White Chocolate Frosting
This white chocolate frosting is incredibly rich, creamy, and made with a handful of basic ingredients like butter, powdered sugar, and melted white chocolate. It’s easy to make and the perfect frosting for a variety of different cakes, cupcakes, and more!
This simple white chocolate frosting is a fun twist on my chocolate buttercream frosting. Instead of cocoa powder though, melted white chocolate gets whipped into the buttercream mixture.
The end result is a rich and creamy frosting that’s sweet, but not too sweet. It’s an incredibly versatile frosting that pairs well with just about any flavor of cake or cupcakes.
If you love my classic buttercream frosting, I guarantee you’re going to love this white chocolate frosting. It’s so simple to make and pipes beautifully too!
Watch The Full Recipe Video
White Chocolate Chips Vs. White Chocolate Bars
First things first, let’s talk about the most important ingredient in this frosting – white chocolate!
I tested this recipe with both white chocolate bars and white chocolate baking chips. While they both worked, I found that the frosting made with chocolate chips wasn’t quite as smooth as the one made with chocolate bars. This wasn’t really surprising to me because chocolate chips contain stabilizers to help them maintain their shape, so they don’t melt down as smooth as the bars.
For this recipe, I highly recommend using 6 ounces of white chocolate bars. Most bars come in 4-ounce sizes, so you’ll need 1 ½. You can either chop the chocolate or if they are thin enough (like Ghirardelli), just break them into small pieces with your hands so you don’t have to dirty up any extra dishes!
Can I Use A Different Kind Of Chocolate?
Yes! You can swap out the white chocolate in this recipe with an equal amount of melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate bars. If you use dark chocolate though, you may want to add a little more powdered sugar.
How To Melt The Chocolate
When it comes to melting the chocolate, you have two options – the microwave or a double boiler. I personally prefer to use the microwave, just because it’s a little easier and I’m all about convenience!
- To microwave the chocolate: Place the chopped white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments at 50% power. Make sure to stop each time and stir it well! Once the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, set it aside and let it cool until it’s no longer warm.
- To use a double boiler: Add the chopped white chocolate to a glass bowl and place it over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl and stir the chocolate often to prevent it from burning. As soon as it’s melted, remove the bowl from the heat and set it aside to cool. If you need a visual for this method, you can see how I do this in my tiramisu video (just skip to 17 seconds).
Note: I do not recommend heating white chocolate directly in a saucepan. This will more than likely cause the chocolate to overheat and it will end up seizing.
Adding Color To Your Frosting
You can add some food coloring to this frosting once you’ve fully mixed it together. I highly recommend using gel food coloring because a little goes a long way (AmeriColor and Wilton are my two personal favorite brands).
Liquid food coloring will work, just keep in mind that if you use too much it will thin out the frosting. I typically only use liquid food coloring if I’m trying to create a really light/pastel color.
Different Desserts To Pair With This Frosting
This frosting goes well with any dessert you would typically frost with ermine frosting or vanilla buttercream. A few of my favorite cake recipes to frost with it are my vanilla cake, strawberry cake or red velvet cake.
It would also be delicious on top of my strawberry cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, or lemon cupcakes! If you’re new to decorating, I also have a tutorial on how to frost cupcakes.
This recipe will make about 2 ½ cups of frosting, which is enough to frost a 9×13 cake or 12 to 14 cupcakes. For a two layer cake, I recommend increasing the recipe by half and for a three layer cake I would double it.
White Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ounces white chocolate bars roughly chopped (170 grams; I recommend using white chocolate bars instead of baking chips)
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (230 grams; 2 sticks)
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar (300 grams)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk at room temperature (15 ml)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the chopped white chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments at 50% power, stirring well after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can place the chopped white chocolate in a large glass bowl and place it over a pot of simmering water to melt it. Just make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Once it's melted and smooth, set it aside for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chocolate is melted, but no longer warm to the touch.6 ounces white chocolate bars
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute or until smooth.1 cup unsalted butter
- Mix in half of the powdered sugar on low speed, then mix in the remaining half of the powdered sugar until fully combined.2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- Add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and salt and continue mixing on low speed until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk,1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract,⅛ teaspoon salt
- Pour the cooled, melted white chocolate into the bowl and mix on low speed until the mixture is well combined. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for another 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
- Use as desired.
