My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe: The Cocoa Powder Makes a Difference

 

I don’t like to play favorites with my recipes. I enjoy almost all of the cakes and frostings that I make. However, I will openly admit that my favorite frosting is chocolate cream cheese frosting.

The chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe is at the bottom of this post, but first I want to talk about the key ingredient – cocoa powder.

Single-Origin Cocoa Powder

Recently, I have become interested in single-origin chocolates. I have previously written about Patric chocolate, Askinosie chocolate, and TCHO beta bars.

After I posted about the Askinosie chocolate, I got an email from Kesha Quigg, Pursuer of The Passionates, at Askinosie. I think that may be the second coolest title I’ve ever heard – the first being Maxine Clark, Chief Bear at Build-a-Bear Workshop.

Kesha told me that they had been reading my blog. Thanks! She went on to say:

“Shawn Askinosie loves cupcakes and his obsession with them led him to making chocolate. He was a criminal defense lawyer and started grilling for stress relief. He then became obsessed with cupcakes and wanted to sell them but they didn’t lend to easy shipping. He then became passionate about chocolate.”

They offered to send me some more bars of chocolate and some single-origin cocoa powder. How could I possibly turn down a fellow cupcake fanatic offering to send me some free chocolate? I was particularly happy about the single-origin cocoa powder.

“Nothing is quite like our Natural Cocoa Powder. We are the only small-batch chocolate maker in the U.S. to make it. Our Natural Cocoa Powder is made right in our factory using the same beans we use to make our Del Tambo Dark Chocolate, creating a authentic single origin powder. It is unsweetened and non-alkalized
and perfect for baking.”

How would it be in my favorite chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe?

My First Problem – How to Open the Container

My initial problem with the Askinosie cocoa powder had nothing to do with the cocoa powder. I couldn’t figure out how to get the container open. It had such a slick looking package. However, it was not at all obvious how to open it and I worried that when I cut into it, the precious cocoa powder would go flying all over the floor. It turns out that it wasn’t tough; I used a knife to pop off the top and there was a plastic bag of cocoa powder inside.

My Second Problem – The Cocoa was Too Coarse

My second problem with the cocoa was that it was a bit too coarse. If you look at the frosting photo you will notice that there are small specks of chocolate in it. It’s not smooth. This didn’t much bother me in my frosting recipe. However, for an all-purpose cocoa, smoother is better so that it doesn’t clog up even the smallest piping tip.

A HUGE Surprise – My Problems were Solved Without Asking

The day after I made my chocolate cream cheese frosting (note that I had not yet mentioned anything to Askinosie about it), I received another package in the mail with the following letter from the Pursuer of The Passionates:

“Included is another sample of our San Jose Del Tambo Natural Cocoa Powder. Based on feedback from a few of our customers comments, we decided that the powder has a great taste but needed to be refined a bit more. I think you will find a significant difference in the particle size and find that it is easier to work with.”

The cocoa powder on the left is from my first sample and the powder on the right is from the new sample. I haven’t baked with the second sample yet, but it does appear to be finer.

Although they didn’t address it in their letter, Askinosie also solved my first problem.

Note in the photo above that the new container is so easy to open.

Is it Worth the Extra Money to Get Single-Origin Cocoa Powder?

I know you expect that I am going to say that it is definitely worth the $11.50 plus shipping to buy the single-origin cocoa powder. However, I’m not going to say that. It entirely depends on your tastes and to whom you are serving your baked goods.

One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while was on the Evite blog. I wasn’t a regular reader (it’s now in my RSS), but I happened to be over there sending out at Evite when I came across a cookie taste test blog post.

The blog author (there was no name cited) talks about an experiment where he/she served three different types of Toll House chocolate chip cookies:

  • Homemade with high end ingredients (like real vanilla extract)
  • Homemade with cheap ingredients (like imitation vanilla extract)
  • A store bought log of dough

Surprisingly to me and perhaps other ingredient snobs, the author found that “there was no clear favorite, and very few people guessed correctly. The people who were used to the log seemed to like it best. Those who tended to eat high-end ingredients favored the expensive cookies.” The conclusion of the post was that you needed to know your audience.

