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This bakery-style chocolate buttercream frosting is fluffy, and light and makes a perfect compliment to your choice of cakes and cupcakes. My House Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is whipped with cocoa to create this rich and creamy chocolate buttercream.
Use it to frost my Moist and Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes, the only cupcake recipe you’ll ever need. Or frost the your favorite cake for a creamy chocolote bite. I also use this recipe in my Triple Chocolate Ganache Cake Bakery-Style Cake Recipe.
Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: a Bakery Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp Instant Clearjel (A bakery ingredient you can use at home–See Note #1)
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I use Hershey's)
- 4 oz Cream Cheese
- 1 ½ sticks (6 oz) Salted Butter at room temperature
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Dark or Light Corn Syrup
Equipment
Instructions
Turn Instruction images ON or OFFMake Vanilla Buttercream
- Whisk the powdered sugar, Instant Clearjel, and Cocoa Powder together until well-blended. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer and a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until broken up and softened.
- Add the room temperature salted butter and continue to beat until there are no lumps, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the shortening and beat and scrape the sides until the mixture is smooth without lumps.
- While the mixer is on low, slowly add the powdered sugar mixture.
- Add the corn syrup, and pure vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then beat the buttercream on high for two-three minutes. This will add air into the buttercream and make it light and fluffy. The Instant Clearjel will cause the buttercream to thicken slightly during the next 10 minutes as it sits (See Note #2).
- This buttercream is best served at room temperature. If you aren't serving it within 24 hours, refrigerate it, but remove it from the fridge a couple of hours before using so that it may come back to room temperature before frosting cakes, cupcakes, or serving.
Notes
- Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Little-Known Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. I have tested this recipe with the following Instant Clearjel brands: Prepared Pantry, Hoosier Hill Farm, and Ingredion. Make sure what you purchase is labeled as “Instant.” Cooktyle Clearjel is a different product that does not work the same in cakes. If you don’t have Instant Clearjel you can substitute with additional powdered sugar as described in my Instant Clearjel Substitutes.
- I prefer light and airy buttercreams, and this soft buttercream still has a lot of lift to it due to the Instant Clearjel. If you need a stiffer or sturfier buttercream for piping taller or more intricate designs, simply mix equal parts Instant Clearjel and Powdered Sugar together, then slowly blend it in to your buttercream until it reaches your desired thickness. Keep in mind that the Instant Clearjel will take about 10 minutes after it is mixed in to reach it’s full thickness.
Thanks for Reading. ❤️
Fluffy and light! Delish!
So glad you enjoyed it, thank you!