Sunday 4 August 2013

Simple chocolate fudge icing

I know I have been slacking lately in keeping up with posts, due to dodgy foreign wi-fi connections and lack of a laptop. But I will now do three back-to-back posts, which will consist of different icing recipes and techniques. They’re so simple they don’t even deserve step-by-step recipes, really, but it’s good to know a few foolproof recipes for icing. Also, these next few posts are preparation, leading up to a very special cake, for which the recipe will be available next week…

Even though this chocolate fudge icing is really easy to make, it hardens really quickly so you have to work fast. If it does harden before you can use it, you can always microwave it for a few seconds (if this softens it too much, just wait for it to harden again, or put it in the fridge for a few minutes).

This recipe makes enough to ice 12 cupcakes. Double the quantities if you want to sandwich and cover a double-layer cake.

Gather your equipment
Essential equipment:  sieve, big fork, spoon, mixing bowl, smaller microwave-proof bowl
Optional equipment: electric whisk, scales
  • Scales are optional for this recipe because you can pretty much estimate the amounts of sugar/butter/chocolate you use, according to taste.
Gather your ingredients
For this recipe you'll need: 60g butter/margarine, 120g icing sugar, 75g dark chocolate, 1-2 tbsp milk
  • If you're using butter, leave it at room temperature to soften for a few hours
Melt the chocolate, set aside
In 20 second intervals, melt the chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl, stirring each time. Once it has all melted, set aside to cool slightly. If you don’t have a microwave, use a small bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the chocolate. Make sure the bowl is not actually touching the water; the heat from the steam is enough.
Beat the butter, then add the icing sugar
Now make a normal batch of buttercream icing. Beat the butter until smooth, then sift in the icing sugar a little at a time and combine well.
Add the melted chocolate
Start off by adding small spoonfuls of the cooled melted chocolate to the icing, stirring well each time. Adding all the chocolate at once will melt the butter in the icing, so you will have to wait longer for it to cool.
Add milk
Add a small tablespoon of milk to start off with, and stir it in. Add more if necessary until the right consistency is achieved (for spreading onto cakes you want quite a smooth consistency, for piping, a less liquid icing is preferable)
Use to frost cupcakes/cakes etc.
The icing will thicken as it cools so use it immediately to frost whatever you like. This icing makes for a very good piping consistency as it thickens so quickly. I used this particular batch to sandwich a chocolate fudge cake together, which I then topped with chocolate ganache for a slightly more ‘adult’ finish:
You can also use white or milk chocolate instead of dark. The icing for the following cupcakes was made using white chocolate with some lemon curd and lemon juice added, to match the cupcakes themselves, which were a lemon sponge:


Simple chocolate fudge icing: - enough for 12 cupcakes
60g butter/margarine
120g icing sugar
75g dark chocolate
Enough milk to create desired consistency (~1 or 2 tbsp)

  1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave (or alternatively in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water). Set aside to cool slightly
  2. Beat together butter and sugar
  3. Add the chocolate to the icing a little at a time and stir well
  4. Add enough milk to bring the icing to a useable consistency, stir well
  5. Use immediately

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