Single-origin chocolate does not taste like Hershey’s. It has a much more complex flavor. It’s so different that my mother-in-law thought that there was some mystery ingredient in the frosting to account for the different flavors. If you like single-origin chocolate or just want to try a more dramatic chocolate flavor, try the Askinosie cocoa powder.

Since Tempered Woman recently gave me a hard time about not stating my personal opinion, I’ll clarify that I LOVED the cocoa powder.

My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

If you just came here to read the recipe, you’re probably getting antsy. Here it is:

My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups sifted powdered sugar (You can decrease this amount if you don't care about it being as stiff for piping)
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Instructions

  1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
  2. Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
  3. Mix in cocoa powder.
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/04/my-favorite-chocolate-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe-the-cocoa-powder-makes-a-difference.html




,

116 Responses to My Favorite Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe: The Cocoa Powder Makes a Difference

  1. Rachel April 7, 2008 at 3:00 am #

    I swear, we are always neck and neck, I just posted a chocolate cream cheese icing yesterday!

  2. Grace April 7, 2008 at 4:19 am #

    complex-flavored chocolate?
    sounds intimidating.
    sounds delicious.
    sounds like i need to hunt some down. immediately.

  3. Stef April 7, 2008 at 4:30 am #

    Rachel – Hah! Maybe we should actually plan it sometime since we always seem to make the same things anyway? We could bake together virtually.

    Grace – You won’t regret it.

  4. Rachel April 7, 2008 at 4:33 am #

    Stef: I was just thinking that! Shoot me an email if you’re interested.

  5. Tempered Woman April 7, 2008 at 6:11 am #

    Well from one high-maintenance chocolate lover to another…
    Bwahahahahah. ;-) Glad to hear your own take.
    I need to get back into the chocolate groove, I’ve been in a marshmallow funk. Literally. I’m a freak for cream cheese frosting so I’m thinking this might do the trick. And YAY! to Askinosie for listening to their customers. Major kudos.

  6. Manggy April 7, 2008 at 6:11 am #

    I think the fact that there are a lot of things modifying the ingredients (the addition of eggs, baking, heavy ingredients like cream cheese) really dulls the impact of the more expensive ingredients. When the recipe is much simpler (3-4 ingredients) or is uncooked, it becomes more obvious. Although when a recipe calls for Dutch-processed I always use Valrhona– just because of the deep color :) I think the speckled frosting has a unique charm of its own :)

  7. Deborah April 7, 2008 at 9:12 am #

    I can’t believe I’ve never tried a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Where have I been? I did make an orange one that I loved, but what’s not better with chocolate?

  8. Stef April 7, 2008 at 10:24 am #

    TW -Yeah, I’ve been very impressed with them. You guys picked two flavors in a row I don’t like for cupcake hero – marshmallows and peanut butter. Maybe I’ll play next time.

    Manggy – So true. That’s why the good cocoa powder makes such a difference in the frosting. I’ve never tried Valrhona cocoa powder. I’ll have to check it out.

    Deborah – You must try it, no excuses! I can’t believe you’ve never had it before.

  9. Wheeler's Frozen Dessert April 7, 2008 at 12:12 pm #

    That cocoa powder looks great! I can definitely see the difference between the first batch and the second batch, though. Kudos to the company that took stock in what their customers had to say and improved their product!

    Anyway, the frosting looks delicious – Yum!

  10. Kimberly April 7, 2008 at 7:07 pm #

    That. Frosting. Looks. Delicious!

  11. EsmaStudios April 8, 2008 at 2:17 am #

    I am a firm believer in using high-end, quality ingredients, even though I have no proof that people can tell a difference. Strangely, as I’m typing this I’m eating Toll House cookie dough out of the tube. I suppose convenience just wins out sometime.

  12. Stef April 8, 2008 at 6:54 pm #

    WFD – Yeah – I was very impressed with them!

    Kimberly – Glad you made it over to try it!

    Esma – Hah! Can’t go high quality all the time.

  13. Amy (Miss Food Snob) April 9, 2008 at 3:55 pm #

    I smell some baking for teatime coming on around here. I’ve done a chocolate buttercream before, but never a chocolate cream cheese. Will definately have to give that a go.

