Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
Smooth, thick & not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting for any dessert, such as red velvet cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, bread, and cookies!
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a paddle or a bowl and hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 4 oz Unsalted butter (soft) 1 US stick or 2 sticks for the stiffer buttercream
- 9.1 oz Powder sugar about 2 US cups
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt Add 1 more pinch for the stiffer buttercream.
- 8 oz Cream cheese 1 US block
- ½ - 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract Optional. I did not add it this time.
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.4 oz Unsalted butter (soft), 9.1 oz Powder 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.8 oz 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
Notes
How to store it:
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. ** For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements are provided for your convenience. **Nutrition
Calories: 134kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 85mg | Potassium: 27mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 490IU | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.02mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!