We all need one good cream cheese frosting recipe to make a variety of cakes and desserts, such as red velvet cake, carrot cake, pumpkin spice bread, macaron, cupcakes, bread, cookies, etc! Today, I’m sharing how to make my favorite one - It is smooth, stiff, and not overly sweet. And the best part is, it is so easy to make! Follow the 2 steps and my tips to make the perfect cream cheese frosting ever!
📌 Why you'll love this cream cheese frosting
- Not overly sweet.
- It's so simple to make. - Whip it up in 5 minutes!
- You can taste the perfect balance of cream cheese flavor.
- It's stiff enough to frost a cake and pipe decoration on top.
This simple buttercream is American buttercream which is made by combining icing sugar and butter. Normally, American buttercream is overly sweet to my liking, but I love this cream cheese frosting since it is not too sweet and stiff enough to frost a layer cake, thanks to the addition of cream cheese!
📌 What's In Cream Cheese Frosting?
4 simple ingredients
- Unsalted butter: It's important to use soft room temperature butter so it blends well with other ingredients easily. Leave it at room temperature beforehand.
- Powder sugar: Sift it ahead if it looks very lumpy.
- Salt: It adds more depth in flavor.
- Cream cheese: Use cold cream cheese. Leave it at room temperature for 15 - 30 minutes to soften it a little bit.
- 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 frosting?
Use thick full-fat cream cheese for stiffer cream cheese frosting and a richer flavor. I like to use Philadelphia original cream cheese for its taste.
Do not use spreadable cream cheese since the texture of the frosting gets a lot looser with it.
📌 How To Make Cream Cheese Frosting
The 2 Simple Steps
- Whip room-temperature butter, salt, and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment until very fluffy.
Start mixing it at low speed first so that the powdered sugar is not scattering everywhere (speaking from experience😁), and gradually turn it up to medium to medium-high speed. I usually whip for about five minutes with one batch. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl and a paddle with a rubber spatula on the way to make an even frosting.
- Add cold cream cheese (leave it at room temperature for 15 - 30 mins to soften a little bit, depending on the room temperature).
Whip it at high speed until evenly incorporated or for another few minutes at medium speed to make it fluffier. The frosting gets fluffier and more pipeable by whipping more. If you like glossier, softer frosting, do not whip further. Clean the bowl and paddle on the way.
Before whipping more:
After whipping for a few minutes:
Look how the texture changes in a few minutes! Now, It is stiff enough to frost a cake and pipe decorations:
📌 More Tips For Success
- Do not use cold or partially melted butter. Cold butter does not blend well with other ingredients, which makes it harder to make a smooth frosting. And partially melted butter leads to runny cream cheese frosting.
- I always add all the powdered sugar to the butter. When making a bunch at once (ex. 3 - 4 batches), the powdered sugar can scatter everywhere even if you mix them at low speed. In that case, repeat turning off and on the switch of a stand mixer quickly to pulse (I call it peek-a-boo motion😁) and gradually speed up. It works perfectly each time!
- Cream cheese gets softer when it's at room temperature and stiffer when it's cold. That's why 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 and make a smooth frosting.
- Be careful not to whip the frosting too long after adding the cream cheese to prevent it from getting too airy.
- If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also make it with an electric hand mixer.
- One batch of the recipe is enough for about 12 cupcakes or 1 6-inch cake. Double the recipe or more as you like!
📌 2 Ways To Make Stiffer Cream Cheese Frosting
Although the basic cream cheese frosting is stiff enough to frost layered cakes, maybe you may need even thicker frosting to frost a large cake or heavier cake. In that case, try one of the 2 ways:
1. Add more powdered sugar.
More powdered sugar leads to thicker frosting.
2. Add more butter.
By adding more butter, the frosting gets thicker and more airy. This is my favorite way!
Add one more stick of butter and one pinch of salt to the original recipe:
- Unsalted butter: + 1 more stick
- Powder sugar
- Salt: + a more pinch
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract (Optional)
Adding a little bit more salt enhances the flavor of cream cheese. All the other amounts of ingredients stay the same!
