The Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
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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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Hi! I love this frosting when I use it with cupcakes. However, I tried to do a 3 layer cake with this frosting and after a couple hours out of the fridge, the whole cake fell apart 😔 is this not a good recipe to use for filling a cake? Do you have one that is more stable? Thanks for reading.
Hi Bermarie! Hmm, I use this icing all the time to frost cakes, it’s excellent for it and just as good as buttercream. Was the cake in a very warm/humid environment? That might have done it.
This is the best cream cheese frosting I’ve ever made or had in my life! Thank you!
So happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Zia!
hello can i use this recipe for my milk tea..very much appreciated
Hi Cristina, I’m not sure what you mean.
Hi! Thank you for the recipe! I’m assuming but just making sure….the cake will need to be refrigerated after icing it because of the cream cheese?
Hi Kim! The cream cheese frosting will be ok for a day or so at room temperature but it is best to refrigerate it. 🙂
Hi van I use spredible cream cheese plz respond fast because 8 am making it right now
Hi Marc! I’m sorry but the spreadable cream cheese won’t work. The frosting won’t really set up if you use the spreadable stuff. 🙁
Can I make this overnight and then frost the next morning?
Hi Allison! That will work just fine. Make sure to cover it so it doesn’t dry out overnight. It may need to sit at room temperature for a few minutes so it’s easier to work with. 🙂
Every time I make cream cheese frosting, I let the cream cheese and butter out for several hours, but the frosting is still cold and kind of hard to work with. It usually tears up the cake a little, especially if I’m doing split layers. Any advice?
Hi, Jay! As you mix your frosting, add in a little milk until you get the desired consistency. Milk will thin it out and make it easier to spread. I hope that helps!
Use less sugar.
I warmed the butter in the microwave too.
I used 3 cups of the icing(powdered) sugar instead of 4 cups. Perfect on my banana cake recipe.
Love this recipe!
I am so glad that you loved it, Nina! Thank you for trying my recipe! 🙂
I’m trying it today on chocolate cupcakes😉 I’ll let you know.
Happy Baking! I hope that you enjoy them, Lisa! 🙂
I LOVE the cupcake recipe that this was linked to, wasn’t a fan of the frosting. I know frosting is suppose to be sweet, but thats what I like about cheese frosting, is that it usually is more tangy. I feel like you can cut down a LOT on the sugar and increase a bit on the cream cheese. My 4 year old sons reaction when he tasted was “this doesn’t taste like cheese at all mama” (he’s not a fan of cheese so he was worried when I made this). Just my own take, more cheese, less sugar. But the carrot cupcakes were PERFECT!
I appreciate your feedback, Zofia. I am glad that the cupcakes turned out perfectly, but sorry this was too sweet for you. 🙂
I used 3 cups of the icing(powdered) sugar instead of 4 cups. Perfect on my banana cake recipe.
Hi Zofia,
We don’t like our frosting too sweet, either. I usually add about 1/4 tablespoon of salt and that helps to tone it down a bit!
This is by far the best cream cheese frosting ever…I tried it a red velvet cake
I am so glad that you enjoyed it and that it paired perfectly on your red velvet cake, Mariama! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Can you make frosting the day before you need to use it?
Yes, you can! You just want to store it in an airtight container and in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. 🙂
Hi!! I had seen a recipe almost exactly like yours but it used 2 (8 oz) cream cheese. Can I just do it and keep everything else the same? (the other recipe only called for 4 cups of confectioners sugar also). Thank you for your help!
Hi Stephanie! It will taste different and have a different consistency, it won’t be as sweet and it will be runnier. I personally recommend the recipe as written. I hope that helps!
I used only 2 cups of powered sugar and it was still delicious
I am so glad that it turned out well for you and you enjoyed it, Tara! 🙂
Hi, May I ask at which point do I add the colouring?
Hi, Serene! Adding color will be the last step of the process. 🙂
If you have a food processor you can put granulated sugar and turn it on until it’s a fine powder. Voila! You have powdered sugar.
PS I love this recipe.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, Bonny! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
I can’t get powdered sugar, any chance this can be made with granulated sugar instead?
Hi Phil! Unfortunately it would probably be too grainy. 🙁