Chocolate Frosting

A few weeks ago, we saw an episode of Bobby Flay's throwdown that featured German Chocolate Cake. After seeing that, we had to make the challenger's recipe. Since her chocolate frosting was a secret recipe, I had to find one on the internet. This is the one I decided to use, and it turned out great....except it made a ton. I cut the original recipe in half and had enough frosting to cover the top of my german chocolate cake and 12 cupcakes with a lot left over. I vacuum-sealed the leftovers and stuck it in the freezer. I just pulled it out today to use on the chocolate cupcakes I made. It tasted just as good as when it was fresh, and the texture was still smooth and creamy. My cupcakes were just a chocolate cake mix that I needed to use up (from now on, I hope to bake solely from scratch). After icing the cupcakes, I sprinkled coconut and chopped pecans on top. The below amounts represent a quarter of the original recipe and should be enough to frost 24 cupcakes or a 3-layer cake (I think).

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 c butter, softened
2 1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c and 2 T baking cocoa
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c milk, plus a few extra tablespoons, as needed

1) Cream butter in a large mixing bowl.
2) Gradually beat in powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla.
3) Add milk, gradually, until the consistency is very smooth and spreadable.