Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe – Love and Lemons

February 27, 2024

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Discover ways to make cream cheese frosting with simply 4 elements! Candy, creamy, wealthy, and tangy, it is scrumptious on desserts, cupcakes, and extra.

Cream cheese frosting

Who doesn’t love cream cheese frosting?! This candy, tangy topping is the proper complement to only about any cake or cupcake, to not point out cookies, bars, and fast breads. I’ve it on repeat round right here within the spring, when we have now carrot cake cupcakes for Easter, an precise carrot cake for Jack’s birthday, after which carrot cake cookies, nicely, simply because I like them. 🙂

My cream cheese frosting recipe requires 4 fundamental elements, and it comes collectively in lower than 10 minutes. The subsequent time you wish to make a selfmade baked good style extra-decadent and particular, all it’s a must to do is whip it up!

Bowl of powdered sugar next to block of cream cheese, butter, bottle of vanilla extract, measuring spoons, and spatula

Recipe Components

You solely want 4 elements to make this recipe:

Cream cheese, after all! Skip the whipped or low-fat stuff and search out block-style, full-fat cream cheese. It offers this frosting the perfect wealthy texture and tangy taste. Let it come to room temperature or soften it barely within the microwave earlier than making the frosting.
Unsalted butter – It offers the frosting buttery taste and a texture that’s thick sufficient for piping. Permit the butter to melt to room temperature earlier than mixing up the frosting. If it’s too agency, the frosting shall be lumpy.
Powdered sugar – Aka confectioner’s sugar. It thickens and sweetens the frosting. Make selfmade powdered sugar, or use store-bought.
And vanilla extract – For heat depth of taste.

Non-obligatory: season to style with a touch of salt!

Discover the whole recipe with measurements beneath.

Frosting in mixing bowl with powdered sugar on the sides

Find out how to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

My technique for how you can make cream cheese frosting couldn’t be easier! Right here’s the way it goes:

First, mix the cream cheese and butter. Place them in a big bowl and use an electrical mixer to beat till easy. I like to make use of an electrical hand mixer to make this recipe, as a result of as written, it’s a bit small for my stand mixer. Should you desire to make use of a stand mixer, you might must double the recipe.

Should you don’t have a mixer, you can also make this recipe by hand with a whisk. It’ll simply take some elbow grease!

Closeup shot of cream cheese frosting swirl

Then, add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Combine till the frosting is easy and creamy (take a look at that texture above!!). Cease and scrape down the perimeters of the bowl with a spatula as wanted. Tip: in case your powdered sugar is lumpy, sift it earlier than including it to the cream cheese combination.

Style and alter, including a pinch of salt if wanted. That’s it!

Find out how to Thicken Cream Cheese Frosting

In case your frosting is runnier than you’d like, you could have a number of choices for how you can thicken it.

Add extra powdered sugar. Beat in a tablespoon at a time till the frosting reaches your required consistency. Needless to say including extra sugar will make the frosting sweeter.
Stick it within the fridge. The frosting will agency up because it chills.

Be aware: Full-fat, brick-style cream cheese is important for thick frosting. Whipped, low-fat, or spreadable cream cheese will make the frosting runny. When unsure, select cream cheese that is available in a field, not a plastic tub.

Bowl of cream cheese frosting with spatula

Find out how to Use Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups of frosting. That’s sufficient for an 8- or 9-inch cake, a loaf cake, or a batch of 12 cupcakes. I like to apply it to these treats:

Double the recipe for a 9×13-inch sheet cake, or triple it for a layer cake.

Storage

Cream cheese frosting shouldn’t sit at room temperature for quite a lot of hours. Retailer leftover frosting in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Baked items topped with cream cheese frosting must also be refrigerated.

Are you able to freeze cream cheese frosting?

Sure! Cream cheese frosting freezes nicely for as much as a month and thaws properly within the fridge.

Its texture will change barely after freezing and thawing, so I like to recommend re-whipping it earlier than use. If obligatory, add little milk to the frosting to loosen it up.

Cream cheese frosting recipe

Extra Frostings, Glazes, and Whips

Should you love this recipe, strive certainly one of these candy toppings subsequent:

Craving extra treats? Try these 25 Tremendous Enjoyable Baking Recipes!