Follow the two easy steps to make the best cream cheese frosting. It's fluffy, velvety, and perfectly tangy. Use it for red velvet cake, carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, and more!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Cream Cheese Frosting
- Tips For The Ingredients
- 2 Important Tips For Making The Best Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 Steps For Making Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 Ways To Make Stiffer Cream Cheese Frosting
- Uses For Cream Cheese Frosting
- Frequently Asked Questions
- VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
- More Frosting Recipes
- Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
Why You'll Love This Cream Cheese Frosting
This is the only cream cheese frosting recipe I use for various desserts. Here are the four reasons why I love it so much:
- Fluffy cream cheese frosting: It's airy and stiff enough to frost any cake and cupcakes.
- Not overly sweet: I added the minimum amount of powdered sugar to balance out the sweetness.
- Easy recipe: Whip it up in under 5 minutes!
- Perfectly tangy: You can taste the perfect amount of cream cheese flavor.
We all need one reliable cream cheese frosting recipe to make a variety of cakes and desserts. And today, I’m sharing how to make my favorite one! It is the easiest, fluffiest cream cheese frosting recipe ever.
It is American buttercream, which is made by combining icing sugar and butter. Normally, American buttercream is overly sweet to my liking, but this frosting isn't, thanks to the addition of cream cheese!
I'm sharing how to make it step by step, with essential tips to succeed.
Let's get started!
Tips For The Ingredients
- Unsalted butter: It's important to use soft, room-temperature butter so that it blends well with other ingredients easily.
- Powder sugar: Sift it ahead of time if it looks very lumpy.
- Salt: It adds more depth to the flavor.
- Cream cheese: Use cold cream cheese. Leave it at room temperature for about 15 minutes to soften it slightly.
- Vanilla extract (Optional): Use any extracts or flavors you like. I did not add this time.
What type of cream cheese should I use for the frosting?
Use thick, full-fat cream cheese to make fluffy cream cheese frosting. I like to use Philadelphia original cream cheese for its taste.
Avoid using spreadable cream cheese, as it makes the frosting significantly looser.
2 Important Tips For Making The Best Cream Cheese Frosting
Tip 1. Use softened butter at room temperature.
Leave butter at room temperature for a few hours beforehand to soften it completely. Cold butter does not blend well with other ingredients, which makes it harder to make a smooth cream cheese frosting. And partially melted butter leads to a loose frosting.
Tip 2. Use cold cream cheese.
It's important to use cold cream cheese to make stiffer cream cheese frosting. Whip it at medium-high to high speed to break down all the pieces of cream cheese.
2 Steps For Making Cream Cheese Frosting
Step 1. Beat butter, powdered sugar, and salt.
Beat room-temperature butter, salt, and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment until fluffy and the volume doubles (for about 5 minutes at medium speed with one batch). Scrape off the bottom and sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula to make an even frosting.
Aya's Quick Tip💡
Start mixing it at low speed first so that the powdered sugar does not scatter everywhere (speaking from experience😁).
I usually repeat turning the switch of a stand mixer on and off quickly to pulse, and gradually increase the speed. It works perfectly each time!
Step 2. Add cream cheese.
Add pieces of cold cream cheese. (Leave it at room temperature for about 15 minutes to soften a little bit.) Whip it at high speed until evenly incorporated. Scrape off the bottom and sides of the bowl and the paddle again.
If you prefer glossier, softer frosting, you don't need to whip it further. Continue whipping for a few more minutes at medium speed to make it fluffier. The frosting becomes more pipeable with more whipping.
Before whipping more:
After whipping for a few minutes:
Look how the texture changes in a few minutes! This one is stiff enough to frost any cake, or pipe decorations.
Aya's Quick Tip💡
Be careful not to whip the frosting too long after adding the cream cheese to prevent it from getting too airy.
One batch of the recipe is enough for about 12 cupcakes or one simple 6-inch cake. Double the recipe as you like!
2 Ways To Make Stiffer Cream Cheese Frosting
Although this cream cheese frosting is stiff enough to frost a layer cake, you may need even thicker frosting for a large wedding cake or tiered cake. In that case, try one of the two ways:
1. Add more powdered sugar.
More powdered sugar leads to thicker frosting.
2. Add more butter.
By adding more butter, the frosting becomes thicker. This is my favorite way.
Add one more stick of butter and one more pinch of salt to the original recipe. All the other amounts of ingredients stay the same!
