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 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.
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