Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I ended up making different changes than I expected to this chocolate buttercream frosting recipe for Simran's birthday cupcakes.  I had expected to replace some of the butter with shortening, but instead I just reduced the amount of sugar because I kept tasting while I mixed and discovered it was really good before I'd finished adding all the sugar, and I didn't want to oversweeten. I also doubled the recipe because the original batch only covered eight cupcakes.  Warning:  Perhaps because of the reduced sugar, this buttercream melts really quickly.  Make room in your fridge for whatever you're frosting before you start or that cake will get very messy.

Ingredients

12 tablespoons butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup cocoa
2/3 cup whole milk
1 tbs vanilla

Directions

 

1. Place butter in a bowl and beat until creamy.
 

2. Add sugar and cocoa, mixing well.
 

3. Stir in milk in portions, stirring each time.
 

4. Add vanilla.
 

5. Spread on cooled cakes.