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.
How much is 1 bag of Chocolate chips? I’ve been to the grocery store and there are different size bags. Not sure which to get. But omg! I’m am so anxious to try this. It looks sooooo good!
1 bag is 2 cups.
Hi question i made it and it looked great, but it tasted so salty i tossed it. Was wondering if any had this
I would assume you used salted butter.. you can easily try it with unsalted if you prefer!!
Hey Shelly quik question, what chocolate brand and what butter brand do you use?
For this recipe I used Challenge butter, but if Challenge isn’t available in your area, then I would recommend Land O Lakes…and for chocolate I used Guittard!
can I make this a day before and beat it the next day when I need it?
Yes!
Very quick question, after whipping up the frosting, can it be left in the refrigerator overnight? I’m making cupcakes for my best friend’s wedding and it’s a decorate your own cupcake bar so the frosting will be set out for guests. I plan on making the frosting the day before and want to make sure it won’t need to be whipped again with a mixer.
It will need to be whipped again before spreading or piping. SO sorry!
Howdy! I made this buttercream to use as a filling for a yellow cake, which by the way, was amazing, and really yummy when paired with white chocolate ganache. I doubled the recipe so I would have some left over for an order two days later, today. This recipe is smooth, chocolatey, perfect for chocoholics in my opinion, but one tip I’d like to share is cut the butter by 1/4-1/2 for warmer times of the year, I catered cakes for a baby shower today, there was no fridge space available so I couldn’t chill the cake until ‘cake time’, and the buttercream melted off one side, lol.I took the cake to the kitchen and sliced it up, so no one was aware of the melty mishap. It’s not the recipes fault though, this is a really really delectable recipe, so, either cut the butter, or use a different recipe for summer time. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us all, I can’t wait to find other applications for it, I really like to lick the bowl 🙂
This is how I make home made lotion with coconut oil and olive, avocado, or jojoba oil. Never thought of using the same technique for frosting but it makes a lot of sense!:)
Hello im from argentina and I have a question about this, if i let this on cupcakes for a sweet table in a party for hours, doesn’t melt???? Sorry my english…
If you are in a temperature controlled environment it should be fine! If it’s warm it will get really soft
Hi! Just wanted to know whether i could melt the chocolate/butter and refrigerate for a week prior before beating it? Or am i expected to whisk it on the day?
Yep, it can be refrigerated until you’re ready to use it!
Oops sorry I missed the previous question 🙂