Rich Chocolate Frosting

This weekend we threw a surprise birthday party for my husband's good friend Mike. I said I would bake the birthday cake and asked his wife what Mike's favorite cake was, and she said German Chocolate Cake. Which interestingly enough is my husband Jeremy's favorite cake - they must share the same brain. I used a recipe for German Chocolate Cake that's already posted on my blog but I'm posting the recipe for the chocolate frosting which was adapted from this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I've made frosting from scratch before but never chocolate. This was definitely "rich" as the name implies - it had, and it pains me to say this, almost TOO much of a chocolate flavor. Next time I might cut back the cocoa a bit and replace it with a little more powdered sugar instead. It's a dense frosting with an intense cocoa flavor - it reminded me of a canned chocolate frosting but with a much better flavor, if that makes any sense. If you want a fluffy lightly chocolate flavored frosting this isn't it. If you want a rich chocolate frosting that might remind you of your birthday cakes as a child, this is it. The birthday boy loved the cake though, and said he could feel like arteries clogging as he ate it - ha! I think I did a pretty decent job frosting it too, if I do say so myself. ;)

RICH CHOCOLATE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup milk, approximately

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl beat butter and vanilla until light and creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, cocoa, alternating with tablespoons of milk, until sugar and cocoa are incorporated. Beat until well combined, adding any additional milk necessary until frosting reaches desired consistency.