Calling all lemon lovers! You are going to fall in love with this DELICIOUS Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe.
It is the perfect lemony, light and flavorful complement to white, yellow, citrus, and even coconut cakes!
I love cream cheese frostings and this recipe is no exception. In fact, of all of the cream cheese frosting variations that I’ve made over the years, this Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe is one of my all time favorites!
I love the silky smooth consistency and it has the perfect amount of lemon.
Even better, this Lemon Cream Cheese buttercream it is SO simple to make. We especially love it with our homemade Lemon Cake Recipe.
Whenever we make a bowl of this amazing lemony cream cheese deliciousness, it’s a struggle not to eat it by the spoonful! In fact, I would highly recommend doing just that.
How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting is incredibly easy to put together, so you have no excuse not to make it! ;0)
- First, cut the butter into smaller slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. It should be slightly softened.
- Next, slice the slightly softened cream cheese into smaller pieces and add to the butter, mixing until blended.
- Next comes the lemon juice and lemon extract. The lemon extract is optional but I really like the boost of flavor that it adds.
- Finally, add your powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Cakes and cupcakes frosted with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting should be refrigerated.
Tips for Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese frostings are a softer consistency than other buttercream frostings.
- 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!)
More Lemon Recipes to Try
Love Lemon? Don’t miss our scratch Lemon Cake Recipe which is filled with delicious Lemon Curd Filling and Frosted with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream. YUM!
Or, if you are looking for a Lemon Frosting recipe that is less perishable, this Lemon Buttercream Frosting recipe has wonderful lemon flavor and can safely be kept at room temperature for a day or two! We love how easily it pipes!
If you Love Cream Cheese Frostings, Don’t Miss our Roundup of Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting & Filling Recipes!
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
This lemon cream cheese frosting has amazing flavor is and so easy to make!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened but still cool to the touch
- 2 8oz packages Cream Cheese (453 total gram weight) Use full fat cream cheese. Do not use reduced fat or cream cheese in the tub containers. Soften very slightly
- 2 teaspoons (8g) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon (4g) lemon extract, optional
- Zest from 1 lemon, approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons (3g)
- 6 to 6 1/2 cups (690g - 747g) powdered sugar, adding more if necessary
Instructions
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch slices and add to the bowl of your mixer, beat until smooth.
- Cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating until blended.
- Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. 1 teaspoon lemon extract, optional for a stronger lemon flavor.
- Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
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 and remix. Do not microwave to soften.
Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.
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Looks beautiful, my question is will a cream cheese butter cream hold up better ,than a plain butter cream with a bit of shortening?Summer wedding, help.Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Nancy, If the wedding is outside, a buttercream made with all shortening (high ratio shortening, if possible ) would be the best option. A buttercream with some shortening added the next choice. I would have both well chilled if you are traveling with the cake, and also keep in a cool area until time for serving. I think using a cream cheese frosting would have the most risk for problems.
I just traveled with a wedding cake for 3 1/2 hrs. I made it because of dry ice in each corner and the box completely sealed up.
I recently made a wedding cake that sat in 90degree weather. We kept it chilled as long as we could, but when I made the frosting I added a couple T meringue powder that was supposed to help stay nice, and it did. This recipe looks wonderful. Thank you!
I just made this frosting last night with the lemon cake and the lemon curd, which by the way is AMAZING! So delish! The cake takes very good , but didn’t rise and I discovered my baking powder was expired, ?! bought new and rebaked, just right :). The frosting tasted wonderful but it was so soft it just slid down the sides of the cake. Couldn’t even crumb coat effectively. I did add an extra cup or so of powdered sugar but it was still too soft. I kept the butter soft but cool and didn’t soften the cream cheese. I didn’t but back in the fridge to let it harden some because I was concerned it would be too hard to spread. Do you think adding some shortening would affect the taste too much? Or do you have a suggestion to what I may have done wrong or could do differently? And I’ve posted a couple other questions on your site and want to thank you for such quick responses. This world of baking can be frustrating and to have this site and be able to ask questions and get answers is so wonderful. Thank you!
