By Sam 2,975 Comments
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This is my family favorite BEST cream cheese frosting recipe! It goes great on Carrot Cake, Red Velvet Cake, and just about any other flavor cake or cupcake you can imagine. I’ve been making this cream cheese icing for years!
If I had things my way, every cake and every cupcake would be be buried beneath a mountain of cream cheese frosting.
Not buttercream —Never rarely buttercream — always and only cream cheese. For someone with such a rampant sweet tooth, it’s alarming the number of times I’ve turned down a slice of cake or a sky-high frosted cupcake because the buttercream just makes my teeth hurt (OK full disclosure I have a buttercream recipe coming up on the blog next month, and it’s delicious, but cream cheese frosting will always win over my heart, even over my favorite chocolate frosting).
While buttercream frostings are usually too sweet, cream cheese frosting I could eat with a spoon, and this recipe is every bit as versatile as buttercream — it’s sturdy, pipe-able, can be dyed, and, most importantly, it’s delicious.
Tips for Making Cream Cheese Icing:
- Make sure that you are using full-fat brick cream cheese, not low fat or spreadable cream cheese (which is usually sold in a tub rather than in brick form).
- I always like to use unsalted butter and add a dash of salt so that I have complete control over the flavor of the frosting. However, if you only have salted butter on hand then just omit the salt called for in the recipe.
- Make sure you allow your cream cheese and your butter to soften before making your frosting! Softening the butter and cream cheese ensure that your ingredients will combine well and be lump free.
- If you intend to pipe your frosting, I recommend sifting your powdered sugar before mixing it into your butter/cream cheese mixture, as small lumps of sugar can clog up your piping tips, especially if you’re using a smaller tip.
Can cream cheese frosting be used for piping?
- Yes! Especially with this recipe because it is nice and thick. Now, this frosting (as with most) is prone to melting in hot weather, but it pipes nicely and as you can see in the photos it holds its shape neatly as well.
How do I make my cream cheese frosting thicker?
- What I love about this recipe is that it already makes a nice thick frosting, but if needed you can add more powdered sugar to make your cream cheese frosting even thicker. I recommend adding about 2 Tablespoons at a time until the desired thickness is reached. Alternatively you can add cornstarch… see more on that below.
Can I add cornstarch to my cream cheese frosting?
- Yup! While this recipe does not call for it, if you need a particularly stiff frosting or are looking to make your frosting thicker without making it sweeter, you can add cornstarch (in fact, I use this technique for my carrot cake cookies). I don’t recommend adding more than a few Tablespoons, so start with just one Tablespoon at a time until desired thickness is reached.
Alright, while (in my humble opinion) cream cheese frosting goes great with everything, there are certain cakes and cupcakes that complement it particularly well.Wednesday I’ll be sharing one of my favorite cupcakes with you — the exact cupcakes seen in the photos above.
Can you guess what flavor they are???
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
This is my all time FAVORITE Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe! Just 5 ingredients!
This recipe will cover either one 2-layer 8" or 9" cake, 24 cupcakes, or generously frost (as much frosting as in the photos) 12 cupcakes.
Please see note regarding thickness
4.97 from 1704 votes
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Course: Dessert, Cupcakes
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 24 cupcakes or 1 8" or 9" 2-layer cake
Calories: 146kcal
Author: Sam Merritt
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (brick-style, not spreadable) (226g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar* (500g)
Instructions
Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.
Add vanilla extract and salt and stir well to combine.
With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.
Use to frost completely cooled cake or cupcakes.
Notes
As mentioned in the post, this is a sturdy and pipe-able frosting that will hold its shape and is comparable to buttercream in texture. It's wonderful for decorating! Many cream cheese recipes use less sugar and are far looser because of it; this icing as-written is less sweet than buttercream, but if you want an even less sweet frosting you can use less sugar and just add to taste (you'll need at least two cups).
Frosting that is too thick and too sweet is often caused by accidentally over-measuring the powdered sugar, it should be weighed or measured the same way that flour is measured. If you accidentally make your frosting too thick, you can thin it by adding a splash of heavy cream or milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
*If you plan to pipe the frosting with a small tip, I recommend sifting the powdered sugar (after measuring).
The cupcakes in these photos were frosted using an Ateco 848 tip.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/24 batch | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 56mg | Potassium: 15mg | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Donna Boyce
Yum! I wanted to keep down the sweetness, so I used only 3 cups of powder sugar. It was perfect! This recipe is a keeper.Reply
Michelle
I’d like to make your Funfetti cake for my daughter’s 1st birthday party next weekend. I prefer cream cheese frosting over buttercream frosting and was wondering if you think the Funfetti cake would go well with this? Also, i’m thinking of adding the freeze dried strawberries to make it a strawberry cream cheese frosting. . . ??
Reply
Sam
Hi Michelle! That sounds like a wonderful combination! 🙂
Reply
ROZA
The frosting came out way too sugary and less cream cheesy. I would recommend cutting sugar in half, maybe even 1-1/2C. Maybe even less butter (1/3C ?)
Reply
Connor
This recipe is amazing! I made it for my daughter’s first birthday, it was a big hit.Reply
Pam
Where can I buy block cream cheese as pictured rather than in the plastic tub ? Does it make that much difference?
Reply
Sam
Hi Pam! The tub typically has additives so I don’t recommend using it. 🙁
Reply
Evelyn
I used 8oz cream cheese, 1 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/3 cup of salted butter. No vanilla . This makes for a more tangy, less buttery, less sugary frosting.Reply
Jessica Adams
My frosting turned out really runny…I’m wondering what I did wrong.?
Reply
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear that, Jessica! Did you use full fat non-spreadable cream cheese? Did you make any other alterations? Was your cream cheese too soft when you started? You can always try to add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. I hope this helps. 🙂
Reply
Jessica Adams
Yes unfortunately I didn’t use unsalted butter, I used salted margarine. So I am pretty sure that’s what the problem was. Thank you for commenting back!
Reply
Sam
Oh no! Unfortunately the margarine won’t work like the butter will. 🙁
Crys
if you over mix cream cheese it starts to break down so if you mix it too much it will get runny
Reply
Roya
Hello. I have a question. Whenever I make my own cream cheese frosting it never looks white because the vanilla turns it into a yellowish color. How do the professional bakeries (and you) get it to be white?
Reply
Sam
Hi Roya! This isn’t going to be pure white. The butter will tint the frosting a little bit, but if your vanilla is adding to much color you can use a clear vanilla extract. 🙂
Reply
Crys
you can add a very small amount of purple food color to offset the yellow from the butter. alternatively you can whip your butter on high for 8 to 10 minutes this will also make it whiter
Reply
Anna
Incredible frosting!! Easy to work with and delicious!!!Reply
Melis
Recipe was tasty. I added less sugar, and a bit of fresh lemon juice, and used it as a delicious cream cheese dip to go along with blueberry filled perogies 😋
Reply
MB
I would like to flavor this icing with bourbon, maybe just a tablespoon or two. How can I maintain the texture and not sacrifice the pipeabilty?
Reply
Sam
I would probably stick with just a tablespoon and add it very gradually. Once you’ve added that tablespoon check it again to see if you can get away with adding more. 🙂
Reply
Krista
Does the cake have to be refrigerated after frosting, do you know?
Sam
Hi Krista! I’m personally comfortable leaving it at room temperature for up to 48 hours depending on the temperature where it will be stored. If it’s too warm I typically refrigerate it. 🙂
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