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.
Angie
4c cups of icing sugar is way too much, I used 2 c and that was sweet enough and omitted the salt because I use salted butter
Usha
Hei,
Wondering whether adding cornstarch will stabilize this to piping consistency when made with spreadable cream cheese. That is the only option I have in hand?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We typically don’t recommend the spreadable kind because of the additives that keep it spreadable, but the cornstarch may help counteract that. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Rachel
This my go-to cream cheese frosting recipe. It’s *chef’s kiss*! I use it on a 13×9 zucchini cake and it is the perfect amount. I’ve used it on carrot cupcakes too. Always a hit. Now I need to try out that chocolate cream cheese frosting!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yumm–love those combinations Rachel! You’ll love the chocolate version too ❤️
Jana Manchester
This is the first time I’ve been able to make a fantastic frosting for my Cake!!; It’s delicious! Super easy!! Thanks for sharing ❤️
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it was such a success for you, Jana!
Jordan
K I don’t know what everyone else is smoking, but this icing is very loose and runny. It’s currently in my freezer to solidify more but it’s not looking good. I don’t understand how this holds up like buttercream (it doesn’t). Don’t get me wrong, it tastes delicious (little sweet actually) but the consistency is VERY RUNNY. I’d recommend making it the day before and sitting in your coldest part of your fridge overnight (if it can even do that).
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jordan! It sounds like a substitution may have been made, because this icing shouldn’t be runny at all. Did you happen to use a spreadable, tub-style cream cheese? How much sugar did you add? Hopefully we can troubleshoot the issue ☺️
Lauri
Can you freeze this icing?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lauri! You can definitely freeze this icing. It may need to be rewhipped again when you’re ready to use it, but otherwise it should be just fine! Enjoy 😊
Mindy
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!! I was wondering how I could incorporate white chocolate into this recipe and how much I would need?
Sam
Hi Mindy! I’m not exactly sure how incorporating white chocolate would go in this recipe since I haven’t tried it. Although it is not a cream cheese frosting, I do have a white chocolate buttercream. 🙂
Michelle Lewis
I have been searching and looking, trying to make a cream cheese icing that was able to stand the rest of time; when piped out of a bag, and this recipe was the one!!! It stood the test of time! I used it on a German Chocolate cake (as the cake or bread, my son would say 😂!) And the CC icing. I was also able to have Oreos on top! It was a sure hit at my father-in-laws 72nd birthday! He invited about 20 people. Thank you Sugar Spun Run!!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it turned out for you, Michelle! Thanks for trusting our recipe ❤️
Nicole
Awesome!…love this frosting recipe. We use it all the time with the carrot cake cupcake recipe and both never fail to please. Cupcakes are always moist, flavorful, and the recipe is simple and straightforward. And the frosting is perfect, creamy and not too sweet.
Alena
Amazing frosting, how long can the frosting stay out in room temperature?
Sam
Hi Alena! I generally don’t recommend more than several hours to be safe. If it’s really hot and humid maybe even less time. 🙂
Sherry Ann
Made this and loveeeeeeee it. Thank you
Andrea
Delish, cream cheese frosting is close to my heart and the only one I do not cringe when my kid eat it. No need to dye it, i only used 2 cups of sugar and it was perfect. It goes great with a banana chocolate chip muffins we made. And I bet it will be delicious on toast or a cinnamon bagel ….. Yummy. Thanks for sharing
Rhonda H.
Mix / blend powder sugar and salt with butter first. Powder sugar is dry, butter is oil wet-based so the powder sugar will combine easily and it will also break down any lumps in the powder sugar to that of a fine grains. Then add your cream cheese and vanilla. Works like a charm every time, no lumps, just perfect creaminess.