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.
Tasha
Try using a little less powdered sugar and adding crushed Oreos. Was amazing on chocolate cake without being overly sweet, and the added texture was great! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Sam
I’m so happy you enjoyed, Tasha! Thank you for commenting! <3
Brittany Friend
Just a question before I try this out ., is it too sweet ?
Sam
I don’t think so 🙂
Dennis
I made this frosting and it is yummy
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Dennis! 🙂
Rebecca
Can this be frozen
Sam
Yes it freezes quite well 🙂
Angie
Can I replace the butter with vegetable shortening?
Sam
Hi Angie, you can, but of course you will lose the flavor from the butter so just keep in mind the taste will be different.
Alvis
This has got to be my favourite cream cheese icing recipe by far. I tend to use a tad less sugar and start with chilled butter the way you would with buttercream, which makes it hold it’s shape pretty well! I also don’t have access to block cream cheese, so I just use the spreadable stuff and squeeze some water out of it using a kitchen towel. Tastes fantastic on carrot cake…… and with a spoon.
Sam
I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed it so much, Alvis! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you! <3
Saleha
Can we do it with double cream cheese which is salted as well ☹️ ???
Sam
Hi Saleha! I am not very familiar with using double cream cheese. It may work, but it may turn out to be very soft. If you try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙁
Winnie Lott
I had made this 4x , but each time it doesn’t hold up to decorate my cake . It’s too soft , does not keep up the shape even after I had put in refrigerator for a little bit to solidify it for a bit so I can frost my cake . I followed the recipe very well to no avail . Everyone liked the taste . Taste wise it’s the best but not to use to decorate .
Sam
Hi Winnie! I’m so sorry this has happened! You can always adjust the recipe by adding more powdered sugar to make it a little more stable if yours is too runny. 🙂
Kenny
I put this in a jar and eat it with a spoon occasionally. SSHhhh!!!!
Sam
😂 I’m so glad you enjoy it so much, Kenny! 🙂
CNF
Can I make this a day or two in advance and refrigerate for a couple of days before I frost my cake?
Sam
That will work just fine. Make sure to store in an air tight container, and it may need a quick stir before using. 🙂
Jaspy
2x batch 75% sugar for a cupcake decorating party! It’s the beeknees.
Areum💜💜
Hey Sam! I am 12 years old and I found your recipe for an occasion. Since it is Daughter’s day where I live, I don’t exactly have a stand mixer or an electrical one. Can I use a blender or grinder instead? Please advise asap 🙂
Sam
Hi Areum! I’m not sure how a blender would work here. You can make it by hand. It just makes for quite the workout. 🙂
Fes
Hi Sam,
By far, hands down, this is the best and no-frills recipe that I’ve ever used for making cream cheese frosting. Made it to top a red velvet cake for my daughter’s 8th birthday. Everyone loved it, but she really loved it as she doesn’t really care for buttercream frosting!
Going to play around with the amount of sugar and like you mention, using unsalted butter (with a sprinkle of salt) and salted butter and in the recipe as well. 🙂
Thank you so much.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Shannon Hurlburt
Best cream cheese icing I’ve made. I wouldn’t mind less sweet, but I wouldn’t want to affect the texture, which is a perfect thickness. I will have to try the chocolate version next.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Shannon! 🙂
Ahtziri
Amazing I made some red velvet cupcakes and the frosting was amazing thank you sm ! 💖
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Ahtziri! 🙂