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.
Linda Common
I see a lot of people asking about flavoring and color. I made this and added a crushed-to-powder package of dehydrated strawberries to it (the birthday girl’s favorite flavor, next to chocolate, which was the cake). It was amazing! Looked and tasted great.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Linda! Thank you for your feedback. It sounds delicious. 🙂
Abigail
I was wondering if this recipe is also sturdy enough to use as a filling and for frosting outside a layered 6inch cake for a crumb coat? Thank you in advance:)
Sam
Hi Abigail! It’s comparable to a buttercream. I typically use it in layer cakes. 🙂
Shauna
Hi I was just wondering if I could use a small amount of jello mix or cool aid for coloring? I forgot to pick up food coloring when I was at the store and it’s too late to go back out. So my options now are to try the jello/cool aid or to just not use any coloring at all. Also think maybe the jello would add a little flavoring as well (I have cherry jolly rancher jello)
Sam
Hi Shauna! It will add a little extra flavor, but you could add a little bit. 🙂
Susie
This is yet the better cream cheese frosting I have ever used on Cinnabon frosting recipe
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Susie! 🙂
Chelsea
Hi!
Thanks so much for the recipe! I was wondering if you had any tips for coloring it? I have gel food coloring, but don’t want to make it taste too weird or not be firm enough for piping. Thanks for any tips!
Sam
Hi Chelsea! This frosting is good for coloring. I would add a drop or two of the gel food coloring in and stir it in briefly at the end. 🙂
Maria rivera
Hi, I have a question, can I pipe my cupcakes ahead of time? Say the night before? I want to get a head start, thank you
Sam
Yes that will be fine, enjoy! 🙂
julie
amazing! i used it on a 3 tiered 9 in. cake and it perfectly spread across the tiers! there wasn’t enough to frost the sides, but that was my plan all along 🙂 i only used 2 cups of sugar and it turned out great! will be using this again!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Julie! 🙂
Kathleen
Can I use this recipe for filling on the inside of a cupcake?
Sam
Hi Kathleen! That will work great! 🙂
Nicole Rothstein
this looks amazing and I am excited to try it and I was just curious if this was a recipe where I could add coco powder to make a chocolate cream cheese frosting?
Sam
Hi Nicole! I actually have a chocolate cream cheese frosting you can try. 🙂
Nicole Rothstein
Oh perfect! That looks amazing!! Thank you very much for the speedy reply!
Mark DesLauriers
I was a little confused in the beginning of this recipe where you stated that you never use buttercream because it’s too sweet. Then it dawned on me that you are most likely used to American buttercream, the type that most cupcake shops use, which I find disgusting. Try a French buttercream. It uses much less sugar than the recipe here. It’s a little tricky as you need to cook a sugar syrup to the softball stage. Your cream cheese frosting looks great and similar to the one I usually use, except mine has twice as much butter. I did train under a Frenchman though! I thought I would look at some recipes for cream cheese frosting as I trying to eat lighter and yours fits the bill!
Sam
Hi Mark! I have tried a French Buttercream. I do like it a lot more than the American Buttercream. I also like Swiss Meringue Buttercream as well. 🙂
Pamela K Tolson
My 12 yr old granddaughter Rayna makes cupcakes. This has become our FAVORITE FROSTING !!! Thanks for sharing it.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Pamela! 🙂
Soraya Tjin Kon Kiem
Hi Sam, can I use rum in this recipe f)to make rum cream cheese to decorate a cake?
Sam
You have to be careful adding rum here, it can make the frosting curdle. You probably couldn’t add more than 2-3 teaspoons so it may not quite give you that flavor you are looking for.
CHERYL P CABRAL
I made the frosting today by weighing all the ingredients, and adding 1 tablespoon of corn starch. The frosting was thick. I did put it in the refrigerator since I had an error to do. An inquiring mind would like to know how the corn starch would help to thicken since it is normally added to a liquid?
Sam
Hi Cheryl! There is actually a lot of cornstarch in powered sugar, so adding additional powdered sugar would just thicken the frosting without adding additional sweetness. 🙂
Elizabeth B.
Can I make this frosting a couple days before making the cake? Tips or tricks?
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! Yes you can make this in advance. You will just want to keep it in an air tight container in the refrigerator. You may need to stir it briefly before using. 🙂
Ivy
Hi: If i want to add some colour to it, when should I put in the food colour? Thanks.
Sam
Hi Ivy! You would want to stir it in at the end. 🙂
Sophia
Hello, can I use granulated sweetner?
Sam
Hi Sophia! I don’t recommend a granulated sugar/sweetener here. 🙁
Karen
Thank you for this recipe! This is the only icing I use on my cakes! I live in the Philippines where everything melts in the blink of an eye because of the humidity. And yet, this icing stands up to the heat. Using cream cheese block is key. I also want them thicker, so using cornstarch is a good trick. Keep up the great recipes.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy it so much, Karen! 🙂
Karen Sample
I will never buy store bought frosting again! We were stuck at home in the Winter Storm that hit Texas and had to find a frosting recipe. I tried this one and my family has made me promise to always use this one from now on! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Karen! 🙂
Alis Wynne
This was great! It was super simple to make, and it turned out amazing! I used it for cupcakes and I had exactly enough without having to scrape off the bowl. I will definitely be using this recipe again when I need to make cream cheese frosting.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Alis! 🙂