Oh how I love this Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting Recipe! As far as I’m concerned, it is one of the most addictive frostings out there, I just can’t resist that silky smooth deliciousness!
The best part about cream cheese frosting is that it perfectly complements SO many different types of cake. I can’t imagine having a slice of Red Velvet, Carrot, or Spice Cake without a generous slathering of cream cheese frosting! Oh so good!
We also love cream cheese frosting with strawberry cake, lemon cake, chocolate cake, and well….any cake really!
It’s such a quick and easy recipe, and over the years we’ve made a variety of delicious flavored cream cheese frostings as well.
For instance, some of our favorite flavored versions are Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting, Orange, and more! But sometimes it’s best to just go with the classic Cream Cheese Buttercream. Mmmmm.
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.
Enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 sticks 1 cup, 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (total weight 452g) I use full fat cream cheese. Using reduced fat or the spreadable cream cheese will cause the frosting to be too soft. Soften very slightly.
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (2g) optional - it will cut the sweetness, popcorn salt is best to use because it is fine and dissolves faster
- 6 to 6 1/2 cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar
Directions
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the cold 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.
Did you know that we have another Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe? You may also like this Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting, which contains even more cream cheese and therefore is a bit firmer. We love them both!
Thanks for stopping by!
How long do you think a cake can safely sit at room temperature with cream cheese frosting?
I would say a day….it’s just the butter. How many times have we left butter out all day. I have never heard of anyone getting ill from room temp butter. I think things with egg/mayo in it are the dangerous foods.
It’s actually the cream cheese that I worry about with this one…rather than the butter. In “regular buttercream”, at least the traditional American Buttercreams (rather than Swiss Meringue) the proportions of sugar to butter are so high, that the sugar acts as a preservative & there’s not much worry for leaving it out for a day or so.
With cream cheese frosting, you still have that sugar acting as a preservative, but the proportions of perishable ingredients to sugar are now higher than they are with regular buttercream, with the addition of the cream cheese. I wouldn’t risk leaving it out for hours (unless it was for someone I didn’t like) :0)
Hi Donna, there was a discussion on the message board recently on this topic, click on this link, I think you will find it helpful .link to mycakeschool.com
Hi Melissa, will this frosting freeze well or at least stay fresh in the fridge for a week?
Thanks!
Hi Tammy, it will be fine in the refrigerator for a week. You can also freeze it.
I just wanted to say thanks for suggestion of using cold cream cheese and using a little shortening. It worked like a charm.
Now, I made this today (sunday) if I freeze it and take it out next monday….how do I defrost it? In the fridge or on the counter? and then will it still be good for a week from when I defrost it?
Thanks,
Ansa
Hi Ansa, glad that it worked so well for you. I would defrost the cake in the refrigerator the night before you need it. We usually recommend eating within 3 to 4 days…..as time goes by the cake tends to dry out.
Hi Melissa,
Do you mean the frosting? That’s what I was asking about, how to defrost cream cheese or butter cream frosting.
Thanks,
Ansa
Oh okay–yes, I misunderstood. Yes, defrost in the refrigerator and just keep in the fridge—a week will be fine (assuming the cream cheese, etc. are not about to expire) –good luck!
Allo! 1 stick butter = how much cup or gramme tanks
1 stick butter is 113 g
Would this frosting be okay to use on Carrot Cake with Fondant over top?
Thanks!
Hi Tami, I haven’t tried it but I think it is so soft it might cause problems under fondant. I think you would be ok with a crusting cream cheese frosting. We don’t have that recipe in the recipe section but this is a link to a recipe that several members have said was good from cake central link to cakecentral.com
Thank you so much BeBe. If this frosting doesn’t work out, which frosting on your site would work best with Carrot Cake covered in fondant?
Thank you for the super fast response!!
Cream cheese is my favorite with carrot cake, but if not using that I would use either the Classic Vanilla or Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream recipe under the fondant. Be sure your layer of buttercream is not too thick and chill your frosted cake 5 – 10 minutes to firm up the buttercream before laying on your fondant. Hope it turns out great.
I haven’t tried meringue powder with the cream cheese recipe but I think it would still be very soft.
Thank you for the clarification BeBe!
I am going to make this cream cream recipe today … Can I pipe cream cheese frosting thru a piping bag? I’m thinking it will be a little on the thin side?? Just asking before I start my cake. Thanks so much!!
PS, My goal today is to frost a ‘basket’ cake. It will be my first time. (thanks to your fabulous video!!).
Hi Linda, our recipe is a little too soft for piping. This is a link to a cake central crusting cream cheese frosting that some of our members like to use for piping.
link to cakecentral.com
LOVE this recipe! I won’t use any other one!!
I have a very simple, and delicious cream cheese recipe, that ends up being perfect for piping.. I use 1 block of cream cheese (softened), 1/2 stick of butter (softened)- blend those good, then I add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix until well incorporated. It works like a charm every time, and this recipes covers a 2 layer, 8 inch cake :)
Hi. Is this recipe what you would use to do a crumb coat?
If you use this for the crumb coat then what do you use for the outer frosting?
Many thanks
Alex
Is a double batch of the cream cheese frosting enough to frost a 9×12 quarter sheet cake? I am using raspberry filling so only need enough to pipe damn in the center of the cake.
Thanks for this site! It’s so helpful and a lot of fun!