  14. ds May 21, 2008 at 5:49 pm #

    Just to let any one know who lives in St Louis that Cioccolato has added the Askinosie Cocoa to its retail line of fine chocolates. They are located at St. Louis Union Station or the web site is http://www.Iluvchocolate.com

  15. Jessica@Foodmayhem November 8, 2008 at 7:33 pm #

    Great post! I’ll be trying this frosting recipe soon!

  16. Laura November 15, 2008 at 12:56 am #

    I just made this frosting and it is amazing!! I used Van Houten Cocoa because thats what I keep on hand. I can’t imagine it tasting better, but I’m thinking I will have to try to find some of this Askinosie Cocoa for the next time since I plan on making this frosting for everything chocolate in the future! I am going to use it to frost a banana cake for my sons birthday tomorrow…that is if there is any left!! I’m looking forward to trying it with the cake. Thanks for a GREAT recipe!

  17. Hana November 25, 2008 at 8:13 pm #

    Hey! Love this frosting too–it’s my favorite as well. Do you think I could freeze this frosting and defrost some when I need it later? Have you ever frozen frosting? How did it turn out?

  18. Anonymous January 21, 2009 at 2:23 pm #

    After you frost your cake or cupcakes put them in the freezer for several hours. The frosting is killer when frozen!

  19. spacedream January 24, 2009 at 8:49 am #

    I made this last night. Differences in how I made it: higher butter-cream cheese ratio (an accident), less powdered sugar. It was much darker than the frosting you posted, as well, which can only be attributed to the cocoas. I used Omanhene, Ghanan cocoa. It’s perfectly smooth, imo perhaps moreso than the second variety you got the sample of. But to be honest, idk a whole bunch about chocolate. In any case, the frosting is deathly rich, and I like that it’s more more cream-cheesy than buttery. For my purposes, I might use a little less cocoa next time (it’s the filling for an already obnoxioiusly rich and chocolatey fudge cake, with a fudgy ganache frosting), but as is it would be perfect paired with something less decadent.

  20. Stef January 27, 2009 at 8:34 am #

    I never thought of having the frosting frozen. I’ll have to try it!

    Spacedream – Interesting comment. I’m sure it will be helpful to others. Thanks!

  21. Letty February 8, 2009 at 9:08 am #

    Love it! However, did I not mix enough? I sifted the powdered sugar but still taste the sugar granules. =( Any ideas?

  22. Stef February 8, 2009 at 4:26 pm #

    Letty – Hmm… hard to say. Sometimes I make it with as little as 3 cups of powdered sugar. Maybe using less sugar would be better for you?

  23. Letty February 8, 2009 at 6:49 pm #

    Stef, I thought 5 cups was way too much so I did use 4. I will try it again this week for Valentine’s cupcakes and do 3 cups and I will come back here with results. Thanks for the tip.

  24. Stef February 8, 2009 at 7:23 pm #

    Letty – You might also try sticking with the 4 cups and adding a tablespoon or two of milk or heave whipping cream. You might like that texture better.

  25. RavishingRuby April 5, 2009 at 1:45 pm #

    I am making this chocolate cream cheese frosting today. I am so eager to taste it. ;o)

    The frosting I made turned out okay; my cocoa powder from Hershey’s might the problem ;o(

  26. Anonymous April 7, 2009 at 8:17 am #

    Hi — I am making your flourless chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for passover dessert. Do the cupcakes need to remain refrigerated until eaten b/c of the cream cheese frosting? Thanks for any tips!

  27. Stef April 7, 2009 at 8:49 am #

    I’m sure the health dept. would say to keep them in the fridge. I tend to leave my cupcake with cream cheese frosting out of the fridge though and have had no problems. I guess if you can stick them in the fridge great, but if you have no room, I wouldn’t worry about it.

  28. Maggie May 15, 2009 at 12:19 pm #

    Please tell me whether I should use salted or unsalted butter in the frosting.
    Thanks.

  29. Stef May 15, 2009 at 12:56 pm #

    Maggie – Always use unsalted butter unless a recipe explicitly calls for salted butter.

  30. Eliraz August 24, 2009 at 4:48 pm #

    Random here but I just wanted to say thank you!! I googled for a chocolate cream cheese recipe and yours was the first, I took a chance and it was AMAZING. I didn’t even like cream cheese frosting before, but your recipe changed that for me :D I even used the crappy ingredients my parents had (Hershey’s cocoa and generic everything else) and it still rocked! Thanks again!

