The Best Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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! Would be something that I could pipe into the middle of a cupcake? What can I add to make it more fluffy for the inside of the cupcake? Thank you!!
Hi, Carissa! Yes, you can use this frosting to fill a cupcake. You will do so after it has been baked and the cupcake has cooled. 🙂
Hi
I loved your recipe it turned out great❤️
Can you please do one with mango flavour.
Thank you
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Sukh! You can try adding puree mango to the frosting when mixed… sounds awesome actually! If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Absolutely perfect. So creamy, not too sweet oh and that velvety texture. This one is a keeper. Easy to mix up too. It complimented my Olive Oil Carrot Cake beautifully.
I am so glad that you enjoyed the frosting and that it paired perfectly with your carrot cake, Pamela. Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Tasted great. I backed off on the powdered sugar a bit and tasted to my liking. Can frosting be refrigerated or frozen? i have left overs. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Made my daughter bday cupcakes perfect.
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Adam! Thanks for trying my recipe! The frosting can be made and transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. 🙂
Love the recipe! I also have leftovers that I’ve decided to freeze. What happens when I defrost the icing? Can I still pipe it? What’s the best way to defrost – in the fridge overnight? Thank you!
Hi, Amy! The best way to defrost the frosting is to place it in the refrigerator overnight. You will then mix it up again. If the icing is runny at all you can you add more powder sugar until you achieve the desired consistency. You will then be able to pipe it. I hope that helps! 🙂
Omg, this icing is delicious. Im really not supposed to eat this because im allergic to milk(creamcheese). I dipped my finger in just to make sure it was good, next thing i know i have a spoon in my hand n the hell with my allergy. I had to walk away after the 1 spoon because i would have kept going.
I am sorry that you can’t enjoy more of it due to your allergy, Kathy, but I am glad what you did try you enjoyed. Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Does this make enough to do a 2 layer 9 inch cake with frosting in the middle as well as covered? I’m new to baking lol and making a cake for my MIL for her birthday. Just want to be sure I can just make 1 batch and 1.5 or double. I would like frosting between the layers. Thanks!
Hi, Lindsay! One batch should be plenty to cover a 9″ cake with a layer of icing in between the two cakes. I hope that your mother in law enjoys it and has a nice birthday celebration. 🙂
Hi, I want to try this recipe.but after preparing frost should I keep it in fridge before decorating d cake ad butter melts
Hi, Mani! Cream cheese frosting can sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours safely, after that it must be stored in the refrigerator. 🙂
How long can I store it in the fridge?
Hi Rossie! It should be good for about 5-7 days. 🙂
I’ve literally just finished making this recipe as well as the carrot cake cupcakes recipe found on your blog!!!!! It’s heavenly!!! I’ve never been much of a cream cheese frosting fan but this I can eat with a spoon!!!! So so so so good!!! Thank you!
You’re so very welcome, Kavita!! Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it! 🙂
How many cups of icing do you think this makes
Hi Abby! Unfortunately I haven’t measured how many cups this makes. I will have to do that next time I make it. I just know it makes enough to cover 1 2-layer 8 or 9 inch cake. 🙂
Im a huge fan of cream cheese frosting. I won’t eat cake without it. However, I found this recipe to be overbearingly sweet. After putting in just two cups of powder sugar it was VERY sweet. I’m glad I tasted it before adding the next two cups in. Of course it wasn’t as thick as I would like it to be so I added in about 1/2 cup of flour and kept it in the fridge until it was thick enough. I’m making this frosting from Germany and they don’t sell block cream cheese so I had to settle for the Philadelphia tubs. Perhaps that had something to do with the sweetness? I also added some lemon juice to cut back on the sweetness which really helped and added a nice subtle tang.
Hi Elle, I’m sorry to hear that this recipe was not a hit for you. It is a sweet frosting, but I’ve never found it to be overbearingly so (in fact, one thing I love about it is that I don’t consider it to be too sweet). Everyone has their own personal preferences though, and that’s OK! Unless the tubs of cream cheese are sweetened that shouldn’t really impact the sweetness of the recipe BUT I still don’t recommend using the tubs because they are typically not made the same way as the bricks and are much too soft to use for frosting (unless that is different in Germany than it is in the US).
Hi! I’m planning on baking a 6 in round cake with 4 layers, and pipe some flowers on top for mother’s day, would this recipe be enough for the whole cake or should I make one and a half recipe?
Hi Michelle! I would probably make extra just to be safe. It may cover all 4 layers but it would definitely be better to have too much than not enough. 🙂
Hi, is it okay if I don’t
use a hand/stand mixer?
Hi, Cathey! You can use a whisk instead but it will take a lot of work to get all ingredients well combined. Using a mixer helps combine ingredients and helps fluff up the frosting. 🙂
I need to double this recipe but I only have one block of cream cheese. Would it taste bad if I used 3 sticks of butter and 1 block of cream cheese instead of 2 and 2?
Hi, Stephanie! Yes, I do not recommend it. This recipe makes quite a bit of frosting for one batch.
Made this frosting recipe for a lemon cake and it was absolutely amazing! The taste was perfectly sweet and tangy with the lemon and worked wonderfully for icing the cake.
That sounds amazing, Sadie! I am so glad that your lemon frosting turned out so well! Thanks for using my recipe as a base. Enjoy! 🙂