Chocolate Russian Buttercream Frosting

This is a rich and luscious buttercream frosting that holds it shape

Course Dessert

The key to creating that delicately fluffy texture is to beat the butter at least 5 minutes at a medium-high speed with a whisk attachment of a stand mixer or handheld mixer. This incorporates a ton of air into the butter.
The butter should actually change color from yellow to white by the end of the whipping process. This is really the key to getting the silky smooth texture.
Once the butter is the right consistency add in the vanilla , salt, and sifted cocoa powder mix on the lowest speed until incorporated. If you mix this too quickly, you'll get huge cocoa clouds billowing from your mixing bowl.
Reduce speed to slow/medium and slowly drizzle in the sweetened condensed milk in several addition. the mixture might separate if you add too fast.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula throughout the process. The sweetened condensed milk sometimes pools at the bottom of the bowl, so be sure to scrape all the way to the bottom.
This recipe makes about 3 cups of frosting, which is enough to frost about 2 dozen cupcakes.
If your frosting seems too soft, pop it into the fridge for 20-30 minutes to thicken it.

Use room temperature butter! I suggest taking your sticks of butter out of the fridge about 1 hour before you plan to make the frosting
Whip the butter until it becomes lighter in color
Slowly add in the sweetened condensed milk to prevent the frosting from breaking
Use the frosting shortly after making it
If the frosting seems a bit soft, pop it into the fridge for 10 minutes to make it easier to spread on cakes or pipe with
If you want to color this buttercream use gel colouring to get a vibrant shade without throwing off the consistency of your frosting
This buttercream is stable enough to be piped onto cupcakes, to fill and frost a layer cake, or to pipe onto cookies!

The key is that the butter and the sweetened condensed milk are at the same temperature.

Butter is Too Warm -If my buttercream is broken after adding the sweetened condensed milk, just pop my mixing bowl into the fridge for 10-15 minutes to cool it down. Then whip it up again, and it usually comes together right away. If that doesn’t do the trick, continue to repeat this process until it thickens up and comes together.
Butter is Too Cold -Scoop out about a half cup of frosting and place it in a separate bowl. Heat it up in the microwave for 5 seconds, then give it a good stir with a rubber spatula. Repeat until the little bowl of buttercream is smooth again. Add this back into your bowl of frosting, and try whipping it again. Repeat this process until your frosting comes together and is smooth.
If too soft, you can add in powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time) to thicken your frosting, and bring it together.

Keyword buttercream, frosting