I’ve made cream cheese frosting countless times and have never had any issues doing so – until the last time I made cream cheese frosting. It was considerably gloppier than I wanted it, and this was a big concern because rather than spreading it onto a sheet cake I wanted to pipe it onto cupcakes. I had to do a LOT of doctoring to get it to an acceptable thickness and it wasn’t “a piece of cake” (ha!) to get it there. I’ve been spooked ever since. Today was the day to give it another shot and I was determined not to have a repeat of this. I did some snooping around online and came up with a couple of tricks I was eager to try. I chose to use them on this recipe for its lesser amount of powdered sugar than most. So…tips I tried were to mix the butter and powdered sugar together first, just till the mixture is smooth. Then add the COLD cream cheese, which of course is still malleable, piece by piece, being careful only to mix just till smooth and not overbeating. One last thing I did, just for good measure, was to limit the vanilla to just one teaspoon, as I didn’t want to add any more liquid than necessary. It all worked! The frosting was thick, luscious and perfect for piping – it really held its shape. I love this frosting flavor-wise too - not too sweet, yet not too tangy, but still a good, pleasantly sweet cream cheese flavor. Since I used this to frost lime cupcakes, I infused it with a tablespoon of grated lime zest. This stuff is goooood.
One of my favorite frostings EVER. I like to use pure vanilla extract in this recipe and add a pinch of salt only because Grandma always taught me to add a little salt when making frosting. It's so good you want to eat it out of the mixer bowl.
My official taste-tester gives his seal of approval on this recipe! After years of making cream cheese frosting, I've ALWAYS been annoyed by the hassle of bringing the cream cheese to room temp before being able to make the frosting. Well, I decided to follow Naples suggestion of mixing the butter and sugar FIRST, then add COLD cream cheese...what an awesome idea! And it WORKS!! This recipe (and Naples method) is a keeper!
A good and straight forward start but you really are going to need more powdered sugar anyway to get the texture right unless you just want a sort of glaze.
Never made cream cheese frosting myself though my mama did when I was a child. This was a very easy recipe to do. I did follow the suggestions made by naples34102 and doubled the recipe to ensure a good amount for my two layer red and green velvet cake. The frosting came out really good. My husband approved and he is not a frosting kind of guy. It was a thick creamy result. I also added the pinch of salt to the mixture while the butter and sugar were creaming. Excellent recipe I will make this again when I make my black magic cake.
I really liked this recipe. I only added half of the sugar because I prefer mine less sweet. Delicious on the Applesauce Cake VI!
It was just okay. It had a hint of sweetness that just wasn't robust enough for us. I didn't add the salt like recommended by others and perhaps I should have. I may try this again but do plan to enhance it maybe with more sugar and some salt.
Super simple tasty and if you add a pinch of salt (1/4 tsp) it balances the sweetness perfectly. I added cinnamon extract and you can easily take this recipe and add almond lemon peppermint - whatever compliments what you are baking.
Easy and delicious! I let the butter and cream cheese warm up on my counter instead of the microwave (I always tend to overdue it in the microwave and then regret it).
