Cream cheese frosting is so versatile and compliments so many different types of baked goods like carrot cake, red velvet cupcakes, cinnamon rolls or just plain old vanilla cupcakes. Cream cheese frosting is not too sweet, has a beautifully creamy texture, is a bit tangy and is just plain delicious. There is no other frosting that my family loves more than my homemade cream cheese frosting. After several attempts, I have finally found the perfect recipe, that I've tweaked just a little bit. I also have a tip for pipable cream cheese frosting or if your putting it atop some cinnamon rolls.
Let's dive in.
1. Leave your butter and cream cheese out for about 1 hour to bring it to room temperature.
You NEED room temperature butter for any type of frosting you make. If you live in a warm climate you might only need to leave it out for 15 minutes. But, if your live in a cold climate like me (i'm from Canada eh!), you need between 1-2 hours. For the cream cheese, you want it kind of cold but soft enough to whip. So leave the cream cheese out for about 1 hour.
2. Sift your powdered sugar.
Powdered sugar is also known as icing sugar or confectioner's sugar. It's all the same thing. Whatever you call it, make sure you sift it. Powdered sugar get really clumpy and harder to combine with your butter if you don't sift it. I've made icing without sifting before and while it does come together in the end, you're going to be mixing for a while to go from a grainy, clumpy consistency to a smooth and fluffy one.
3. Cream the butter first. Then the cream cheese.
You need to cream the butter well until it's about double in size and looks kind of pale. The butter needs to be creamed first, before the cold cream cheese, otherwise the cream cheese will sort of freeze the butter and there will be a mess of random solid pieces of butter all over your frosting. This happened to me and you will end up chewing chunks of butter.
4. Add the powdered sugar to the butter slowly.
If you don't do this slowly, there will be sugar everywhere. One trick I use is I add about half a cup of icing sugar at a time. And before I turn on that mixer, I incorporate the sugar and butter with a spoon at first (just a little) and then I mix it together with a hand held mixer.
4. Add the vanilla.
Vanilla always brings out this really great flavour in buttercream frosting. But if you prefer a different flavour, by all means, add it. This is a totally customizable recipe.
5. Optional: Add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk...
Generally, you don't need to add any liquid to cream cheese frosting as it is already pretty runny. If you find your icing is too thick you can add some cream or milk as you see fit. But, if you know that you want to colour your icing with liquid food coloring, add the food coloring instead of milk. There shouldn't be too much of a change in consistency, but some people tell me that their frosting is perfect after this. So add either heavy cream or coloring as you see fit.
Tips:
To get a tangier frosting and really bring out the flavour of your frosting: add about a teaspoon of lemon juice.
To make pipable cream cheese: don't add any liquids other than a bit of coloring (normally cream cheese frosting is not for piping).
Whether it is a cake or a cupcake you want to pipe, make sure you place it into the fridge immediately to keep its shape.
Recipe
Prep Time: 10 mins
Servings: 3 cups
Ingredients
½ Cup(115g) Butter
200g Cream Cheese
3 Cups (375g) icing sugar or confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions
In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat room temperature butter for until light, pale and double in size.
Add the cream cheese to the butter and mix until well combined.
Sift the icing sugar and add it to the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically with a spatula and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
If you tried this recipe or have a question, let me know in the comment section below.
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