HI Terri, If it becomes too soft, you can put it in the refrigerator to get it back to a consistency to like. I would put on the timer and check every 5 minutes. You also could replace 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter with 1/2 cup (95g) of vegetable shortening. I don’t think that would affect the taste too much. Hope this helps.
Hi!this recipe sounds amazing! :-)
I have question. Here in England there is only soft spreadable soft cheese like Philadelphia. I can’t find any soft cheese that I could be able to cut :-)
Is there is any other cheese I could use? Ricotta or mascarpone?
I couldn’t understand why my cheese frosting always becomes runny :-) till I figured out that you have different consistency soft cheese.
This icing sounds amazing!! With the dairy products in it, is it safe to leave out? Or does it need to be refrigerated? Thank you!
HI Jackie, This recipe does need to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese. You can remove your cake from the refrigerator about 1 hour before serving to allow it to soften a bit. Hope you like it.
I LOVE MAKE CAKE AND TKANK YOU FOR LOVELY RECIPE
Hi! I made this and it was FANTASTIC! Everyone that had it raved about it. I’m planning on making it again but my question is, if I were to make it ahead, do you have any idea how long it is good stored in the fridge? Or is it best made and served same day? Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Just want to know if the sugar to be used is an icing sugar or the normally granulated one
Hi Wendy- I’m sorry that I missed your question. I would say that this would last at least a few days in the refrigerator.
@Aboyewa- Icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar is what you’ll want to use. Hope you like it!
I made the lemon cake, the lemon curd and this frosting. It’s true what they say I could eat this frosting with a spoon! They all turned out great, but when I frosted my cake (after it had cooled compeletly with the cool frosting) I can back later to see it cracked from the center in three lines. I don’t know what I did wrong ? Do you have any idea why it would crack?
Hi Brittany, I am sorry that happened, I hope you will be able cover the cracks to make it more presentable. The most likely cause is that the oven temperature was too high. You might want to purchase an oven thermometer to find out if the oven is heating to the temperature you set.
I actually was able to fill in the cracks with the extra frosting and you couldn’t even tell! But I think you’re right! The cakes were done by 28 mins in the oven and were a little over done . But everyone still raved about it! Thanks for the recipe ! We love anything lemon.
Wonderful!! I am so happy to know you were able to take care of the problem and that the guests loved your cake!
Can this icing be frozen? It made too much for my cake.
Hi Gem123, We have frozen cream cheese with no problem. When ready to use, let it thaw in the refrigerator, then gently remix.
Hi! Love the sound of this icing and was planning on using it with the pink lemonade cake for my daughters birthday.
I was planning on doing a lot of buttercream floral decoration though…will this icing hold up to that? Or am I better to stick with plain buttercream or a swiss meringue buttercream to hold lots of detail?
If so will they taste as good with the lemonade cake?!
Sorry! Such an amateur baker! ;)
Hi Bec, I’m glad that you’re making the pink lemonade cake!
This frosting is definitely on the softer side. As it is, it may be a little iffy for roses, etc. However, I think that if you set aside some of the frosting for your flowers in a separate bowl, you should be able to thicken it enough with confectioners sugar to make it more suitable. I hope this helps! ;0)
How many cupcakes would thi pipe?
Hi Britanni, I think this recipe makes approximately 4 cups frosting. One cup of frosting will frost 12 cupcakes using a 2D tip and making a simple swirl. Of course, if you plan to make a high swirl it will take much more.
This cake looks amazing, thanks for much for sharing! I have baked two cake layers and am planning to put the rest together tomorrow for a birthday party. I am a newbie, what do I do with the lemon curd filling exactly?
Hi Stephanie, The lemon curd is a filling to spread between the cake layers. The recipe can be halved because it makes about 1 1/4 cups. The lemon curd filling is optional, you could use the lemon cream cheese frosting as a filling if you like.
Hi, Melissa! I made the caje and the frosting, but when I wanted dec
.. continuation. sorry
But, when I wanted to decirated the cake, the frosting was too soft to be spread it or make the rosette decoration om the side. And the funny part is that I put my frosting on the freezer. What to do next time to stabilize the frosteing and don’t melt.
