking/dipping chocolate and a tiny bit of vanilla, its fantastic.
This sounds pretty yummy.. Would this work with coconut oil? I’m dairy-free.
I don’t think so because the butter adds a lot of flavor…but if you try it let me know!