Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Oh how I love this flavorful Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, and it is SO easy to make!
As far as I'm concerned, it is one of the most addictive frostings out there, I just can't resist that creamy frosting deliciousness!
Whether you're frosting classic cakes like Red Velvet Cake or Italian Cream Cake, or a good old standby like your favorite Carrot Cake Recipe or Spice Cake, you just cannot go wrong with this cream cheese buttercream recipe on hand. It would be a crime to use anything else! ;0)How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting
*You can find the full, printable recipe below but here is a quick rundown!
- Cut the softened butter into slices and mix until smooth.
- Next, cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until well combined.
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar (be careful to add the powdered sugar bit by bit or turn down the mixer so that you won't create a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen! ;0)
- Increase mixing speed and beat just until fluffy.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (avoid microwaving) and remix.
Table of Contents
Cakes that taste amazing with Cream Cheese Frosting
The best part about cream cheese frosting is that it perfectly complements SO many different types of cake. Here are just a few of our favorites!
Chocolate Cake ...and SO many more!
FLAVORED CREAM CHEESE FROSTINGS
Not only do we love a classic Cream Cheese Frosting, we love flavored cream cheese frostings as well!
There are so many amazing cream cheese frostings in our recipe section that you must try! Here are a few favorites, but for the full roundup, check out our Cream Cream Frosting Roundup further down!
Helpful Hints for Working with Cream Cheese Frosting
- We've been swirling & filling our cupcakes and cakes with this frosting for years but as is often the case with Cream Cheese Frosting, it is a bit on the soft side.
- If you need a thicker consistency, you can add additional powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency.
- If your Cream Cheese Buttercream becomes increasingly soft as you pipe, to the point that it no longer holds it's shape, just pop it in the refrigerator for a minute.
- This could be caused by a super warm kitchen, or warm hands against the piping bag. Either way, a few minutes in the fridge will work wonders. (Just not too long or it'll become too firm!) Oh the joys of cake decorating!
- If you plan to do a lot of piping, you can find a link to another favorite Cream Cheese Frosting recipe towards the bottom of this post, which is a bit firmer due to a higher proportion of cream cheese in the recipe.
Roundup of Cream Cheese Frosting Recipes
Don't miss our roundup of the BEST Cream Cheese Frostings and Fillings! You can find them here: Roundup of our favorite Cream Cheese Frostings and Fillings
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you give this cream cheese frosting recipe a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below.
Also, if you are interested in experimenting with more cakes, we have hundreds of Cake Recipes & Tutorials to share with you!
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
This classic Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting tastes amazing! It is silky smooth, super flavorful, and tastes perfect with red velvet cakes, spice cakes, chocolate cakes, and more!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks ,1 cup, (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened (total weight 452g), Softened. (We recommend full fat cream cheese for best consistency.)
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
- Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.
Hello, I am new to the baking scene and I am in love with cream cheese frosting. I was watching your video hoping to learn some piping skills to go on my cupcakes and cakes. However I didn't see how to do it, just your beautiful decorations. Is there a site I can go to that would help me?
Hi Beverly- Welcome to our site! You may have seen our video with several featured video clips from our site. We have lots of cake decorating videos!
You can find our free cake video tutorials here:
https://www.mycakeschool.com/
(Just look for the drop down menu so that you can select what you're interested in...we also have a free videos section).
To have access to all of the videos we've made you can also consider joining our site! (You should see our "Join" section on our home page). We've made hundreds of cake decorating videos over the years. Let me know if you have any questions!
I love your recipes and tips! I’m making a cake this weekend and would prefer cream cheese buttercream but is this recipe the crusting type? Or would get pipeable recipe be better for smoothing?
Hi Vanessa, Our cream cheese recipes do not crust. Crusting happens when there is a higher ratio of powdered sugar to butter/shortening/cream cheese. I suppose you could add additional powdered sugar to our recipe, that would also increase the sweetness. Here is a link to a cake central Crusting Cream Cheese recipe.
https://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/2047/crusting-cream-cheese-icing
Hi. I want to know if I can use your cream cheese frosting for piping the lace flowers as on your tutorial for the camellia cake?
Hi Anna, The flowers that are piped around the sides of our Camellia cake are very thin so I think you would be fine to use our Pipeable Cream Cheese frosting, as it is a bit firmer than our Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting. If it does become too soft, just refrigerate your piping bag or the bowl of frosting for a short while. Do not over mix as that can make the frosting too soft. I would not try to pipe the orange flowers on top of the Camellia Cake with cream cheese.....I don't think that was your plan. Link to Pipeable Cream Cheese recipe below
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/cheese-frosting-pipeable/
Hello Melissa, I made this recipe for cream cheese frosting and have made many versions of this frosting for many years, but this time had some issues. I knew my kitchen was too hot after I made the recipe, so I did as usual and let it set in the fridge to firm up. But it never did firm up. It looks like it has firmed up when I remove from the fridge, but this only lasts for about a minute and then when I mix it up a bit, it looks runny or goopy; like a thick cake batter.
I already tried adding more and more sugar, but no change. Then tried adding cornstarch, but didn't help. Have you ever heard of cream cheese losing it's normal texture? I did use the Philadelphia, Original fat brand with good butter and sugar. It seems so strange that all the sugar I added didn't create thick consistency. I don't know what else to try.