Dark Chocolate Frosting

If you can't tell Wednesdays are my busy days, sorry for the late posting. After being gone all day I got home and whipped up Martha's Devil's Food cupcakes with her Dark Chocolate Frosting for a family birthday. The cupcakes were good but the frosting is my new favorite. Not only is it tasty it's really pretty. You can find the recipe on Martha's website and in her Cupcakes book but for the sake of ease here it is. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
Makes about 5 cups
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions
Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

This recipe makes 5 cups. Yikes, that's a lot of frosting! I cut this recipe into thirds because I only needed to frost 16 cupcakes and it was the perfect amount. Oh and I halved the cupcakes too. I mean really do I need 2 dozen extra cupcakes lying around? Uh no, definitely not.