Hey all, I love this recipe for icing, or any with 1/2 shortening, 1/2 butter, but how would you suggest changing it to keep the "crusting" & make it a chocolate buttercream? Should I just replace equally powdered sugar with cocoa powder... or ??? Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks....

~Katie

I know Dawn added ganache to her bc to make it chocolate but I can't remember if it crusted or not. You could try emailing her.

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you can just add coca powder to the icing, it won't make it real dark chocolate like the ganache. But just add to its where you want then us alittle milk or cream to thin it down some. You may need up to a cup of chocolate added to it.

You can melt unswettened chocolate. I microweave about 2 or 3 sections of the whole bar (be careful to don't leave it in more than two minutes as it will get bitter) then mix it with your icing. It gives a strong chocolate flavor as well as a nice brown shade. For darker brown color you can buy the icing tube at your local supermarket in the baking/cakes section. Good luck.

If you chose to go with the cocoa powder, just don't add too much because it will make it taste bitter if you add too much. I usually like to add melted chocolate. I have even melted chocolate chips and added them to the recipe.

My experience has been that it takes a little longer to crust before you can smooth it, but works fine for me.