This recipe delivers a basic cream cheese frosting using just butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla.
Use this frosting to top our best carrot cake recipe.
This is a tried and true, classic cream cheese frosting, especially good on carrot and banana cakes. I've made this so many times I haven't needed to look at the actual recipe for years! I've always used 3-1/2 to 4 c. of powdered sugar, but you can certainly use less, down to as little as 2 c., if you like a less-sweet, thicker, firmer, more cream cheesey frosting. Add a little cocoa powder or melted chocolate, to taste, for Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting.
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I did not love this frosting. The taste was pretty good, but I actually would have preferred more of the cream cheese taste and less of the butter. The biggest problem I had was the frosting LITERALLY ran right off the cake as soon as it reached room temperature. This caused the top layer of cake to slide about three inches to the right. Once re-refrigerated, it was fine and hardened right up. Sorry, this one just wasn't for me.
Read More This is a tried and true, classic cream cheese frosting, especially good on carrot and banana cakes. I've made this so many times I haven't needed to look at the actual recipe for years! I've always used 3-1/2 to 4 c. of powdered sugar, but you can certainly use less, down to as little as 2 c., if you like a less-sweet, thicker, firmer, more cream cheesey frosting. Add a little cocoa powder or melted chocolate, to taste, for Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting.
Great frosting! I only used 2 cups of powdered sugar and it came out fantastic.
Good basic cream cheese frosting. It is sweet, as other reviewers have noted, but isn't that the point? I made it exactly as reciped and it was the right consistency and flavor. It does make plenty for a three-tier cake. I made a basic white cake with strawberry preserves between each layer frosted with this frosting for my husband for Father's Day. I served fresh maserated berries on the side. Excellent! A definate keeper frosting recipe when you want something rich, sweet and dense.
this is a great recipe. I did notice when looking at carrot cake recipe's they mention using 'cream cheese frosting II', however there are 2 of those! I like this one. I, like some other review varied the powerded sugar. Since I wanted my frosting "stiff" I used more sugar, which was great. For those who want to frost the entire cake, (I am a former professional cake decorator) here at some hints for ALL cakes. Freeze the cake. Use the frosting between layer and cover the entire care with a thin coat of frosting. (This way the crumbs are only in the coat and it acts as a seal on the cake. Once again freeze or refrigerate, and then put on the final layer of frosting. This way you won't pull the crumbs into the frosting and it looks fabulous.
I decorate wedding cakes and this is the most delicious (not to mention easiest) recipe I've come across. Great on cinnamon rolls, mocha, spice, and carrot cakes! I thought the consistency was perfect but I you feel you need to thin it add about a tablespoon of light karo.
I did not love this frosting. The taste was pretty good, but I actually would have preferred more of the cream cheese taste and less of the butter. The biggest problem I had was the frosting LITERALLY ran right off the cake as soon as it reached room temperature. This caused the top layer of cake to slide about three inches to the right. Once re-refrigerated, it was fine and hardened right up. Sorry, this one just wasn't for me.
Well...I might as well glue this stuff to my butt because that's where it's going after I eat it all. This was a delicious frosting. I did alter it a bit to suit my taste. I used about 4-1/2 cups of powdered sugar, added a splash of almond extract and about an 1/8 of a cup of cream of coconut. I also added about a cup of chopped nuts for more of a tropical flavor. I spread this on top of a Mexican Wedding Cake while it was still warm (my mema's recipe) and wow...soooo good. Thanks JJ
This frosting is so yummy! I recommend starting with 3 cups of sugar and adding more to taste.
This is fantastic! I have been searching for a cream cheese frosting that is not too sweet and this is it! It is the perfect proportion of cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Enjoy!
Very yummy, basic frosting. I used half the sugar called for, and coconut rum in place of vanilla. I spread it on carrot cake and it was perfect.
After trying this recipe, I wonder why I ever bought that nasty frosting from the store. This is super easy and not very expensive. If you can get the cream cheese on sale like I did, its almost cheaper to make it from scratch than to buy a tub of it. Needless to say, I will never go back. As far as sweetness goes, just keep tasting the frosting until you get it to the desired sweetness. I figured it was a given, but I guess some people like to follow the recipe to the "T". Lets live dangerously people and try changing the recipe a bit.
I LOVE this recipe! I added 2 tsp of vanilla and got a more vanilla flavor and it came out more like a glaze. VERY GOOD!
Easy and delicious! It helps if you soften the cream cheese before mixing. Also, sifting the powdered sugar keeps the frosting lump-free. My time saving tip: I keep my powdered sugar in a hard plastic container, and I just shake it really hard. That seems to break up any lumps in the sugar, so I don't have to sift it. :o)
This was easy and delicious. I made this exactly as written and it came out great!!!
Perfect cream cheese frosting. Frosted a red velvet cake beautifully. FYI, this also freezes well. Just give it enough time to get to room temp/spreadable consistency.
