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.
Gigi
Your frosting is the most delicious I have tried. I made the Chocolate Frosting recipe and added 1.5 tsp instant coffee to the vanilla to make a mocha frosting. Delicious! I want to eat the frosting by itself.
Ronnie
I just made this now to frost your spice cake recipe. I followed the directions and used 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar. I found it a little runny so I added 4 tbsp of cornstarch which helped. I still found it very sweet and the flavour of the cream cheese was very mild. Do you think adding another 1/2 pkg of cream cheese would help? Otherwise, it frosted great and my cake looks like it came from a bakery!😊
Sam
I’m glad you ultimately enjoyed it, Ronnie! Adding cream cheese won’t help thicken it. Did you use brick style full fat cream cheese? If not that can cause it to be a bit thinner. 🙁
Sunseeker
Hi, a long time ago I found a recipe for cream cheese frosting that added a tbsp of orange juice, it added a whole nother dimension to the taste and oh boy it was delicious!
do you recommend adding the orange juice?
Sam
I haven’t tried it with adding orange juice. I’m not sure how much the flavor will change if you just add a little bit of orange juice. To get a good orange flavor you would likely need orange zest here as well.
Sophia
How long can you leave the frosting out at room temp? Have a party this afternoon and want to use it to frost the cupcakes but don’t have enough room in the fridge
Sam
Hi Sophia! It will be good for several hours. If it’s really hot, maybe a little less time. 🙂
Nikkie
Hey there.
I want to make a chocolate olive oil cake for Christmas, and thought a cream cheese icing would be perfect! Could I add food colouring to this recipe?
Sam
Hi Nikkie! You can add food coloring to this recipe. Just stir it in briefly at the end. 🙂
noël adams
Delicious! Spread and piped well. I tripled the recipe, using slightly less sugar, and found it to scale well.
Amanda
can this be frozen??
Sam
Hi Amanda! It may need a slight whipping upon thawing, but yes it can be frozen. 🙂
Anne Troy
Perfect.
Tina Husfelt
Easy simple and delicious
sheena
This is very good only 1 thing if you want more cream cheese flavor only use 3 cups powder sugar! Tasted much better, 4 is too sweet imo.
Queen herself
I Live In Tanzania in a hot weather city called Dar es Salaam my question is can I substitute a 1:1 ratio of butter with vegetable shortening in addition to 1tbsp of meringue powder and the same amount of sugar and cream cheese as listed in the recipe with it hold its shape? I don’t want to waste ingredients as butter and cream cheese are expensive in Tanzania dear. I need your advice, please
Sam
Unfortunately, without having tried it, I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. 🙁
Laurie
I used 300 g of confectioners sugar instead of 500. Still fabulous! Likely a different texture, but for my purposes that wasn’t important.
Terri
I was desperately seeking a good cream cheese frosting for the churro birthday cake I was making, as another one I found just wasn’t right. Adding 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp butter extract, resulted in the perfect compliment to the cake. You saved me! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Jamie
Hey, making this for my son’s 5th birthday cake. Party is tomorrow at a park in warm SoCal. Do you recommend frosting the cake tonight and refrigerating? Or frosting it day of before transporting? Just wondering how it will hold up to warm weather. Wouldn’t want it to melt entirely etc.
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jamie! If it’s really warm it will start to melt. Either way will work here. Personally I would frost it the day ahead and refrigerate until transportation just to reduce my stress the day of the event. 🙂
Kat
How far in advance can you make the cream cheese frosting? would it be OK in the fridge for a couple of days?
Sam
Hi Kat! This frosting will be good up to 5 days wrapped tightly in the refrigerator. 🙂
Ashleigh
I cut the recipe in half for my mini cupcakes and used 150g sugar, worked like a dream and very tasty! Thank for you this recipe.
Jennifer Johnson- Heim
Hi, I can only get spreadable cream cheese sold in the tubs where I live are there any adjustments to be made to the recipe?
Sam
Unfortunately I don’t know how to make any adjustments with spreadable cream cheese. 🙁 It could still work, but your frosting may not hold it’s shape as well.
Mary Fields
Your vanilla cake recipe is baking! I had to substitute sour cream mixed with milk for the buttermilk. Hoping that should be fine.
I’m going to do a chocolate cream cheese frosting.
And I’m going to freeze one layer and just frost a single layer.
We are 80 yrs old and cannot eat a whole layer cake before it spoils.
A slice of a single layer is plenty.
Sparkle
Beth
Hi!
A quick and easy way to make a great buttermilk substitute is to add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to your milk. It will curdle in a few minutes. I had success adding it to soy milk, for my lactose-intolerant children’s favorite buttermilk pie.
Wendy
Hi, can you tell me what tip you used to frost these cupcakes?
Thanks!
Sam
Wilton 2d. 🙂
Jay
My first time making cream cheese frosting and it’s so delicious. Thank you for your wonderful recipe. A+
Luke
This is wonderful and perfectly delicious. I love it. Kids loved it.