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
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (brick-style, not spreadable) (226g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 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.
Amanda says
The icing was the perfect consistency to ice the cake (your white cake recipe) but when eaten was far to sweet for most of the guests, although they were polite and ate it, i could see them eating around the icing after awhile. And I can take a lot of sweet. I think it would be the right sweetness for a carrot cake or zucchini or such. I would like to use this recipe again as I like the richness perhaps I will try one less cup of sugar next time as another baker suggests? I enjopyed making your recipes and the very thurough instructions. THANK YOU!
Sam says
Hi Amanda! You can reduce the sugar, just keep in mind that the icing won’t be quite as stiff and wouldn’t be ideal for piping. I hope that helps! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Amanda! I am sorry that you found the icing too sweet. With a few adjustments, I hope that you can get it just right. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂
Audrey says
Hi! I love all your recipes! I made the cream cheese frosting today and it turned out very well. I do find it a tad too sweet. Is there any way I can reduce the sugar without the frosting getting thin and runny?
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Audrey! I am so glad that you have enjoyed my recipes. You can reduce the amount of powdered sugar added, however, you want to make sure that you get it the right consistency and the frosting does not become too thin. You may have to experiment some. 🙂
ScaryMommy says
An easy and tasty “secret ingredient” I use in my cream cheese icing…pineapple juice.
You’re welcome. Enjoy! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
Thanks for sharing, Jess! 🙂
Min says
It is too sweet for us! I think will go for 2 cups of PS next time. Thank you for the recipe.
Sam says
Hi Min! If you reduce the powdered sugar the icing will be a lot thinner and a lot more runny. 🙂
Dana says
Hi! I am wondering if Min might find that adding a little extra salt, rather than cutting the sugar, helps achieve the level of sweetness she prefers. Also, I used to make a cream cheese frosting recipe that called for a little fresh lemon juice. Maybe that will help?
Jaime says
My first cream cheese frosting. I stopped at 3 cups of PS, which was the perfect amount of sweetness for me. It was perfect! I’ll never buy frosting ever again. Thank you for posting it.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cream cheese frosting. Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Srivani says
Hi, how to make cream cheese at home itself, as we don’t get cream cheese in market as ours is a small town . It will be very helpful if u can share the recipe of cream cheese .
Sharon Schalow says
Hello,
Made this exactly as stated and it is wonderful. Had to kick the husband out of the kitchen so I would have enough for his birthday cake. Thank you so much and Happy New Year!!
Sharon
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cream cheese frosting, Sharon! I hope there is enough left for your husband’s cake too. lol. I hope that he has a wonderful birthday! Thanks so much for commenting. 🙂
Stakan says
I made it with the cream cheese I could get. It wasn’t the tub kind, but it wasn’t Philadelphia either. It came out great in taste, but it is too thin. I added starch to try to thicken it, but it is still too runny. The frosting is not holding its shape and running down the cupcakes (your carrot cupcakes) a bit. I think maybe our flat is too warm??? I have no room in the refrigerator given all the preparations for the New Year’s party. Oh well. They don’t look good, but they taste good.
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out, Stakan! Yeah, I have yet to master the right consistency with the tub cream cheese myself. Regardless, I am happy that it tastes delicious. Happy New Year to you! 🙂
Stakan says
I’m in the same boat as some of the others here. We do not have the block-style cream cheese in my country. We used to have Philadelphia, but it disappeared some years ago after the US put many sanctions on individuals here, which then caused political tensions too. I’m tempted to try with the tub kind, but I know it is not the same. Unfortunately I waited to the last minute though and need this today fora New Year’s party tonight. Not the best time to experiment!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Stakan! I don’t recommend using whipped cream cheese or the tube cream cheese because the consistency is not the same. You can try using what you have on hand and see how it does. Fingers crossed that it works wonderfully for you. Keep me posted on the outcome. 🙂
Milly says
Simply delicious and it was easy
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you found the cream cheese frosting easy and delicious, Milly! 🙂