Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My husband is quite the chocoholic, so I was not surprised at all when he quickly responded that he wanted a chocolate on chocolate cake for his birthday. The cake part was easy. The frosting - a whole new issue. I set out to find the perfect frosting recipe - mainly because I despise pre-made chocolate frosting from the store. It has a weird, bitter, cardboard taste to me. Not that I exactly know what cardboard tastes like, but I can imagine.

I found many recipes that looked good, but I chose to combine a couple and sort of make my own. I had intended on making a trial-run batch about a week before so I would have time to tweak it, or find a completely new recipe if I needed to, but in the midst of my 10 day work stretch, I never found time. Thankfully, to save my sanity, it turned out pretty good on the first try, and the birthday boy seemed to love it.

Beware: I never said this would be good for you.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

8oz. bittersweet chocolate

8oz. semisweet chocolate 

4 sticks (32 Tbs.) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup egg whites (from approximately 6-7 large eggs)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water) over until smooth. Set aside, off the heat, to cool completely. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and egg whites until blended. Place the bowl over the same saucepan of boiling water and whisk until the mixture reaches 140˚ F.

Remove mixture from the heat and place in a large bowl of a stand mixture with a whisk attachment and beat on low speed for 1 minute to cool slightly. Increase speed to high and beat for 4 minutes or until mixture is cool to the touch and has doubled in volume. Reduce speed to low and add the softened butter 1 Tbs. at a time, beating well after each addition, until all of the butter has been added. Continue to beat until mixture looks smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar and beat until fluffy.