| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 25 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Yield: | about 4 cups |
Ingredients
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 3/4 cup egg whites (4 to 5 extra-large eggs), at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 1/2 teaspoons water
- 3 tablespoons dark rum, optional
Instructions
- Chop the chocolates and place them in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
- Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat the egg whites until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Return the bowl to the electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak.
- Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate, vanilla, espresso, and rum, if using, and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool, and beat it again.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 30 servings |
| Calories | 336 |
| Total Fat | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 25 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 49 mg |
| Sodium | 63 mg |
Reviews
Awesome. I found the 5 minutes suggested for beating eggs to stiff peaks was conservative. Mine took more like 15 minutes, but it may be that initially I did not have my KitchenAid at top speed. The frosting is top notch
I tried this recipe twice yesterday to no avail. The texture was runny and I did not want to add anymore sugar. After two failed attempts I gave up and in search of another buttercream frosting.
Disappointed! I have been looking at this recipe for a couple of years because I didn’t want a chocolate frosting recipe made with cocoa. I thought this would be really chocolatey, and it is chocolatey, but the texture is off (too thin) and for me it’s not nearly sweet enough. I don’t mind all the steps involved and I was excited as I usually love Ina’s recipes. I ended up adding over a cup of sifted powdered sugar, which helped both the taste and the texture, but I won’t be making this again.
Perfect!
Umm… good consistency, I would really like it to be darker. I did only use 3/4 maybe of the butter. But overall not so bad.
Best there is
This is how my grandmother used to make hers. It’s a bit troublesome, but makes an amazing frosting. My grandmother was a grand baker. One tip though, don’t waste those yolks! Use them in your cake or cookie recipe (2 yolks per single egg) for a super moist cake that is to die for. My grandmother never wasted anything. The yolks made the cake, the whites made the frosting. It’s almost as if that’s what God intended. 😉
Absolutamente delicioso, I have made it several times and everybody including myself loves it.
This is the best Buttercream recipe ever!! It holds up very well, lovely texture and taste heavenly!! I followed exactly step by step, and it turned out great. I made it for a 75 serving size, 2 tiers cake. Everybody thought it was chocolate mouse!! Ha!
This is delicious! Thanks Ina, I’m always confident cooking your recipes.