Today, I’d like to share a recipe with you. Not just any recipe… a cream cheese frosting recipe I have used dozens (maybe even hundreds) of times, and I love it each time!
There are two reasons I love this recipe… one is that it’s really, really easy, and the second is that it’s really delicious!
While I do also enjoy other styles of frosting, like Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Fluffy 7 Minute Frosting, or Whipped Ganache, this cream cheese frosting recipe is easier than any other. This is basically American style buttercream (which is butter, powdered sugar, milk), but with the addition of cream cheese.
The cream cheese is really the key ingredient, since it helps off-set the sweetness of the powdered sugar, and adds to the creaminess of the butter while also removing the greasy, pure butter flavor.
Another thing I really like about this recipe is that if you use these proportions, the frosting is not over powered by the cream cheese, it takes on the flavor of whatever extract or additional flavorings are added.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. Challenge cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)
Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined and smooth, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
The recipe above will produce a delicious VANILLA flavored frosting, here are a couple of other options to try…
For a Stronger Cream Cheese Flavor: Use an additional 4 oz. (½ block) of cream cheese. This is good for any cake/cupcake recipe that is traditionally topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, like Carrot Cake, or Red Velvet Cake.
For Chocolate Frosting: (my favorite!) add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Ghirardelli brand, it’s really good). Add the cocoa powder before adding the powdered sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.
Strawberry, Blackberry, etc: Add 2-4 tablespoons of preserves. Depending on how chunky or seedy the preserves are, you may want to blend it in the food processor, and/or strain it through a fine strainer before adding it to the frosting. Add the preserves to the frosting mixture before adding the heavy cream. Depending on the amount of preserves you add you may need very little or no cream, especially if you want the frosting thick enough to pipe. A final option would be to add a drop of food coloring to add to the color of the preserves (for example, pink coloring for the Strawberry flavor).
* This recipe will frost about 22-24 cupcakes if you are piping a nice swirl, or even more if you just spread it on. If you’re making a cake, this will frost and fill a two layer 9″ cake.
How To Make Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool
- 8 oz. cream cheese directly from fridge
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract always use pure vanilla extract if possible
- 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- 1 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)
Instructions
- Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined and smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
- Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
- Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Glory! Thanks for sharing this info. I made a red velvet cake, and I'm hoping this frosting will work so I can pipe the roses on it like Amanda from i am baker's rose cake. We shall see. It was pretty gloppy. I have it setting up in the fridge now. Hope it will work. It is for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. 🙂
Hi Glory !! I just found out your blog and is really wonderful!!
So I decided to start doing some of your recipes and choose the chocolate cupcakes, they are amazing!! Loved them …
But I have a question regarding the frosting, hope you can help … I did it and the taste was as if I was eating the powdered sugar only … I followed the instructions and think did not missed anything .. do you know what could be my error? the mixer?? I dont know … 🙁
Thanks for sharing all this .. 🙂
Nina- I'm not quite sure why your frosting would not get a bit of a crust to it… as mine always does. I might suggest adding less liquid, or putting the frosted cupcakes in the fridge for just 15 minutes or so, and the frosting should set up.
hi i am nina from wechooseorganic.com and I was wondering, is it normal that this frosting is not drying at all? Even the next day it is still "wet". A Buttercream frosting for example did dry when i tried it out.
did i do something wrong or is it supposed to stay wet?
many greetings
p.s. if you'd like to post a guest post on our community organic/recipe blog, let us know 🙂
hi GLORY , I want to try ur cream cheese frosting as i want to create the exact swirls like uv made. could u please tell me the brand of cream cheese u r using . is it philiadelphia? is it the spreadable version or the original one available as a block in a silver foil. coz i made a cream cheese frosting b4 but it wasnt as stiff. it turned out into a pasty texture. thanx a lot.
this is the recipe i used:
http://www.culinarycafe.com/Desserts/Cream_Cheese_Frosting.html
Thats so much for sharing your icing recipe with the web. I made red-velvet cupcakes (for my class tomorrow) and I've always had a hard time piping icing (its a consistency thing). Anyways, your delicious icing piped beautifully!
Thank you oodles!! <3
Hi there! I love your blog and these look really awesome! I've struggled with globby cream cheese frosting for a long time and finally was about to make a somewhat firm one. But what I really want to achieve is actually cream cheese frosting that is soft and fluffy yet can be piped in blobs like in this photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodlibrarian/3528412138/ Do you happen to have any suggestions either in terms of preparing or piping the frosting to get this result? Thanks in advance!
Gloria my name is Starla, I'm from Florida. Your work you post is so brillant. Have you ever thought of auditioning for Cupcake Wars, or just opening up your own cupcake store front, or doing an online ordering site. You could be a millionare with your skills!!!!Don't let opportunity pass you buy. Your items are extremely professional looking, and I'm pretty sure the taste lives up to the look….I'm just saying!!!!Great job girl….
These look divine! I love all versions of this cupcakes! I am so gonna try that cream cheese frosting. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for this great and easy recipe, I will try the frosting right now 🙂 Laura from Germany