The great chocolate (frosting) debate

I posted to Facebook the other night about my quest for the perfect fudgy chocolate frosting recipe. I usually make a Swiss meringue buttercream and add lots of melted chocolate, but I've been in search of old fashioned recipe that tastes like store bought frosting - only better. I received a lot of great tips and was inspired to try some experimentation of my own. I chose 3 recipes to pair with vanilla cupcakes for the official tasters - me and my son.

The first recipe I used was Hershey's "perfectly chocolate" chocolate frosting. It's super simple to make and while it was my least favorite of the three, quite good. I added a tablespoon of coffee to the recipe per the suggestions of my Facebook friends and I think it added a nice touch. I felt that the color was a little anemic and might look nicer using dutched cocoa powder. Maybe adding some melted chocolate would boost the chocolate flavor?

I found my second recipe from Cooks Illustrated found on Chowhound. It's basically made like a ganache with the addition of some powdered sugar & lots of butter. I used a 60% bittersweet chocolate because it was what I had in the house. The result was delicious, but a little too sophisticated for what I had in mind. The recipe calls for 20 oz of chocolate which would make it quite expensive if a large quantity was needed. If I made it again, I would use milk chocolate for a mellower flavor.

My final and favorite was adapted from this recipe . I didn't have any unsweetened chocolate in the house, so I used my 60% bittersweet chocolate and cut back on the powdered sugar. The result was just perfect - fudgy (it gets a little crusty when it cools, just like fudge), not overly sweet with great chocolate flavor. Now I just need to find the perfect chocolate cake to go with it!

Cakewalk's "better than the can" chocolate fudge frosting:
5 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz unsalted butter
12 oz powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz whole milk

Melt the butter over low heat and stir in the chocolate until melted
Combine the powdered sugar & vanilla in large bowl (or bowl of stand mixer) and add chocolate mixture.
Add the milk, a little at a time until the desired consistency (thick & creamy is reached). The frosting will continue to thicken as is cools.