This chocolate French buttercream is literally the creamiest chocolate frosting you will ever have! Made with egg yolks, this recipe is super rich, not too sweet and is great for frosting and filling cakes, cupcakes and macarons!
What is French buttercream?
French buttercream is made using egg yolks, hot sugar that is boiled to the ‘soft ball stage’, and butter as it’s main ingredients. The use of egg yolks results in an incredibly creamy, custard like buttercream that your taste buds are going to love!
Much like Swiss meringue buttercream, it’s not too sweet and has a super smooth texture.
Does French buttercream taste like eggs?!
Although egg yolks are the star of this buttercream, you’ll be happy to know that it does not taste like eggs at all! 🙂
How stable is this frosting?
Because French buttercream is made using sugar syrup that is heated to the soft ball stage, this adds a fair bit of stability to the frosting. However, because this frosting uses egg yolks as opposed to egg whites, it isn’t as stable as an Italian meringue buttercream which utilizes a similar method. This makes French buttercream more sensitive to hot weather.
How to make Chocolate French buttercream
Start by separating your egg yolks from your egg whites.
Next add your egg yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer, and using the whisk attachment, mix on a medium-high speed until the yolks are a pale yellow colour. This should take about 5 minutes.
While your egg yolks are mixing, you can start working on your sugar mixture. Add your sugar and water to a saucepan and mix it together so that the water coats all the sugar granules.
Place your saucepan on a low-medium heat and without stirring, heat the sugar until it reaches 115°C. This is known as the ‘soft ball stage’ when heating up sugar.
Once the sugar has reached 115°C, take if off the heat immediately and begin slowly pouring it into the egg yolks while the mixer is on a low-medium speed.
Once all the sugar is added in, turn up the speed to medium-high, and mix for 5-8 minutes until the mixture has cooled down. Next, add in your unsalted butter a tablespoon at a time.
Once all your butter is added in, the next step is to add in your vanilla and salt, and then continue to mix for a few minutes until the frosting is smooth.
Now what you end up with is a vanilla French buttercream which is amazing just like that! But to turn this into a chocolate French buttercream, the last step is to cut up some 50% dark chocolate into small pieces, and then place the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and melt it in the microwave for 20 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until fully melted.
Once melted, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes or so, and then slowly stream the chocolate into the buttercream with the mixer on a low to medium speed. Once all the chocolate is added in, scrape down the bowl and then turn the mixer on to a medium-high speed until the chocolate is fully mixed into the buttercream.
Once finished, if it feels like the buttercream is too soft (this may happen because the chocolate hasn’t had time to set yet), then pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes and then rewhip it until silky smooth!
Chocolate French Buttercream
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
- 5 (90 g) egg yolks
- ⅔ cup (140 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp (45 g) water
- 1⅓ cups (302 g) unsalted butter - room temperature, not too soft
- 1¾ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 pinch (1 pinch) salt
- ¾ cup (135 g) dark chocolate - I recommend 50% dark chocolate, semi-sweet okay too
Instructions
- Begin by separating your egg yolks from your egg whites. Once separated, add your egg yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer, and using the whisk attachment, mix on a medium high speed for 5 minutes until the yolks are a pale yellow colour.
- While your egg yolks are mixing, begin working on your sugar mixture. Add your sugar and water to a saucepan, and mix until the sugar granules are coated in the water. Place your saucepan on a low-medium heat, and without mixing, let the sugar heat to a temperature of 115 °C.
- Once the sugar reaches 115 °C, take it off the heat immediately and with your mixer on a low-medium speed, begin slowly pouring the bubbling mixture into your egg yolks (see note 1).
- Once all the sugar is added in, turn your mixer up to medium-high speed and mix for 5-8 minutes, or until your bowl is cool to the touch (see note 2).
- Once the egg yolk/sugar mixture is at room temperature, begin to add in your unsalted butter a tablespoon at a time, letting each tablespoon mix in well before adding the next.
- Once all the butter is mixed in, add in your vanilla and salt, and then continue to mix for a few minutes until your buttercream is smooth.
- Lastly, chop up your chocolate into small pieces and then place in a microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave for 20 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until fully melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Turn your mixer onto a low-medium speed, and slowly stream in the melted chocolate. Once all the chocolate has been added in, turn your mixer up to a medium high speed and mix until the chocolate is fully mixed in. Once complete, if you frosting feels a little too soft, then pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes, and then rewhip it until smooth.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
12 Comments
This is a beautiful frosting recipe. MK, it turned out to be perfect just like you listed here. My mother made me a birthday cake when I was younger, and she made it with a chocolate buttercream frosting. However, she added toasted hazelnuts. You need to roast them in the oven, remove the skin, and crush the hazelnuts into small fine pieces. I made this cake in memory of her. Thank You
So glad to hear you enjoyed the frosting recipe Steven! 😀 That hazelnut chocolate cake your mum made for you as a child sounds so incredible! Glad I was able to help recreate that memory in some way 🙂
Can I substitute dark chocolate for white and use for a semi-naked sponge wedding cake ?
Hi Jane! 🙂 You could use white chocolate, just keep in mind white chocolate is sweeter than dark chocolate so you might want to use a bit less of it. French buttercream is a little less stable than a Swiss meringue buttercream, so for a wedding cake that is large, I would recommend using a SMBC or American style buttercream instead. You can find the recipes here below:
https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/swiss-meringue-buttercream/
https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/silky-smooth-buttercream-frosting/
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
INCREDIBLE!!! I made a milk chocolate version. It was magically beautiful!! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback 😀 So glad you loved the buttercream 🙂
Lovely! I made this today as macaron filling, using Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. Your instructions were very clear and helpful, and it came out amazing. Thank you, thank you!
You’re so welcome Nancy! So happy to hear you enjoyed the buttercream 😀
Okay so I haven’t made this yet, so being up front about that…but I absolutely love this blog and I have watched some of your YouTube videos multiple times to learn about cake decorating and frostings. I saw the video for this first and just came across the recipe! Huge thank you for the the amazing content!
Thank you so much Emily! 😀
As someone who recently got into baking and decorating cakes , i am SO grateful for cakesbymk recipes. The most precise and incredible free content out there. I LOVE her YouTube videos , Instagram page and website- I am a complete fan of hers. You have to try her red velvet cake, vanilla cake and French buttercream recipes. The best out there. I feel compelled to rate and review her page because it’s helped me SO much!! I am based in london , uk. I am surrounded by amazing bakers and vloggers but no doubt this page is One of THE best baking pages. Please support her business and follow her social media, leave a review under one of her recipes and also LIKE her videos regularly so that she can continue to give us free and beautiful recipes. Thank you Maryam for your incredible content. May god bless your work and continue to make your business thrive.
Thank you so so much for your wonderful comment and review Atiqa! I really appreciate all the love and support and I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes :D. Your comment made my heart melt! Much love from NZ to the UK 🙂