The frosting is was delicious.
Hi Trianny, I am sorry you had a problem. Did you use full fat cream cheese? Do not use reduced fat or cream cheese in the tub containers. Possibly the ingredients were not cold enough. If the frosting becomes too soft, putting it in the refrigerator for a short while will firm it up again for piping on the rosettes. Some people have very warm hands and when holding the piping bag it will cause the frosting to become too soft. If this happens to you, you can fill two piping bags keeping one in the refrigerator and piping with the other one. When the frosting in one bag becomes too soft just put in the refrigerator and pipe with the cold one. We have never used anything to stabilize the frosting. I hope this helps.
Thank you! Probably it was the butter was not cold enough. I used the regular cream cheese. Maybe the bag and hands were warm too, because after I got the frosting from the freezer, and started making the rosettes, later I saw they started melting. Thank you for the advise.!
Hello. How will this icing do under fondant??
Hello. How will this icing and your lemon cake do under fondant?? Is the cake sturdy enough??
Hi Michelle, The cake is sturdy enough for fondant but the lemon cream cheese frosting should not be used under fondant.
I am super excited to try this for a coworkers birthday. I LOVE lemon and I’m afraid the curd and frosting might not make it to the cake. LOL!
Hi Babs, so glad that you’re making it!
Hi I have baked your pink lemonade cake doubling the recipe so I have 4 layers(8 in), do I need to double the icing if I want to pipe rosettes after crumb coat as well? Rosettes all Over the sides and top of the cake like in the picture for your lemon cake.
Hi Olga, I would probably double just to be on the safe side. If you have leftover, it freezes well.
This looks yummy, but I’m wondering about high altitude adjustments. I live at 6900 feet.
Hi Melissa, thanks for this recipe, I can’t wait to make it. But in Australia we only have the cream cheese in a tub (Philadelphia or Philly etc) – I want to pipe rosettes all over and assume the icing will therefore be too soft to hold. What adjustments or substitutions can I make to offset the wrong cream cheese? Many thanks!
Hi Charlie, Melissa and I have not tried making this with the soft spreadable cream cheese. Reducing the butter and/or increasing the amount of powdered sugar might help, but I can’t recommend quantities to use. If it is not stiff enough the rosettes will slide off the side of the cake. I did find a post on using a different method of mixing the ingredients from someone using European soft cream cheese. It sounds promising, let us know if you give this method try. Check the link below,
https://livingoncookies.com/how-to-make-cream-cheese-frosting-with-european-cream-cheese-or-cream-cheese-spread/
First buttercream I’ve ever made! It was amazing. I used 4 tsp of lemon juice and no extract. I also added some Kosher salt to cut the sweet a bit. It was so wonderful! Thank you!
Hi D. Amato, That is wonderful, I’m so happy you gave it a try. Thanks for posting!!
hi, I have a question… can we frost this buttercream to use it later?
I need it for the the next week.
Hi Italia, yes this buttercream freezes well in an airtight container. You may need to mix it a little once thawed.
Did you use regular milk or buttermilk?
Hi Rena, Your question is posted under the Lemon Buttercream recipe, it has no milk in the recipe. If you meant to post under the Lemon Cake recipe, I used regular whole milk, but you can use buttermilk if you would like to.
I will be making this for a going away party and want it to look nice.
Can you tell me if you have a video on the swirl, roses. I have the tips but would love to be able to see you do this. I love your website, but still new to decorating and would love to see more video on decorations.
Thanks again
Hi Frances, I show how to make a rose swirl in our “cupcake basics” video tutorial– after watching it, I think I’ll put this on our list of videos to update, haha- it is from 9 years ago but you can still see how to create it at about the 10:26 mark. Here is the link:
https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/cupcake-tutorial-the-basics/
We’ve made lots of tutorials on buttercream flowers over the years, they are in the buttercream section of tutorials which you can find here:
https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/buttercream/
Buttercream ribbon roses are also very pretty and not difficult to make with a little practice:
https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/buttercream-heart-tutorial/
Let us know if you have any questions!
I love baking and trying out new recipes.