I can't help fix it, but next time try Marion Cunningham's Chocolate Buttercream. Butter, confectioners sugar, milk, cocoa, bit of salt.

If you want to rescue the first one, decrease the sugar and add some instant coffee granules. That will give it a richer, more chocolatey flavor. I always add a little bit of instant coffee to chocolate items. Not enough to make it mocha, but enough to make it not so flat and over sweet.

Scrap that frosting and make a chocolate ganache instead. It's ridiculously chocolately and ridiculously easy.

I use this one from Smitten Kitchen (bottom of this page: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/07/you-are-owed-chocolate-cake/ ). Seriously do halve it unless you're making a huge cake with layers. I use half the recipe for a two-layer 9-inch cake and have some left.



For ganache frosting and filling (If you want to just use it for frosting, halve the recipe. A raspberry filling recipe is below.)

1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Make frosting: Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). I found that stirring this over a bowl of ice water did a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.

Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

Yes, the 70% instead of the unsweetened chopped chocolate is making the difference. It probably tastes sweeter, perhaps more like a hershey special dark bar than a rich deep dark chocolate, right? If you add unsw. Cocoa powder, you'll also need to add more butter or milk, but be careful adding too much milk as it can thin the consistency quickly. Honestly, I'd probably leave this batch alone and make it with the unsweetened choc next time. Recipe sounds great!

Add some cocoa powder?

Well, by improve I mean help me make it more chocolate-y (for my own taste). http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/quick-chocolate-buttercream-frosting.html?cm_src=RECIPESEARCH

To be fair, I should note that I misread the recipe and bought 70% cocao instead of unsweetened. Could that be my problem? The frosting is tasty, great for spreading, etc., but I would have preferred a deeper chocolate taste. Just add more chocolate next time? Something else? Suggestions appreciated because my "experiments" don't usually go well. Thanks!