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.
Bobbie Failor
Husband and kid approved!!
Thomas
Great
Kyrstin
Hi! I am wondering if this icing will stay good in the fridge for 24 hrs. What would be the best way to store it/ mix it afterward to create optimal consistency?
Sam Merritt
Hi Kyrstin! It will be fine to be stored for 24 in the refrigerator. I would put it in an air tight container and store in the refrigerator. 🙂
Kari
I’ve made this recipe twice, and the consistency is sooo smooth! I’ve never made a frosting that’s come out this well. The first time I made it with low fat cream cheese (I have Gastroparesis, and I have to eat a low fat diet.). To offset the extra water in the cream cheese I added 4 teaspoons of cornstarch, and let it set up in the fridge for an hour. It came out great, nobody could tell it was lower fat. The 2nd time I made it I used Green Valley Lactose Free Cream Cheese, which is in a tub, so I added the extra cornstarch again. Came out so smooth and velvety. This is my fave cream cheese frosting recipe!
Erin James
I made this frosting for some red velvet mini cakes and it turned out AMAZING!!!! It’s the perfect consistency and the taste is fantastic! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Rochell Keyser
I am only giving this 4 stars and not 5 because i didn’t make it exactly as the recipe states. My husband and i are on a mission to reduce our sugar intake .. so i tried this using 125 grams of powdered sugar. The result was wonderful in terms of taste !! 5 star. I quite liked the consistency too, it wasn’t runny.. but it is winter here in South Africa and our homes don’t have central heating so perhaps the climate is impacting the consistency. I thought i would share for anyone else who might be on a similar mission to reduce sugar. I did not pipe with it ..i iced a sheet cake so it was perfect for that use.
Mary J
Can you make the frosting a day in advance, refrigerate it, and then briefly re-whip before applying?
Sam Merritt
Sure thing! 🙂
emily ann
I’m so confused. I’m combining the cream cheese and butter and its really really thick. If I add 4 cups of powdered sugar to this, it’ll be far too thick to spread on anything.
Sam Merritt
Hi Emily Ann, as you stir it (make sure you add the sugar gradually), you should end up with a smooth, spreadable consistency. If it helps, watch the video in the recipe card and you can see the exact consistency. As far as what to expect for consistency, it should be comparable to classic buttercream when finished. You can use less sugar if you prefer, but the frosting won’t be as sturdy or as sweet, so just keep that in mind. I hope that helps!
Aisling
Hi! If I’m planning on doing a 3 layer 9″ cake, would I double or triple this recipe?
Thank you!
Sam Merritt
Hi Aisling! A 50% increase should work here, but if you want to do any decorations on top I would probably double it to be safe. 🙂
Laura Hixson
Absolutely perfect & great consistency
Mariah Habbit
Can a decorate a custom cake with this frosting?
Sam Merritt
Hi Mariah! It depends what kind of decoration you are going for on these. You can pipe florets and things like that, but to do very intricate designs could be difficult.
Mariah Habbit
It would just be a 6 inch 2-3 layer heart cake. No intricate designs. How would I go about coloring the frosting? If i wanted to do like black and red?
Sam Merritt
You can just split the frosting into two bowls and briefly stir in the extracts. 🙂