  31. Stef August 26, 2009 at 2:26 pm #

    Eliraz – I’m so glad you liked the frosting!! Thanks for sharing!

  32. Anonymous August 30, 2009 at 11:53 am #

    Yep, yours is a great recipe. I can cook, but my baking is not the best. Here I am trying to teach my seven year old daughter how to bake…..I thought I better go for an easy frosting. So we too googled the chocolate cream cheese frosting. We loved it – even with our generic chocolate powder. Good work~
    jan

  33. Leslie F. Miller September 4, 2009 at 12:09 pm #

    Honestly, I dig the Hershey’s dark chocolate cocoa powder, and I’m using it right now in your recipe.

  34. ebidebby September 16, 2009 at 8:03 am #

    I used this recipe two days ago to frost a cake, and it went over really well! I used Hershey cocoa powder, and would love to try this recipe again in the future with some gourmet cocoa powder!

    Thank you!

  35. Dee Dee November 8, 2009 at 1:00 pm #

    How much frosting is this going to make? Is it enough to frost a two layer 9″ cake?

  36. Stef November 8, 2009 at 3:13 pm #

    Dee Dee – I would double the recipe.

  37. Liz February 18, 2010 at 12:49 am #

    I think this is my new favorite chocolate frosting! So easy and the consistency is fabulous. I just used the Hershey’s cocoa I had on hand, but I did sift it. Thanks for the recipe and the entertaining entry. (btw, it is great for mud frosting for worm cakes.)

  38. Elena March 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm #

    This recipe is amazing! I had a friends birthday a few weeks ago, and wanted to experiment, so i decided to make red velvets. Although traditionally done with a regular cream cheese icing decided to change it up and make chocolate cream cheese icing and stumbled upon the blog. It was the best icing ever! it was a big hit with my friends and family.

  39. Anonymous April 9, 2010 at 7:14 am #

    If you make this with strawberry cream cheese it tastes like chocolate covered strawberries… It is absolutely perfect!!!

  40. Anonymous April 21, 2010 at 10:47 pm #

    It would be SO-o-o helpful for us Europeans if you would post your recipes with metric measures as well. Also, I don’t know whether ’1 8oz’ means ‘one 8oz’ or ’18oz’, and I have no idea what a ‘stick’ is. I shall try it anyway, using intelligent (I hope) guesswork, ‘cos it looks and sounds so good.

  41. Stef April 22, 2010 at 6:33 am #

    Anon – It’s one 8oz. Hope it works out for you. And – 1 stick = 1/2 cup which is the equivalent of 4 ounces or 113 grams. I’ll see about adding metric conversions in the future. Sorry it’s rough on you guys. Thanks for reading!

  42. Anonymous April 22, 2010 at 8:46 am #

    Would this recipe yield enough frosting to decorate 30 cupcakes? Thanks so much.
    Isil.

  43. Stef April 22, 2010 at 11:10 am #

    Anon – It depends on if you are piping a big swirl or just spreading it thinly. I would double it to be on the safe side.

  44. meiji May 24, 2010 at 12:45 am #

    hey..it looks awesome! will definite give it a try :)
    just needed to know that will the frosting stay without the cupcakes being refrigerated for 2-3 hours or will it start to melt?
    i live in dubai and due to the extremely warm climate, i really advise on how to keep the frosting intact without being refrigerated..n which ingredients to use..
    would really appreciate feedback. thanks :)

  45. Brisha and Poata Te'o June 17, 2010 at 2:12 am #

    This frosting looks incredible!! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe! I love your blog!!

  46. Missy Moodle Cupcakes July 19, 2010 at 6:43 pm #

    Your posts are always so entertaining! Thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try it! Love your blog

  47. newbaker October 9, 2010 at 3:20 am #

    I tried this and tastes good but found it really hard to spread on top of my cake. Did I miss something?

  48. Frances October 10, 2010 at 6:38 am #

    I love your vanilla bean frosting and now I’m going to try this. I usually use Valrohna cocoa powder but I’m going to try the single origin cocoa powder if I can find it. How do you think the tast will differ between the two cocoa powders?

