Chocolate Buttercream frosting

I am never  big on frosting cake. I steered away from making frosting. I have used Betty Crockers but always used 1/4 of the tub and the 3/4 remaining just get thrown out.  However, this time round, I decided to make my own.

I read lots of recipe online and cake books from the library. Finally I decided to use the kiwi recipe but following instructions from a book called Hidden Surpise Cake by Angela Drake.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cup of icing sugar
150g of butter (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp. hot water (I find this really is optional)

Above is the basic ingredients for buttercream icing.

Variations:
Chocolate: Blend 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder with 2 tbsp. of boiling water to make a smooth paste.  Leave to cool for a few minutes, then beat into the butter cream.

I prepared the chocolate paste first then proceeded to cream my butter.

I made it into cubes and beat in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until very soft and pale.

Then I sifted in half the icing sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until blended with the butter.  Sift in the remaining icing sugar and mix again.

Add the vanilla extract and beat for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is very smooth, pale and creamy.  I add in the chocolate paste and blend it well.  I find that adding the hot water and beat for further 30 seconds did not make much of a difference with mine.

The above is more than enough to frost a big cake.