The question for today: "Can I add just cocoa in to my buttercream to makechocolate icing? It doesn't ever seem to get rich and dark enough."
You can add cocoa, but chances are you'll end up with a grainy lookingbuttercream because you added in a dry powder. You would either need to siftthe cocoa powder INTO the powdered sugar first (if making an AmericanButtercream, or decorators buttercream), then mix, or use my method.

Ganache: Bring 1 cup of cream (cut to 3/4 cup if you want a really stiffbuttercream in the end) to a boil (cream boils over easily - be careful!). Place 8ounces chopped chocolate (or semi sweet chips - the darker the chocolate, thericher your ganache/buttercream will be) into a heatproof bowl. Once the creamboils, pour it over the chocolate and bring together with a whisk until smooth.Let this cool! If you pour it into your buttercream while warm, it will just meltyour fat in there and you'll have a big mess.
So once cool, start your mixer on LOW and pour in the ganache (about half ofit). Start to whip. Stop mixer, and add some of our incredible DARK cocoa (it's sodark it's black, like an oreo), about a quarter cup. Pour in the rest of the ganachein, incorporate, then stop mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of thebowl. Bring mixer to a medium high speed to make fluffy and light (while at thesame time, dark, rich, and fudgy). Yummy! This concoction would most likely beappropriate for 2-3 quarts of buttercream. You know it's hard for me to measure.