  49. Stef October 11, 2010 at 6:28 pm #

    Newbaker – Hmm.. I’m not sure why that would be. Perhaps you could add more powdered sugar.

    Frances – Every cocoa powder will have a slightly different flavor, but you’ll be fine with the Valrohna cocoa powder. I’m sure that it will be great!

  50. Lisa November 11, 2010 at 8:34 am #

    Yum! My husband requested I make a cake in celebration of the Marine Corps’ 235th birthday this year. I used your recipe for the frosting. There wasn’t even a crumb left in the pan! Huge hit. I’ll be using this recipe again.

  51. Cora November 21, 2010 at 2:43 pm #

    Thank you for the CCC frosting recipe…it was just what I was searching for..good and easy! Going to put it on top of my Mississippi Mud cake!

  52. YOFJAB December 15, 2010 at 8:58 pm #

    very good let me say. I used the Valrohna cocoa. Yhe secong time I made this was for a banana cupcake.
    I added a few drops of Lorann’s Banana cream flavoring –yummy

  53. DEBORAH December 20, 2010 at 6:16 pm #

    Do you think I could mix in pumpkin pie filling instead of the chocolate to make pumpkin cream cheese filling? Planning on using it for Whoopie Pies :)

  54. YOFJAB December 20, 2010 at 7:18 pm #

    I think you can – I have seen several recipes that use Pumpkin Puree ( not pie filling) – about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup and then add alittle orange juice and zest.

  55. YOFJAB December 20, 2010 at 7:18 pm #

    I think you can – I have seen several recipes that use Pumpkin Puree ( not pie filling) – about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup and then add a little orange juice and zest.

  56. Laura December 28, 2010 at 10:00 am #

    Is this enough to frost 24 cupcakes with a big swirl or should I double it?

  57. Stef December 28, 2010 at 10:30 am #

    Laura – I would double it.

  58. Anonymous December 29, 2010 at 3:37 pm #

    just tryed this frosting and amazing….loved it…will now be the only chocolate frosting i make
    thank you
    connie

  59. Anonymous January 10, 2011 at 9:19 am #

    The best frosting recipe ever, I swear to it! Thanks!

  60. LBL February 8, 2011 at 6:15 pm #

    I love it! Its so thick it actually broke my cheap mixer. My bf hates unsweetened cocoa though and I had to add waaaay more sugar to get it to the point where he said it was ok. By then it was starting to taste a tad like the canned stuff (too sweet for me). But I guess if it tastes like store bought then the people at work will like it.

  61. Anonymous February 9, 2011 at 3:28 pm #

    by 1 8 what do you mean? of the ounces?

  62. Stef February 9, 2011 at 3:33 pm #

    Anon – Sorry for the confusion. Just updated the post. 8 ounces of cream cheese.

  63. foodpassion February 9, 2011 at 3:42 pm #

    thanks!! :)

  64. teacherboone March 31, 2011 at 3:51 pm #

    This is like hot cocoa + frosting! Awesome!

  65. Karynn April 24, 2011 at 6:09 pm #

    Made this in a pinch today for my daughter’s 2nd birthday – it’s frosting perfection! Thanks for the recipe and for being #1 on Google for “chocolate frosting cream cheese”! :)

  66. Anonymous May 5, 2011 at 10:40 pm #

    amazing frosting. I just baked Chocolate caramel cupcakes and used this frosting drizzled caramel on top then some chopped peacans WOW
    hope the family likes them at my Mother in Law’s 84th birthbay.

  67. AmyRuth May 22, 2011 at 3:26 pm #

    Thank you for the sweet inspiration. What wonderful frosting for my cocoa buttermilk cuppy’s!! I used some criollo cocoa I had from Ah Cacao in MX. It’s what I had until I can get Askinosie although I have been thrilled with my Mexican Chocolate!!! It was uncious and Chocolatey. I tinkered with it by accident and still it was amazing. Thank you again
    AmyRuth

  68. Katie June 2, 2011 at 2:03 pm #

    Hi i love your blog and great recepies. Could you tell me how much a cup is in grams or ounces as i have nothing to measure cups. Thank you kate UK

  69. Stef June 6, 2011 at 10:17 am #

    Katie – Maybe this will help.