I first made cream cheese frosting with another recipe i found on this website called Cream cheese frosting II as well.. I personally don't like frosting but that other recipe is so amazing i was literally eating spoonfuls of it maybe becuse it tastes more like cheesecake. This IS more like the cream cheese frosting you buy a tstores the cream cheese flavor isnt so strong as the other one. I do think this recipe is way to sweet as i was tasting it i kept adding more and more cream cheese to balance it out. I later realized i used the wrong recipe.. Moral of the story if you like sweet sweet sweet frosting use this recipe, if you like a truly cream cheese tasting frosting try Cream Cheese frosting II by Janni..
This is sooooo good! I think you could eat cardboard if you frosted it with this stuff!
O-M-G...lol this is sooo good. It was hard for me to stay away from the frosting. As I was waiting for my cake to cool I decided to put a little in a bowl and grabbed some grapes and pineapple chunks. It was so good with the fruit as a dip. I don't really know if that is what the fruit dip recipe is but this frosting is really good. I wonder what it would taste like if I added marshmallow creme????
Thank you, JJ, for putting into words how to make cream cheese frosting. I am not a baker and every time I asked someone how to make cream cheese frosting they would say. "I don't know. I never measured." I made this today and it turned out perfectly! Thank you!
Delicious! My cake stuck in the pan and wasn't terribly pretty once I patched it back together, but I was able to hide most of it with this amazing frosting. I don't like cream cheese frosting to be super sweet, so I only added 2 cups of confectioner's sugar and it was perfect. This will be my go-to frosting recipe from now on!!
I wanted to make double the amount of frosting so I just planned on doubling everything. Upon doing so, as I started to put in the sugar, it just seemed like an awful lot of sugar to add. Seeing as I was doubling it, that called for 8 cups of sugar. After I put 4 cups in, I tasted it and it was just right so I did not add the final 4 cups. If putting in the whole amount of sugar, it would have been way too sweet. Alter that little bit and it it's a perfect recipe. Also, I used that new "Whipped" cream cheese spread thats available instead of normal cream cheese but it tastes the same. Good job, excellent recipe that I will keep!
I only had two cups of conf. sugar in the pantry, and decided to try this with the suggestions of others to use less sugar. I thought the frosting tasted de'lish with less sugar, but the consistency wasn't quite as firm and air'y as I would like it to be. I used two cups of sugar, but in the future I think I'll try three cups, although two cups really brought out the cream cheese'y flavor. To help with the consistency, I refrigerated the cake, and I think it was very good ... I used the frosting to top a 13" X 9" cinnnamon swirl cake. I thought that maybe the butter flavor was too potent, and might try a half butter half shortening route next time around with this frosting. All in all my family thought it was very tastey, and I will try it again with a few alterations in the future. :)
I felt kind of dumb when I went back and re-read this recipe. I made it the other day with only 1 cup of powdered sugar, and it was delicious! Now after reading the reviews I see that the negative ones are pertaining to the amount of powdered sugar. With fantastic results with just 1 cup of powdered sugar, I would encourage those who felt 4 cups was way to much to try it with alot less. I'm sure up to 2 cups would work well.
This frosting is amazing!!! I used it on red velvet cupcakes for a Christmas party and everyone loved them! There were no leftovers. I also loved the texture; made it very easy to pipe.
I am not overly impressed. I only used 3 cups of powdered sugar and it still was too sugary and not enough cream cheese. I like cream cheese frosting to taste like cream cheese and not powdered sugar. I am going to keep looking for a good cream cheese frosting recipe.
I just made this and it is wonderful. The more powdered sugar used, the thinner the icing and less cream cheese taste. I only used 2 cups of powdered sugar and it was the perfect consistency for my spice cake. I didn't ice the sides, only the tops. Loved it.
I made this frosting for carrot cake and it was perfect . Didn't change a thing!
Easy. Wonderful. Fabulous!!! My Best Friend is getting married and asked me to make her a Red Velvet Cake slathered with this frosting. How awesome is that? I have frosted Carrot Cake with this frosting before and it was MAGNIFICENT! This recipe is Da Bomb!!!
Best of two icings I've made to date! Super simple, too. I added two tbsp of milk for consistancy and another teaspoon of vanilla for stronger flavor, and I thought it was fabulous! My mother-in-law said it was a bit sweet, but my hubby and I agree that it's perfect. I still may reduce sugar next time, especially if it were a carrot or fruit-based cake.
This was more of a sugar frosting than cream cheese, I put in 3 1/2 cups of sugar and it was over the top sweet with no hit of cream cheese and I used philadelphia brand full fat cream cheese. So I added another 5 ounces of cream cheese to make it taste cream cheesier!
Nice creamy frosting. I did add a little whipping cream to it also (1/4 cup). It was nice and creamy and rich. I piped it out on top of cupcakes and it worked well. It makes a lot of frosting. I frosted 24 cupcakes and still had 1/2 of it left after piping it on. It keeps well so plan to use the rest within a week.
This is a good basic cream cheese frosting. I used a little cornstarch to thicken it up. I also added ½ cup chopped pecans and frosted a banana nut cake with it.