* With more butter, I don't whip the frosting too much after blending the cream cheese. It gets too airy when I whip it for a few minutes due to the double amount of butter. I usually whip it for about a minute at medium speed.
Uses For Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese buttercream is incredibly versatile and goes with various kinds of desserts! Here are some of my favorite ways:
- Whole cakes: Frost any of your favorite cakes, such as red velvet cake, carrot cake, strawberry cake, chocolate mint cake, banana bread, chocolate cake, pumpkin cake, spice cake, lemon cake, hummingbird cake, orange cake, etc. The list keeps going on!
- Cupcakes: Some of my favorite cupcakes to pair with cream cheese frosting are carrot cake cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, and red velvet cupcakes.
- Cookies: Frost over a variety of cookies, such as pumpkin cookies, sugar cookies, whoopie pies, red velvet cookies, and gingerbread cookies.
- Cheesecake: Spread or pipe it on top of a classic baked cheesecake to add a unique decoration.
- Cinnamon Rolls: Spread it over a classic homemade cinnamon roll. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee in the morning. The best thing ever!
- Macarons: Use it as a filling for your macarons. Pair it with other flavors, such as apricot, strawberries, pumpkin, mint, chocolate, etc.
- Custom frosting: Mix it with other flavors to create something new, such as pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting, lemon cream cheese frosting, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the leftover frosting in an airtight container. This frosting needs to be refrigerated, especially because it contains cream cheese.
You can store it for up to 5 - 6 days in the refrigerator or a few months in the freezer.
Leave it at room temperature for a short time until it softens enough to frost.
Yes, you can add any extracts or flavors you like!
The possible causes:
1. The butter: partially melted butter leads to looser buttercream.
2. Cream cheese: The frosting gets softer when you make it with cream cheese at room temperature.
3. It might be because the frosting is not whipped enough. This is not a problem if you want softer, shinier frosting. But whip more if you like stiffer, fluffier frosting!
4. Were the tools or environment not warm while making the frosting? Working in a cool space is ideal to prevent the cream cheese and butter from getting too soft.
You can! But please be mindful that the sugar helps to make stiffer buttercream: The frosting gets softer if you reduce powdered sugar too much, especially as it sits at room temperature for some time. For this recipe, I cut off as much sugar as I think is necessary without losing too much consistency.
VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
Watch the video tutorial to learn how to make the best cream cheese frosting and deeply understand each step and technique!
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉
More Frosting Recipes
If you liked this homemade cream cheese buttercream, check out other fluffy and smooth buttercream recipes as well!
💬 Did you try this recipe? I'd like to hear your feedback! I also love hearing how you enjoyed it for your special occasion. If you have a question, leave it in the comment section below, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a bowl and hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 113 g (1 US stick) Unsalted butter (softened) or 2 sticks for the stiffer buttercream
- 250 g (2 cups) Powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt Add 1 more pinch for the stiffer buttercream.
- 226 g (1 8-oz block) Cream cheese (cold) Leave it at room temperature for about 15 minutes to soften slightly.
- ½ - 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract Optional. I did not add it this time.
NOTE: For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements (US customary units) are provided for your convenience.
Instructions
- Beat butter, powdered sugar, and salt: Beat room-temperature butter, salt, and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment until fluffy and the volume doubles (for about 5 minutes for one batch at medium speed). Scrape off the bottom and sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula to make an even frosting.Start mixing it at low speed first so that the powdered sugar does not scatter everywhere. I usually repeat turning the switch of a stand mixer on and off quickly to pulse, and gradually increase the speed. It works perfectly each time!113 g Unsalted butter (softened), 250 g Powdered sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- Add cream cheese: Add pieces of cold cream cheese and vanilla extract (optional). Whip it at high speed until evenly incorporated. Scrape off the bottom and sides of the bowl and the paddle again.If you prefer glossier, softer frosting, you don't need to whip it further. Continue whipping for a few more minutes at medium speed to make it fluffier. The frosting becomes more pipeable with more whipping.Be careful not to whip the frosting too long after adding the cream cheese to prevent it from getting too airy.226 g Cream cheese (cold), ½ - 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Stiffer frosting
- Add one more stick of butter and one pinch of salt to the original recipe. All the other amounts of ingredients stay the same.With more butter, I don't whip the frosting too much after blending the cream cheese. It gets too airy when I whip it for a few minutes due to the double amount of butter. I usually whip it for about a minute at medium speed.
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