Two Cakes and a Frosting Recipe

I made two chocolate cakes over the past week. One was for my brother-in-law and one was for my older sister. Happy Birthday, Kids! My BIL requested a chocolate cake and my sister didn't care about the cake part - only the frosting! It had to be chocolate buttercream.

My Chocolate Buttercream (makes enough for one two layer cake)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions:

Soften butter in microwave on defrost (about 20 seconds, add time in 10 second increments). Dump in large bowl and beat until fluffy. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips. I like to use the microwave, again, but you could do it on the stove top. In microwave, heat on defrost for 15 second increments, stir between heating. Stop heating when most of the chips are melted. You can melt the rest by just continuing to stir them in with the melted chips. This will prevent you from burning the chocolate. When melted, mix chocolate in with the butter, adding vanilla extract. Add sugar, cocoa powder and milk, alternating between them and mixing on medium speed. That's it. Feel free to change amounts of milk and sugar to get the consistency that you want. You can make it without the cocoa powder but the chocolate taste won't be as rich.