Quick recipe: Chocolate fudge icing
This is an old family secret – the perfect fudge icing for both filling and topping a good chocolate cake. Enjoy!
You will need
- 5 oz of butter
- 5 oz of icing sugar, sifted
- 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons of milk
(If you’re a proper choccy monster use double – I tend to make half as much again.)
Method
Slowly and gently melt the butter in a pan (skim it if you want to to remove excess salt and impurities).
Add the cocoa and up the heat, cooking it gently for a minute or so, then add the icing sugar.
Add the milk gradually (you’ll know when to do this, as the icing sugar will eventually make your cocoa and butter the consistency of cement) and keep stirring until you have a glossy, smooth paste.
Allow it to cool, and then use half to sandwich your cake together, and half for the topping. It looks fabulous and tastes divine.
Posted by Simon on 26 May 2007 at 02:05 PM
| 27 Comments
Filed in Recipes
June 2, 2007 : 7:42am
do you know any review sites that review cakes etc..like mcvities muffins,flapjacks,brownies etc…?
June 3, 2007 : 11:26pm
Go to http://www.cakecentral.com – it’s a community of cake decorators, and quite good. Enjoy!
September 4, 2007 : 12:32pm
Question: Can this icing be used with Chocolate Transfers?
November 27, 2007 : 3:54pm
somehow it never got to the consistency of cement so i burned it?!
November 27, 2007 : 4:30pm
I’m assuming that you had the heat up too high, and that the cocoa wasn’t cooked long enough before you added the icing sugar.
I’ve made batches before where the butter doesn’t fully integrate into the mixture, so I’ve ended up pouring it off.
Sorry to hear you had a disaster. Better luck next time.
Oh, and once set, you should be able to place transfers on top.
March 30, 2008 : 12:22am
Can you add chocolate from a packet into it or will it make the sauce taste bad. What is the consitency of the sauce and when it dryes is it still smoothish ?
Thank you
Ashleigh x
March 31, 2008 : 1:21pm
This sauce is a fudge sauce. Adding chocolate from a packet will probably make it go wrong.
When it sets it remains smooth and sticky but with a shiny top layer, so you can ice or decorate it.
September 29, 2008 : 6:05pm
Hi,
Can I pipe borders with this icing?
September 30, 2008 : 11:56am
It’s pretty thick stuff, so I’m sure you could, yes.
April 10, 2009 : 5:42pm
i added chocolate from the packet, it didnt effect the outcome of the icing at all. very tasty :)
June 26, 2009 : 2:14pm
Have just made this icing to put on a cake I made ready for the children’s Friday treat after school. Very easy to follow recipe and tastes delicious. Made double the quantity and have enough left over to put on top of some fairy buns in the next couple of days. Seems to keep well in the fridge.
July 9, 2009 : 4:45am
can i add caramel syrup into this mixing? i want to make a chocolate caramel topping for my fudge cake.
September 11, 2009 : 4:31pm
I messesd up! it didn’t get cementy. i may have added the milk too soon…. it’s very liquidy. can i save it or should i start from sratch?
December 5, 2009 : 2:00pm
Please can you tell me what sort of sized cake this will fill and top?
December 24, 2009 : 2:24am
I actually use about double the amount of icing sugar, just adding a tablespoon at a time stirring continually until the consistency is right, then give it a minute before adding the milk. For some reason butter often appears again after adding the first milk, but it soon stirs back in. I decide its ready when I can see my face in the glossy paste!
December 24, 2009 : 2:43am
I find it plenty to give a thick coating to a two layer 12″ cake.
February 2, 2010 : 9:27pm
Tastes great. But it never got very thick. Was I suppose to keep cooking and stirring until it got thicker? Or should I have added more confectionary sugar? I’d like to make it again, but get it right.
February 2, 2010 : 9:37pm
I made some recently. I made sure I cooked the cocoa for a couple of minutes then when I added the icing sugar I allowed it to cook for three or four minutes. At that point I wasn’t sure it was going to set, but as it cooled it did set very well. The trick is to go back to it as it’s cooling and keep giving it a good stir.
Tastes great with a little wasabi powder in there as well!
February 4, 2010 : 11:10pm
i made this fudge icing for the first time and found it very easy to follow however i faces a dilemma at the point where the recipe said ‘keep stirring until you have glossy smooth paste.’ i kept stirring until it went thick then constantly stirred whilst it was cooling however after 2-3 minutes the mixture solidified and a huge amount of butter was separated. i was very upset at this and decided to make it again but it would be greatly appreciated if you point out where i went wrong. thank you very much.
sorry, i dont have an email address, hence i made up an email ad, but i will read your reply on this website.kind regards.
February 5, 2010 : 1:38am
Sarah, there is sometimes separation, and if this happens I usually just pour off the excess butter fat and keep stirring, but it sounds like you kept the heat on and cooked it to a lump.
Two simple rules – exact quantities and don’t go mad adding extra icing sugar. I’ve always followed this recipe to the letter and 90% of the time get the results I wanted. Ah yes, and keep the heat moderate!
February 5, 2010 : 8:34am
Thank you very much for your prompt reply. i, however, followed the exact quantity and even reached the point where the mixture turned like cement, then i added the milk and it turned nice and glossy, but thereafter i was unsure for how long i should allow it do. could you please tell me an approximate time limit?
And then whilst allowing to cool i wasnt so sure as to keep mixing it, or mixing it at intervals of 2-3 minutes? so i was vigourously mixing it. whilst cooling, does it set and turn thicker? And also whilst spreading the on the cake i did pour the butter out, but did not make a huge difference and the mixture was pretty hard to spread and has hardened overnight.
i do greatly appreciate your assistance and your time for solving my concern. thank you very much.
February 5, 2010 : 6:34pm
Interesting, mine never gets ‘like cement’ – when I’m cooking the cocoa it’s just a gentle simmer for a minute or two and the contents of the pan are always liquid. THEN I add milk and icing sugar. Sounds like you may have overdone the cocoa cooking.
As for stirring, I just pop back to it every couple of minutes and give it a good stir to aid the cooling process. As long as it’s glossy and thick you don’t have to do much more than work it a little with a spoon.
February 7, 2010 : 11:25pm
thanks for your kind help. i will be trying it out again tomorrow! hope it turns out right!
February 8, 2010 : 8:55pm
i made the fudge icing again today, and i have to say that i was very disappointed with the outcome. there was no difference to the first time i made it though having paid great attention to the measurements, low-moderate heat and allowing to cool without stirring it vigourously but occasionally.still butter was separated from the mixture. im very sorry to say that i will have to totally dismiss this recipe. Anyways many thanks for kindly assisting me in solving my concerns.
February 8, 2010 : 9:02pm
hmmm, are you using a cast iron pan? Like a le creuset type? The reason I ask is that they retain their heat for ages and I find they can overcook things like this very easily, so when I made mine I made it in a lightweight non stick saucepan and it turned out as it was supposed to.
February 24, 2010 : 4:22pm
can u use any cooco powder
March 6, 2010 : 6:44pm
i made it and the taste was not very nice i dont know wot happned can u help me plez