A few years ago, we took a trip to New York and visited the famed Magnolia Bakery. My husband fell in love with their cupcakes, and even picked up a batch to take home with us (Can you guess which flavors? If you guessed chocolate then you totally know us inside and out).
He said that the cupcakes, especially the chocolate frosting, reminded him of a childhood friend’s mother who used to make similar cupcakes for the kids (which, by the way, I’ve been hearing about since we got married over 12 years ago!). Imagine the sheer surprise I felt on finding out that these cupcakes were the cupcakes! I was excited because I knew that Magnolia Bakery carried a few cookbooks, so the recipe was definitely something I could find.
As soon as we got back home, I began the hunt for the Magnolia’s chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. Alas, I did manage to find Magnolia Bakery’s actual chocolate frosting recipe! The taste is spot-on, and has become my offical go-to recipe for chocolate buttercream. I turn to this recipe time and time again, and it’s never let me down!
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (Magnolia Bakery Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips OR 9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk, whole or reduced fat
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
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Melt chocolate in a double broiler over simmering water for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once smooth and thoroughly melted, remove from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.
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In a large bowl, whip butter on medium speed, using a whisk attachment, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add milk. Whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
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Add melted chocolate, increases speed to medium, and whip for 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes.
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Reduce speed to low and gradually add in powdered sugar. Whip until fully incorporated, then increase speed to medium. Whip until desired consistency is reached, about 2 to 4 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Food.com.
Hello, can I half the recipe for 12 cupcakes?
Yes, you absolutely can!
I always seem to run out of buttercream when decorating with a big swirl. Does this make enough to decorate 24 like you did in the photo?
You should have no issues with the amount of frosting here 🙂
Tried it today love it so much it tastes heavenly, so similar to magnolia’s I added a little bit of espresso tasted very good, thank you🌹
Thank you so much for your feedback! I love the addition of espresso!
I’m making the buttercream right now it does not seem to difficult
Sp happy to hear that!
Would adding espresso powder to the icing make the Silo Baking Co (Magnolia) called “Cup o Jo”?
That’s a fantastic question! I personally have never tried that cupcake but I just looked it up. If the frosting is a chocolate frosting with added coffee flavoring (I guess kind of a mocha flavor), then yes, you can add some espresso powder. However, if the frosting is solely coffee flavored, then this frosting recipe won’t cut it.
Followed the recipe step by step and it tasted good but didn’t have the smooth buttercream consistency. But I had used the chocolate chips and 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips could have been too much will experiment with it.
The recipe uses 1.5 cups of chocolate chips, so I’m not sure what you mean by experimenting with 2.5 cups of chocolate chips?
Also, did you make sure you melted the chocolate enough? It sounds like either you used too much chocolate or didn’t melt the chocolate enough.
Do you happen to know how many cups are in the regular bag of chocolate chips? I’m wondering if that’s what he was referring to with the 2 1/2 cups… also because I just Ed melted an entire regular bags of ghiradelli chocolate chips,, ugh! How do I recover?
To be honest, I’m not sure how many cups are in a bag of chocolate chips. I did a little bit of reading, and if your bag was about 9-ounces, it should be fine. I would suggest proceeding with the recipe as it is; good luck!
The butter cream is yummy! But it’s not that deep chocolate color like your picture represents.
I’m happy to hear that the frosting tasted good! As for the color, it can be a multitude of things such as the brand of chocolate used, the speed/power at which the frosting was whipped, or something simple such as the difference in lighting when I was taking the photos.
What company chocolate chips do you recommend for this?
Any is fine! I use Nestle or Ghirardelli.
I added about a half cup of dark Hershey powder to mine to make it darker.
Is it possible to make this a day in advance?
Yes, absolutely! You can make it, frost/pipe, and refrigerate. You can also refrigerate the frosting as-is, and then just bring it up to room temperature when you’re ready to use it. Just give it a little whisk to bring back it’s airiness.
How long does this frosting hold up in the fridge?
Hello! I would say that it would be fine in the refrigerator for upto 5 days. Just let it come to room temperature before using it, and it might need a little whisking action, but other than that it should be fine.
What brand of chips you suggest to use
You can use any brand! I’ve used anything from grocery store brands, to higher quality special shop brands, and they all taste great.
Would like to adapt this recipe for a 6″ 3 layer cake. Do I follow the recipe for 12 cupcakes?
I would 1.5x it, just to be safe. You can double it, but you’ll more than likely have some leftover.
Hi, what brand of chocolate did you use? thank you.
I like to use ghirardelli