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.
Cathy
Delicious! Made a chocolate cake for my son’s birthday. He usually doesn’t eat cake but he had 2 slices and mentioned how much he liked the frosting. Will definitely make again.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wow! Sounds like this one was a real hit for you, Cathy ❤️
Whitney
I plan on making this tomorrow and want to add freeze dried strawberry powder for color and flavor. Would you suggest adding it before or after the powdered sugar?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Whitney! You can add it after. Let us know how it turns out 😊
Allie
Love this recipe so easy and delicious!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review, Allie! We’re so happy you liked the frosting 💜
Kelly
Will this crust over?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kelly! This frosting will crust like a buttercream 😊
Kellie
do you think if I wrote in red (of the same frosting) it would bleed onto the white?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kellie! If you let the white frosting crust and set up well before adding the red, it *should* be fine.
Betty
The best I ever had , not too sweet and so silky.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving it a try, Betty! ❤️
Johaunna
Hi!! Will the spreadable cream cheese as opposed to the block kind make any noticeable difference in the frosting, or its taste? I’m just planning to use it for cake for my family so it doesn’t need to be anything too fancy, just wondering! Thanks! 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Johaunna! We don’t recommend the spreadable kind because it will prevent the frosting from thickening properly. Stick with block-style for the best results 😊
Bonnie
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make!
Debbie
Super good
Harit
I have a question.
If the stores don’t have powdered sugar products which does not contain cornstarch, can I make homemade powdered sugar without cornstarch to add to the cream cheese buttercream?
Sam
Hi Harit! To be honest I am not sure how stable it will be. Cornstarch acts as a thickener which helps the frosting to keep its shape. I’m hoping someone else who has tried it can chime in.
Jess
Too sweet for me. Even measured the sugar in grams. 400-500g of sugar is too much.
Natalie Ream
Made this cream cheese frosting to put on my lemon and raspberry cupcakes and it was a hit!!
I couldn’t stop eating it I was making it!!
Thanks for the great recipe!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum, that combination sounds divine! Thanks for sharing, Natalie 🥰
Cheryl
Can this be topped with fondant decorations with an edible photo or can the edible photo be put right on the frosting?
Sam
Hi Cheryl! I have not personally tried using these things, but this frosting will behave very much like a standard American buttercream. If it will work on a buttercream you will have no issues here. 🙂
Lenny
I saw cream cheese frosting in the dollar store, and it screamed BUY ME. It was nasty. I made 1/8 of this recipe to just eat out of the bowl. Simple. delicious. and definitely fixed my craving. thanks!
Noriko
Amazing recipe! I was looking for less sweet frosting than buttercream and this is perfect! One question: Can you freeze the cream? How do you defrost it?
Sam
This frosting can be frozen. You would just want to move it to the refrigerator when you want to thaw it. It may need a brief mixing again after thawing. 🙂
Christine
Can I adjust the sugar for less sweetness ?
Sam
Hi Christine! You can adjust the sugars, but your frosting may not be as firm. 🙂
Sharon
do u have to do any adjusting when adding orange zest & how much per recipe?
Sam
Hi Sharon! There are no adjustments needed for orange zest. You will just want to add it to taste. I would just stir it in briefly at the end. 🙂
Dee
I used powdered Swerve and it came out fabulously!
Maria
It’s delicious