This soft and creamy classic cream cheese frosting lets the cream cheese flavor really shine! This simple recipe pairs beautifully with spice cakes and old-fashioned banana cake.
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🥕 About this cream cheese frosting recipe
This is a quick and easy recipe with only four ingredients. It makes a delicious frosting that is best for simple frosting textures. I like to create a "homestyle texture" with this frosting on my cakes and cupcakes by making "s" shaped swirls with my offset icing spatula.
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If you need a cream cheese frosting that's more stable for decorating cakes (like piping rosettes), I'd recommend my Vanilla Bakery buttercream which contains cream cheese but has a fluffy, more stable texture.
📋 Instructions and tips
- Beat the cream cheese until it is soft, then beat in the softened salted butter.
- Scrape the bowl often and continue to beat until there are no lumps. Add the powdered sugar until it is fully incorporated, then add the pure vanilla.
- Scrape the bowl again, then beat the cream cheese frosting for about a minute until it is smooth and creamy. The frosting will thicken
Top Tips:
- The frosting will seem soft at first, but it will thicken significantly when refrigerated. You can refrigerate it for a few minutes before using it, but if it is super cold it will be harder to work with.
- When using this frosting to make layer cakes, I recommend layering the cakes from frozen as described in How to Bake and Layer Cakes Like a Pro. Frost a thin crumb coat on the layer cake, then let the cake firm up in the freezer for about 10 minutes before adding a final coat of buttercream frosting.
⭐ Storing and serving this frosting
- Store unused cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator until using. You can rewhip it from cold to bring back it's soft and creamy texture.
- Refrigerate cakes and cupcakes made with this frosting until 2-3 hours before serving, then allow them to come back to room temperature. This frosting is best eaten at room temperature.
👩🏻🍳 Tools and equipment
The affordable stand mixer I use in my videos.
💭 Recipe FAQ
Because the sugar stabilized the cream cheese, according to many articles it can be left out overnight or up to 24 hours, although I recommend refrigerating your finished cake until 2-3 hours before serving just so it doesn't get too soft on your cake--For decorated cakes, remove the cake from the fridge 2-3 hours before serving so the cake and frosting can come back to room temp.
If you'd like for the frosting to be a little thicker and more stable, you can add more powdered sugar or up to 1 Tablespoon Instant Clearjel (a tasteless modified cornstarch that thickens instantly). However, you will need to whisk the Instant Clearjel with at least equal parts powdered sugar before adding it to the frosting to avoid clumping).
This will thicken the frosting, but cream cheese frosting naturally doesn't have the same fluffiness and stability as a traditional frosting. My go-to frosting for piping is a delicious cream cheese/ buttercream blend--it's my Vanilla Bakery Buttercream.
I hope you enjoy this cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe! Comment below or tag me on social media @amycakesbakes! 🙂
Thanks for Reading. ❤️
📖 Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions
Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese
- 1 stick(s) (4 ounces) Salted Butter (at room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 390 grams (3 cups) Powdered Sugar
Instructions
Make Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer and a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until broken up and softened.
- Add the room temperature salted butter and continue to beat, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat and scrape until there are no lumps.
- While the mixer is on low, slowly add the powdered sugar mixture. until it's fully mixed in.
- Add the pure vanilla, then scrape the bowl again beat on high for about one minute to add air into the cream cheese buttercream.
Notes
- The frosting will seem soft at first, but it will thicken significantly when refrigerated. You can refrigerate it for a few minutes before using it, but if it is super cold it will be harder to work with.
- When using this frosting to make layer cakes, I recommend layering the cakes from frozen as described in How to Bake and Layer Cakes Like a Pro. Frost a thin crumb coat on the layer cake, then let the cake firm up in the freezer for about 10 minutes before adding a final coat of buttercream frosting.
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