  70. DebbieK June 17, 2011 at 5:25 pm #

    Googled and found this blog…the frosting was absolutely delicious. Thanks! Will keep reading!

  71. Jenny July 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm #

    This is my first visit to your blog and I am in love. I found the recipes for homemade Bailey’s and can’t wait to try that. I already love cream cheese frosting so I bet chocolate cream cheese frosting will only make things better. I can’t wait to try some of your recipes!

  72. Anonymous July 17, 2011 at 6:38 am #

    I made a cake like this for my mom’s cake, but another baker helped me. The cake was a huge hit, and everyone wanted me to make one for a baby shower we were having. The baker who had helped me before was out of town at the time, so I went online and looked up the recipe and it was even better than the first time! Now they demand I make them a cake every get-together we have.

  73. Hannah G July 22, 2011 at 6:48 am #

    I love the speckled look of that frosting! I just started a blog (only so I could sign up as a Daring Baker, but now I’m hooked). Here’s my favorite cream cheese frosting: http://daringbakerduluth.blogspot.com/2011/06/strawberry-cake-with-really-good.html and now I’ll have to try it with chocolate! My post is sub-par (my 3rd ever) but the frosting is really amazing!

  74. LaceyMack October 15, 2011 at 7:52 am #

    Stef! What is your favorite cake to eat under this amazing sounding frosting?

  75. Stef October 15, 2011 at 8:53 am #

    Lacey – I’ve used it on so many different cupcakes. You can’t go wrong. But, for a good place to start, I’d try it with the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake.

  76. SHALOM October 19, 2011 at 12:10 pm #

    Thx in advance, I wanna try this for my sons cake that I’m making for his birthday on Saturday. I am not a professional baker, and certainly not a good baker on top of that. But I’m determined to get this right because everyone else’s cakes that have been made for my son taste so buttery, and now that I’m researching and figuring out that most frostings are made with shortening…I’m a little sick to my stomach. I have combed through the web for days in search of how to make the best frosting. I’v already experimented with a couple of recipes, and…they flopped. They called for flour and milk and confectioners sugar. There was one with cream cheese also, but it called for whipped cream and smashed Oreos. I’m at a toss up, and Do NOT WANT the cake to melt outside. I’m making two layered cake. Should I freeze it, if so how long does it take for a cake and it’s frosting to unthaw, and will the cream cheese go bad if it’s outside for more than three hours? Sorry such a long post but I’m desperate to find the perfect frosting.

  77. Heather R. November 1, 2011 at 2:51 am #

    This was a big hit at our Halloween party. Thanks!

  78. Wilene November 10, 2011 at 12:24 pm #

    stef i was having trouble finding this online :( can you maybe help out with either a place to get it or something similar i could use :) ty wilene

  79. ellie November 10, 2011 at 1:30 pm #

    I tend to have Hershey’s cocoa on hand and I don’t use cocoa too often. What is the shelf life of the expensive cocoa?

  80. Cathy Morgan-Davis November 10, 2011 at 7:44 pm #

    The icing was great! Thank you for the recipe.

  81. Texanerin December 27, 2011 at 2:58 am #

    I just realized that I never left feedback for this recipe although it’s my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe. It’s amazing! Absolutely perfect in every way. I’ll never try a different chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe. People at work always ask me for frosting recipes and I just send them to this page. :)

  82. Unknown December 28, 2011 at 4:02 pm #

    This frosting is fantastic! All I had on hand was Ghiridelli cocoa powder and it was excellent.
    TIP: BE SURE to have your butter and cream cheese at room temp or it won’t be smooth..if it won’t fully incorporate, hold a hot dishrag (I just held the dishrag under hot water) on the outside of your mixing bowl as it beats until it smoothes out…
    This is the best chocolate frosting I have ever had! Thanks for the recipe!!

  83. nshake January 8, 2012 at 9:54 pm #

    Few questions – Im making the cupcakes for my neices birthday party a day in advance because baking them and frosting them on the day of will be to hectic. If I make the frosting a day before will it go bad? And how would I store it to keep its texture and flavour?

    Thank you!

  84. Stef January 9, 2012 at 5:55 pm #

    Nshake – The frosting will be fine. I leave cupcakes out with this frosting on them for several days and I’ve never had a problem.