With more butter, I do not whip it too much after the cream cheese is blended. I usually whip it for about a minute at medium speed (You can adjust it as you like!). It gets too airy when I whip it for a few minutes due to the double amount of butter.
With more butter:
It might be a bit hard to see the difference with images, but this frosting is a bit stiffer and fluffier than the first one:
📌 Uses For Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese frosting is incredibly versatile and goes with so many kinds of desserts. Find your favorite ways to use it from the list!
- Whole cakes: Frost any of your favorite cakes, such as red velvet cake, carrot cake, strawberry cake, chocolate mint cake, banana bread, chocolate cake, chocolate banana cake, pumpkin cake, spice cake, lemon cake, hummingbird cake, orange cake, etc. The list keeps going on!
- Cupcakes: Frost any cupcake, such as carrot cake cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes.
- Cookies: Enjoy frosting many kinds of cookies, such as pumpkin cookies, sugar cookies, whoopie pies, cookie sandwiches, 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, chocolate cream cheese frosting, lemon cream cheese frosting, etc.
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store cream cheese frosting?
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 fridge or a few months in the freezer.
Leave it at room temperature for some time beforehand until it gets soft enough to frost.
Can I add flavors to this frosting?
Yes, you can add any extracts or flavors you like!
My cream cheese frosting is loose. Why?
The possible causes
- The butter: partially melted butter leads to looser buttercream.
- Cream cheese: The frosting gets softer when you make it with cream cheese at room temperature.
- 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!
- Were the tools or environment not warm while making the frosting? Working in a cooling space is ideal to prevent the cream cheese and butter from getting too soft.
Can I cut off more sugar?
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 sugar as much as I think it's durable without losing too much consistency.
📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
Watch this video to learn how to make the best cream cheese frosting visually and have a deeper understanding of each step.
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉
📌 More Frosting Recipes
If you liked this homemade cream cheese frosting, check out other fluffy and smooth buttercream recipes as well!
- Swiss Buttercream
- Italian Buttercream
- French Buttercream
- lemon Buttercream
- lemon Buttercream frosting
💬 If you loved this easy cream cheese frosting recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.
Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a bowl and hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 113 g Unsalted butter (softened) or 2 sticks for the stiffer buttercream
- 250 g Powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt Add 1 more pinch for the stiffer buttercream.
- 226 g Cream cheese
- 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
- Whip room-temperature butter, salt, and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment until very fluffy. Start mixing it at low speed first so that the powdered sugar is not scattering everywhere and gradually turn it up to medium to medium-high speed. I usually whip for about five minutes with one batch. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl and a paddle with a rubber spatula on the way to make an even frosting.113 g Unsalted butter (softened), 250 g Powdered sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- Add cold cream cheese (leave it at room temperature for 15 - 30 mins to soften a little bit, depending on the room temperature). Whip it at high speed until evenly incorporated or for another few minutes at medium speed to make it fluffier. The frosting gets thicker and more pipeable by whipping more. If you like glossier, softer frosting, do not whip further. Clean the bowl and paddle on the way.226 g Cream cheese
- How to make it stiffer: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 do not whip it too much after the cream cheese is blended. I usually whip it for about a minute at medium speed (You can adjust it as you like!). It gets too airy when I whip it for a few minutes due to the double amount of butter.
- More Tips For Success:* Do not use cold or partially melted butter. Cold butter does not blend with other ingredients well which makes it harder to make the smooth frosting. And partially melted butter leads to runny cream cheese frosting.* I always add all the powdered sugar at once with butter. When making a bunch at once (ex. 3 - 4 batches), the powdered sugar can scatter everywhere even if you mix them at low speed. In that case, repeat turning off and on the switch of a stand mixer quickly to pulse and gradually speed up. It works perfectly each time!* Cream cheese gets softer when it's at room temperature and stiffer when it's cold. That's why 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 and make a smooth frosting.* Be careful not to whip the frosting too long after adding the cream cheese to prevent it from getting too airy.* If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also make it with an electric hand mixer.* One batch of the recipe is enough for about 12 cupcakes or 1 6-inch cake. Double the recipe or more as you like!
Video
Leave a Reply