The Only 3-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting Recipe You'll Ever Need

I've baked a lot of cakes in my life, but none have earned as much repeat status as Julia Turshen's Happy Wife, Happy Life Chocolate Cake. The recipe comes from her cookbook, Small Victories. It's a one-bowl cake, which is perfect for this stage of my life when simple is best.

As much as I love this recipe, the real star is the chocolate frosting. It's a three-ingredient wonder, made with melted chocolate, sour cream, and maple syrup, and it's genuinely the best, most clever chocolate frosting recipe I've ever come across.

Julia calls the frosting "a total small victory" because of its "simplicity and ingenuity," and she's right. It's decadent without being too sweet, luxuriously spreadable, and keeps beautifully in the fridge.

How I Make Julia Turshen's 3-Ingredient Chocolate Frosting

This easy frosting works on just about any cake. Simply melt 3/4 cup chocolate (semi-sweet or bittersweet, chopped chocolate or chocolate chips), whisk in equal amounts sour cream and a tablespoon of maple syrup, and chill until thickened. This makes about a cup of frosting.

The key is making sure your sour cream is at room temperature. If it's too cold, the mixture might seize and become grainy.

When it first comes together, it'll be loose and shiny, like warm pudding. A short rest in the fridge (30 to 45 minutes) firms it up into a lovely, spreadable frosting that behaves like a cross between ganache and buttercream.

If it gets too firm after chilling, just let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften. It should spread effortlessly.

Why I Adore This Easy Chocolate Frosting

The melted chocolate forms the backbone of the frosting. When it cools, the cocoa butter solidifies again, giving the frosting a thick, glossy texture and structure. The sour cream provides fat to keep the chocolate soft and creamy, water to help everything emulsify, and lactic acid to stabilize the mixture and prevent it from seizing. It's the same principle behind ganache, but with a lighter and tangier finish.

Maple syrup is the third player, and it does more than sweeten. It attracts and holds moisture, keeping the frosting soft and glossy, even after it's been refrigerated.

Together, these three ingredients create a self-stabilizing emulsion that behaves like a ganache-meets-buttercream—with no fuss.

Other Ways To Use My Go-To Frosting

This frosting is the perfect pairing for Julia's chocolate cake. Beyond chocolate cake, it complements many other sweets. I've used it on other layer cakes (vanilla is great), as a glaze for warm brownies, as a rustic swirl on cupcakes, drizzled before it fully sets on top of a snack cake, like banana bread or pumpkin loaf, and as a fruit dip, especially with fresh strawberries.

When I have leftover frosting, I store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. It gets firm when chilled, but a quick rewarm over simmering water or in 10-second microwave bursts brings it right back to life. If there’s one frosting I wish I’d known about more than 10 years ago, it’s this one.

GET THE COOKBOOK: Small Victories by Julia Turshen