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
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
Nutrition
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.
A. B.
Hello. My question may be silly, but if I only have salted butter, can I just omit the salt and it still turn out the same? Or should I still add the salt because it wouldn’t make much difference? I’m new to baking.
Sam Merritt
It’s not a silly question. Yes, you will want to omit the salt if using salted butter. I actually have a post on using salted or unsalted butter if you ever need it in the future. I hope you love this! I look forward to hearing from you again in the future. Happy baking! 🙂
Kate
Hi there,
I’m interested to know if this icing can be coloured?
Thanks in advance!
Sam Merritt
Sure thing! You will want to stir it in briefly at the end. 🙂
Laura
Could I make this the day before and pipe it day-of? If so, do I need to refrigerate overnight and then bring back to toom temp before piping? Or would it be better to pipe the day before and just store the cupcakes in the fridge overnight?
Sam Merritt
Hi Laura! You can make it the day in advance and pipe the next day if you’d like. Just make sure to keep it in an air tight container. You may need to let it warm a little bit out of the refrigerator before it’s pipe-able. Of course you can also put the frosting on the cupcakes and refrigerate the cupcakes. 🙂
braden
I loved this recipe.
NeNe
Hi there, I would like to use this frosting for a semi naked cake. Do you think it will hold up?
Sam Merritt
Sure thing! 🙂
jaime
perfect cream cheese frosting, my whole family loved it!! this website has become my go-to for anything baking related, i’ve got your chocolate ganache recipe and peanut butter frosting recipe saved to try later <3<3
Denise
My favorite frosting to use! Always comes out perfect! Thank you for this recipe! (:
BridetoBe
How does this recipe fair in warm weather? I’m looking for a stable cream cheese frosting to put on my wedding cake (a small carrot cake just for my soon-to-be-husband and I to cut). The wedding is at the end of the month. It will be at a restaurant so they can keep the cake indoors/refrigerated for most of the time but our party will be hosted on the patio under a tent and ultimately the cake will end up there.
Sam Merritt
It’s going to behave much like a buttercream frosting will. If it’s too hot and humid it will become soft. Since it has cream cheese in it, I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out in hot, humid environments for much more than an hour or so.
D. Spin
Hi! I am so excited to try it.Will be trying it for a church dinner. Curious…I am making 3- 9×13 carrot cakes. They will be 1 layer each. How much frosting do I need?
Sam Merritt
I would recommend tripling the recipe for 3 9 x 13 inch cakes. 🙂
D. Spin
Tysvm!!😊
B.C.
I agree . One is not enough 😀