    Unknown – Great tip!! Thanks!

    Texinerin – Thanks so much!! Glad you love it!

    Wilene – Here’s the link.

    Ellie – It could last two years if it’s tightly sealed in a cool, dry place.

  85. CAROUSEL January 9, 2012 at 10:19 pm #

    Quality of the cocoa powder does matter. I would also just buy the most expensive brand of cocoa powder at the grocery store due to convenience. But if I have a choice I would drive all the way to the southside just to buy this awesome cocoa powder. I immediately noticed the difference. My cake and icing is more chocolatey when I used the specialty store cocoa powder.

  86. CAROUSEL January 9, 2012 at 10:23 pm #

    I love your website. I learned alot from you. Thinking about this cocoa powder making my mouth water. I will try it for sure!

  87. jasmilyn February 8, 2012 at 7:45 am #

    Hi…I want to try this one for a bridal party this weekend. Did you use the electric mixer to mix or just mix by hand whisk?

  88. Anonymous February 8, 2012 at 8:35 am #

    I have a question about the nutritional value of the frosting…not only do i not usually like the store frostings because they are too sweet, they usually contain trans fat! So I’ve been wanting to try and make my own to try and make it trans fat free…would this recipe/your other recipes qualify as trans fat free?

  89. Stef February 9, 2012 at 8:27 pm #

    jasmilyn – I use an electric mixer.

    Anon – I’m not a nutritional expert. I avoid anything that has partially hydrogenated oils and use butter instead of shortening, but I really can’t say for sure if my recipes are trans-fat free. I just don’t know enough about it.

  90. Food for Thought Linds April 1, 2012 at 6:21 pm #

    Mmmm… I just used this to top some super dense chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate-peanut butter gananche filling. Pure heaven :)

  91. Anonymous April 4, 2012 at 10:36 am #

    What kind of cake to use with the frosting?? I want to do a chocolate and a yellow butter cake but don’t know if the tangy cream cheese will clash…

  92. Lisa A April 7, 2012 at 5:03 pm #

    Can anyone say how much frosting this made? Enough to frost 24 cupcakes?

  93. Lisa A April 7, 2012 at 5:06 pm #

    Nevermind – I found that you answered that above – double it! OKAY WILL DO!

  94. Katy326 April 12, 2012 at 12:49 pm #

    I used just store-bought toll house powdered chocolate and I LOVE this recipe! It so good and very easy to make!

  95. Anonymous May 20, 2012 at 1:49 pm #

    hi i really want to try this recipe but im new at this stuff and i want to know when u say 1/2 C cocoa powder do u mean 1/2 cup or C is something else? and can someone tell me how much are the 8 ozs to grams? thanks

    Eva

    • Stef May 20, 2012 at 6:54 pm #

      Yes, it’s cups. And – 8 oz is 227 grams.

  96. litgamer June 5, 2012 at 9:58 am #

    I made this frosting to put on top of a box cake mix for my dad’s 57th Birthday today. I love cream cheese frosting because they aren’t over-sweet like a lot of traditional frosting – especially chocolate. This frosting gives you that chocolatey flavor in a creamy frosting without the sugar-induced coma after effects. I’ve never seen a cream cheese frosting recipe that called for butter, but I think I like it! What’s not to like? It’s butter! Thanks for the recipe!

  97. Anonymous June 10, 2012 at 11:42 am #

    Added 8oz of Nutella, magical!

  98. Anonymous June 12, 2012 at 5:38 am #

    Hi, I have been making cream cheese frosting and most people enjoy it. But one day we put the cupcakes in the balcony as there was no room in the fridge. It was winter and very cold outside. The cheesecake frosting tasted so good cold. I am wondering, would the frosting still work if I didn’t set it to room temperature and just made it right out of the fridge?

