But add it to a cake, cupcake, or just about any other baked treat? Now it’s on a whole new level of deliciousness.
Easy Cream Cheese Frosting Tips & Tricks
If you’re curious as to why I believe this is the BEST cream cheese frosting recipe, or if you want extra help ensuring yours comes out perfectly, then read through my more details tips and explanations below. If you have any questions, they’re probably answered!
This is indeed a simple recipe, but I find sometimes it’s easiest to overlook things that are simple and to then be disappointed with lackluster results.
Cream Cheese
It should be regular full-fat brick cream cheese at a cool room temperature. NOT whipped or spreadable cream cheese made for bagels. I’ve found that some off-brand cream cheese bricks have an unappealing almost watery texture. Go with a quality brand when possible.
Butter
Unsalted butter at a cool room temperature helps to make the frosting light, fluffy, and sturdy enough to pipe. Unsalted really does work best here and if you’re curious why, check out my article on unsalted vs salted butter.
Secret ingredient?!
It may not be so secret once you take a closer look at these photos. The secret ingredient that elevates this frosting to a gourmet level…. it’s vanilla PASTE! Yes, it’s a little pricier and harder to find than regular vanilla extract, but it’s totally worth it.
When adding vanilla extract to anything that won’t be baked, like frosting, you can often taste and smell the alcohol of the extract. That’s why vanilla paste works so much better here. It adds a deeper vanilla flavor and appearance to your frosting. Since we truly do eat with our eyes this is more important than you might think! It’s also much easier than seeding a vanilla pod.
You can purchase it at gourmet food and kitchen stores like Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table, or make it easy on yourself and just add a bottle to your next Amazon order.
Lastly, if you find cream cheese frosting to be too sweet or rich for your taste, add a splash of lemon juice. It won’t add much pronounced lemon flavor, but the acidity will cut through and balance the richness.
Sugar
Powdered sugar is a must here. No other sugar will produce a smooth texture. It’s also completely necessary to sift the powdered sugar after measuring it, and before adding it into the mixing bowl. This will ensure no pesky lumps and clumps ruin the smoothness of your frosting. If you don’t have any on hand, check out my quick hack for making your own powdered sugar in 5 minutes.
Mixing
An electric mixer, either hand held or standing, makes quick and easy work of creating a light and fluffy frosting. Actually, because recipe doesn’t make a huge amount of frosting as written a hand mixer in a deep medium bowl does the trick perfectly.
Does cream cheese frosting need to be refrigerated?
Cream cheese frosting, alone or on cake or cupcakes, can sit at a cool room temperature for up to 8 hours before it should be refrigerated.
The frosting can be made and transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature and re-whip with an electric mixer before using.
If you want to up your buttercream game to a bakery-quality level, download my free Best Buttercream Guide below:
Great tips as always, Thanks- LOVE your recipes and of course you’re “helpful tips”
wow – this looks delicious!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
Uh oh! This looks dangerous
I made the cream Cheese icing for my father-in-laws 90th birthday cake and used my Mom’s carrot cake recipe. It was amazing and everyone loved it. I iced the slab cake, firmed up the icing in a piping bag and decorated. Kept it refrigerated & it worked well. The icing was not runny or crispy as other recipes I’ve tried. Thank you Tessa, your website and recipes are always yummy & spot on !
I’m so glad to hear that! Happy birthday to your father in law!
Can I add cocoa powder to this?
Would that work?
I love this frosting, already used it twice now and would love to have a chocolatey stand-by.
Yes! Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder + 2 tablespoons milk or cream to turn this into chocolate cream cheese frosting. Make sure to sift the cocoa before adding to the bowl 🙂
Hi……
Will this butter cream hold up in warm weather
Thank you so much for commenting, it is lovely and really makes my day!
This blog is so nice to me. I will continue to come here again and again. Visit my link as well. Good luck
Tessa, thank you so very much for your recipe & video for the Cream Cheese Frosting. Our church will be having a “2018 Watch Service” on December 31st, 2017 to bring in the brand new year. It’s a first for our church. We will be having several breaks for those to enjoy a “Sweets Table.” I plan to use your recipe on a couple of planned recipes. God Bless and thanks for causing my anxiousness about this particular icing go away! May you have a very Happy New Year 2018❤️
This has become my go to cream cheese frosting for both cupcakes and cinnamon rolls! Love love.
I just put this on carrot cake and my husband loved it! Stocked up on vanilla paste too – it smells heavenly!
Thank you so much for commenting, it is lovely and really makes my day!
Thanks for the recipe.
How can I make a peanut butter cream cheese frosting version of it?
Best
Claudia
Could I add raspberry puree or seedless jam to the frosting?
Will this hold up in 85 degree weather?
I appreciate this work amazing post for us. I like it.
A detailed and easy to make ice cream recipe, I will do it when I have free time.
can i replace powder sugar with heavy cream?
Can u keep this icing outside on cupcakes for awhile with heat like florida?
I didn’t add all the sugar and it’s still holding it’s consistency
Your share is great, I found a lot of things in your post.
Can this be used to fill a cupcake as well?
This is a great idea! I like the charity thing too. Good job!!
How does the cream cheese frosting handle the heat? My daughter is working on making a wedding cake for an August wedding. Temperatures could be in the 90’s.
You’ll probably want to keep the cake refrigerated for as long as possible before bringing it out for the ceremony. Any cake made with ‘real’ frosting is gonna start deteriorating quickly at 90°F!
I used it as a filling and frosting in (Tessa’s best) chocolate cupcakes and it was super delicious! The flavors work.
I used it as a filling and frosting in (Tessa’s best) chocolate cupcakes and it was super delicious! The flavors work.
I love the butter in it.
Hi Tessa. I’m planning on using this recipe to frost cupcakes. Will it hold its shape if I pipe it?
Thanks so much!
Hi Tessa,
I usually have trouble with cream cheese frosting being runny but today my icing curdled!! I’ve never even heard of this happening before! I looked on line and most comments said the butter was probably too warm (which I don’t think it was) but I put butter in the fridge for a while and the cream cheese was room temp and the second batch curdled too! Would you have any ideas as to what may have happened? I’m really puzzled and frustrated! Thanks!
Can I add food coloring and pipe this to make flowers? I’ve never attempted making frosting before, and certainly haven’t tried my hand at icing. Any tips you can share in this area would be much appreciated. Like, is it better to chill the frosting before icing it on to the cake? Does the cake have to be chilled too?
This is really good frosting! I like that it is more like a European frosting and not overpoweringly sweet. The recipe makes a bit too much for a single layer or 8×8 pan cake (what I usually make as there are only 2 of us), so next time I will reduce it a bit – maybe by a third or so. Thanks for a great recipe!
What I appreciate is that the amount of powdered sugar is half, or less than half, of what is normally called for in recipes.
I don’t like things that are too sweet, so looking forward to trying this.
What if I only have salted butter
I admit, I haven’t been to this site for a long time … however, This is an important topic that has helped to make people more aware of these issues.