Hi Kim– One batch should be enough. We always make more frosting than we need and freeze leftovers for later use though ;0) – As I mentioned above, we usually use this recipe for fillings, and then for outer frosting we either add more powdered sugar or combine with vanilla buttercream since it is a pretty soft consistency. —
If you are interested in other options, here is a thread on Cake Central’s crusting buttercream (which contains shortening) that several of our members have tried–
link to mycakeschool.com
Hi Melissa,
I am making Red Velvet Cupcakes and doing the Bouquet, my customer wants the roses in the cream cheese. Would this recipe be okay to make roses? Or do you have any suggestions for a cream cheese recipe that would be stiff enough to make roses?
Thank you
Mallory
Hi Mallory, the recipe we have on the site would not be stiff enough to make roses. This is a link to a crusting cream cheese recipe from Cake Central,
link to cakecentral.com. Some of our member say it works well for them, though we have not tried it. I hope this will work for you
Hi BeBe and Melissa, I made cream frosting for my red velvet cake that consisted of 2 packs of cream cheese(8oz) 1 stick of butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 2 1/2 cups of sugar. This recipe made it thick enough for me to ice the outside of my cake before covering with fondant. However while adding the decoration to the cake I noticed that it started to bulge from the middle layers where I created the dam. Do you have any recommendations for creating a stable dam when making a tier cake with this frosting?
Hi Darlene– Adding additional confectioner’s sugar is a sure fire way to stiffen your buttercream. So, you could reserve some that will be for the dam, and add sugar until you are happy with the consistency. Using a thinner layer of filling or only carrying the filling to approx 1/2 inch from the edge is another way to keep things under control.
Also, did you allow the cake to settle? My bulging problems were solved when I started allowing time for my wrapped cake layers to settle under a weight of some sort (like a thin book or thick magazine) for several hours. You can do this to the crumb coated cake, or you can settle the filled, assembled layers (wrapped with plastic wrap) before crumb coating.
Most of the time we don’t even use a stiff dam anymore, unless we are working with a very soft filling. We’ve just found that the settling solved the bulges for us. I hope this helps!
Hi Melissa,
I didn’t settle it but I will from now on. Thank you so much for the advice!
Hi there, just wondering if the extra icing can be frozen as needed for tastings? thanks
Hi Tanya, Yes, I do freeze cream frosting. I have frozen it for at least 2 months……thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Hi
Please I need you help and advice – my family thinks the cream cheese frosting is too sweet when I use 4 cups of icing sugar and if I use less it becomes too runny
Please advise
Thank you
Hi Lena, You might like this recipe for a less sweet recipe. The cream cheese comes through as the dominate flavor and I like that.
2 (8 ounce) packages cream (452g. total) I use full fat cream cheese, you can use reduced fat but the frosting will be softer
1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners sugar (measure then sift)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Have the cream cheese and butter slightly cool, just under room temperature. Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla at medium speed until just blended. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until the confectioners sugar is blended in, do not overheat or it will become too soft. Refrigerate until ready to use. I hope you like it.
Hello
I just made this recipe and I think I have ruined it. I dont know if I have to beat it for a long period of time or not. It seems not too smooth, but the taste is good. Thank you
Hi Miriam, Don’t give up, it is not ruined. If you think it is too stiff, you can add a bit of milk. I would add a teaspoon at a time until it is the consistency you like. If it becomes too thin, more powdered sugar can be added.
Thanks for you answer.
Its a little curdled. What I have to do next time beat more or what? Thanks again!
I may have missed it in your list of ingredients, but how much salt should I add?
Hi Lynne, It should be 1/2 teaspoon (2g) salt, popcorn salt if you have it because it dissolves more quickly
Can cream cheese frosting be colored/tinted?
Yes it can! ;0)
Hi, when making a strawberry cream cheese frosting, what is the best recipe or best way to keep it from being to soft and “falling off” the cake? Thanks!
Hi Melanie, When making cream cheese frosting make sure you are using full fat cream cheese. Do not use reduced fat or cream cheese in the round tub because it will cause your frosting to be too soft. I do not soften the cream cheese but I do cut it into about 1×1 inch pieces so it will blend in more quickly with the butter. This works best with a heavy mixer such as a KitchenAid. You might need to let it soften just a bit if using a hand mixer. After you have frosted your cake it should be refrigerated because cream cheese is perishable. Take it out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving to warm slightly. You should not have any problem with it sliding off the cake.
i have a cream cheese icing recipe i love uses alot more sugar 2 pounds sugar 8oz cream cheese and 1 stick butter have a bride wanting it as a filling in the cake doing ganush on the outside this icing is stiff wondering how long i can leave ot out in my home at room temp
Hi Sarah, Heat and humidity vary in homes and we like to be cautious with cream cheese even when using extra powdered sugar, so maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a cool room. You might want to suggest another filling to the bride as wedding cakes often sit out a long time during a wedding reception.
Hi, can this cream cheese frosting use for a 8′ high layer red velvet cake or is it too soft ?
Hi Dineshi- Yes, you can use this to frost your cake. It is a softer frosting but can be thickened with powdered sugar or simply by chilling it becomes too soft. We also have an alternate option for cream cheese frosting linked above (Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting) which is also a good choice and is a little thicker. Either way, I would chill the cake before traveling to firm up the frosting. (I would recommend a central dowel if traveling with the cake, assuming this is a double barrel cake.) Hope this helps!
Great, thanks a lot for the reply Melissa. Hope I can use this frosting for layers as well?
id like to know how many cupcakes this would frost please thank you
The recipe will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake so I think it makes 5 cups frosting. One cup frosting will frost 12 cupcakes with a simple swirl using a 2D tip. Of course, making a high swirl will need more.
Delicious! Thank you so much.? It was the perfect complement to the carrot cake! My husband loved it!