  99. Anonymous June 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm #

    Stef, I made this chocolate cream cheese recipe today and it was delicious. I made two errors. First, I mixed the coca and powder sugar together in the bowl I mix in. Thinking I wanted to mix them well. Then when I dumped the cream cheese on the coca and sugar mix I instantly said “UH OH”. My second mistake was that the cream cheese wasn’t fully warm at room temperature. It was still kinda cool. So anyway I dumped the butter on the mix and started mixing with my standard mixer. All of a sudden my 2 year old mixer burned out. I thought “well its old, ill go buy a new one” I went out to buy a new one and after I started mixing I added a tsp of whipping cream to help. Well the second (new) mixer burned out too!!!!!! I had mixed it well enough to start piping.
    So I just want to warn women out there not to do what I did and try to use a professional mixer lol. Now I have two broken mixers :’(… lol

    Flor

  100. Hayley July 2, 2012 at 10:43 am #

    The butter and cream cheese wouldn’t blend together smoothly so it would be lumpy

  101. Marcy July 7, 2012 at 1:45 pm #

    Delish! Made my regular ol’ box mix cupcakes taste gourmet! Huge hit. thanks!

  102. Anonymous August 17, 2012 at 10:10 pm #

    This was the second frosting I’ve ever made…..i can’tthank you enough! I also broke my cheap mixer on this recipe…..now i have to buy a brand new mixer! I’mactually very happy about that……

  103. Georgie August 21, 2012 at 4:59 pm #

    just looking at this recipe and the comments is giving me a choc craving!! what would you suggest if not an electric mixer? i don’t particuarally want mine to break. i’m going to experiment and try a thin layer of this on brownies :P

  104. Anonymous September 4, 2012 at 7:07 am #

    I want to use this for a Red Velvet Cake. Do you think they’ll compliment each other?

  105. Corrie Cornett September 11, 2012 at 5:34 pm #

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  106. Kaylees Bridal October 12, 2012 at 1:14 am #

    This is very educational content and written well for a change. It’s nice to see that some people still
    understand how to write a quality post.!

  107. Anonymous November 1, 2012 at 4:55 pm #

    I used good ‘ol Hershey’s chocolate (unsweetened powder) and this frosting was so good I could take a bath in it. Seriously. Amazing. No changes, no additions. even used a generic cream cheese (because that’s all there was) and it was amazing.

  108. Anonymous December 22, 2012 at 2:14 pm #

    I live in Caracas, Venezuela,so getting hold of fresh locally-produced cocoa (cacao) powder isn’t too difficult. The whole process, depending on where it comes from, is relatively small batch- from cutting the pod off the trees, removing the seeds, sun-drying them and grinding them. I’ve been to a small town on the Caribbean coast where they dry the seeds on a concrete plaza in front of the town church, turning the seeds in the sun with large wooden rakes. The grinders are the same machines they’ve been using for decades and decades.
    Looking for any low fat edge I can get, I found a recipe substituting a tablespoon of fat-free milk for the butter. It also included a teaspoon of vanilla extract, which helped because I had to hand-mix it as our ancient electric mixer gave up the ghost just as I was starting to blend everything.
    Obviously, the keys are: 1) having the cream cheese nice and soft 2) adding the milk and vanilla liquids right on top of the cheese, THEN mixing in the powdered sugar, and 3) mixing in the powdered cocoa last.

    Even without the richness of the butter, this frosting was so good (on carrot cake) that a family friend, an older woman from Italy who can cook rings around me, insisted I give her the recipe and show her how I did it imediately after finishing her second helping.

    Happy Holidays!

  109. Jasmine Joshi December 31, 2012 at 1:18 pm #

    Love the cream cheese and cocoa combination…yummmm.. Thanks for sharing….I usually make a little more as I like to lick this yummm frosting ;) Happy New Year!!!

  110. Kelli Dover February 18, 2013 at 6:16 am #

    I loved this recipe. It was also stiff enough to make my cupcakes look fabulous as well as taste awesome! I made these for the girls softball team during a tournament and they loved it. If it comes from me, its got to be good and this was great! thanks

  111. Click For Source April 24, 2013 at 2:41 am #

    I’m really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility problems? A few of my blog audience have complained about my blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this problem?

  112. good golden retriever guide facts April 24, 2013 at 7:00 am #

    Great blog! Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
    There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused .. Any suggestions? Appreciate it!

  113. visit website April 27, 2013 at 2:14 am #

    I was very happy to discover this page. I want to to thank you for your time due to this fantastic read!
    ! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and I have you saved to fav to look at new stuff in your site.

  114. When some one searches for his essential thing, therefore he/she desires to be available that
    in detail, so that thing is maintained over here.

Leave a Reply