Creamy Chocolate Icing

Other than ganache, this is my favourite chocolate icing. I find a lot of chocolate icings to be too thick and heavy, which I am for when it comes to ganache because it is bitter as well as sweet, but not in icing, which is mostly sweet. I replaced some of the butter and icing sugar in an old buttercream recipe with extra whipping cream. I think the flavour of the cocoa stands out more this way too.

I have also reposted my chocolate cake recipe below, so you have them both in one place. It is the same one I use with broiled coconut icing.

Chocolate Icing

2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup whipping cream (not whipped)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c cocoa powder

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa together. Cream the butter into it, along with the vanilla. Add the cream until well combined. Don’t over-whip the icing after adding the cream or the mixture could split.

Chocolate Cake

3 cups sifted flour
6 Tbsp. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups cold water

Sift dry ingredients together. Combine water, oil, vinegar and vanilla and mix into the dry ingredients. Spoon into a greased 9×13 cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes (or until surface of cake springs back when touched) at 350F. Cool, then ice.

The photo is of a frozen piece of cake, as I forgot to take a picture of the fresh one!