Simple. Sweet. Perfect for my Banana Cake. Kids loved licking the bowl and beaters. :)
I NEVER follow a recipe... Except for this one every time because it's PERFECT!!
PERFECT on the Pumkin Cake III! Been making this for a few years and it comes out wonderful every single time!
A bit too sweet and not creamy enough. I would cut the sugar in half and add another package of cream cheese
I used only 1 cup of sugar, and it was perfect. I can't imagine how sweet 4 cups would be.
5++ stars (even before my addition)- I added a TBL of pumpkin puree that added a hint of flavor & pretty color which turned out great since I used this for the Pumpkin Cake III recipe on this site.
Delicious! Not too sweet with a distinct cream cheese flavor. The kids and I loved it on the Pumpkin Cake III recipe from this site. It kept for 3 days with no problems. This is my new cream cheese frosting recipe.
this was the first cream cheese frosting that i have made. i put it on a red vevet cake and it was awesome! also very simple to make!
I love this frosting! My brother is getting baptized today, and I made cupcakes to surprise him. The frosting is very smooth and creamy, and it's the perfect blend of cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla.
YUM! I would give this more stars if possible! I could seriously eat this stuff by the spoonful. Not exactly health food, but SO DELICIOUS! I used 3 cups powdered sugar instead of 4. The perfect frosting for the yummy Pumpkin Cake III recipe on this site.
PERFECT!!! Will definitely make over and over, and over. I used this on a red velvet cake. I'd like to use some on a spice cake, carrot cake and maybe some banana bread/cake.
Followed the recipe as directed but found that all of the cream cheese got stuck in the beaters. So I added about a tablespooon or two of whole milk to loosen it up. Maybe it was just my cheap blender The frosting is great though!
I used just 1 cup of sugar for this and had everyone in my family fighting over who got to lick the bowl...
Excellent cream cheese frosting. I added a bit more icing sugar in order to pipe the frosting for decorating, otherwise I would have strictly followed the recipe.
This is the BEST creme cheese frosting I have ever had. Smooth creamy and delicious. It is very rich so if you want low fat/calories, this is not it. If you want great taste this is deffinately a winner. I have made it several times without changing anything and the other 22 people at my office agree that it is the best!
When I made it, it was much to runny. That could be because I used margarine spread, though. Also, it was just to sweet. But overall, it wasn't bad.
This is a fast and easy way to frost a cake. Since I keep most of the ingredients on hand...its great when I have to bake...thanks.
Great! This has become my "go-to" cream cheese frosting. I only add a bit of salt to make it just perfect!
Good stuff! I halved the recipe and piped it on 12 banana cupcakes (Frosted Banana Bars recipe from this site.)
Delicious! I was never fond of cream cheese frosting until I tried this. Absolutely perfect. I used it on a strawberries and cream cake that one person thought came from a gourmet bakery, and everyone said was the best cake they have ever had. Thank you so much for sharing. This was a super easy ending to a fabulous recipe!
I halved the recipe, halved the vanilla (since my mom has hyper sensitive taste buds), & used 1 cup of icing sugar rather than 2 cups. I thought the sweetness was perfect then. Still sweet, with a little tang from the cream cheese. Since I reduced the sugar so much, the frosting was too soft for piping. I just slathered it over the top & sides of a 8" carrot cake. After refrigeration, the frosting firmed up quite a bit. Yummy with reduced sugar amounts! I like to taste food, not sugar.
Excellent cream cheese frosting. I added a bit more icing sugar in order to pipe the frosting for decorating, otherwise I would have strictly followed the recipe.
Used this with Mother's cin. rolls, YUM! I think I used a bit more sugar and maybe a splash of milk b/c I made it a bit to thick to spread, and I tried a dash of vanilla, but I couldn't taste a difference. Next time will skip the vanilla.
I'm not exactly sure what the problem was, but the frosting seemed a bit runny. It kinda wanted to slide of the sides of the cake a bit. The cake was completely cooled so I know that was not the issue. I'm wondering if I let the butter and cream cheese soften too much before I whipped them. Who knows??? The taste was good, though. I'm glad I was just playing around in the kitchen and this was not for company or anyone other than the kiddos. (They are not too discriminating!!) It certainly isn't one of my prettier creations!!!!
Great frosting! Love the flavor....and like some of the other reviews I did not add all of the sugar. I taste tested after each 1/2 cup and was satisfied with the sweetness at 2 cups. Great flavor and sooo simple. Will definitely use again.
The only reason I'm not giving five stars is because I modified it to taste, so I can't say the recipe is "the best" as given, but it's a great starting place! I only used 2 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar (to taste), and only one teaspoon vanilla (to taste), and it's PERFECT! Nice and fluffy, slightly warm in color (I used cheap generic butter, not the nicer Cabot butter, which is lighter), which I think gives a nice touch to my carrot cake. I used this on the outside to frost it, and I used "Coconut Pecan Frosting I" Submitted by Marsha on this site for the middle filling between the layers... I think I created a winner this time! I never used butter when I made this type of frosting before, and I think it adds a lot of flavor. This would also be good made in a double batch and then poured into a graham cracker pie shell and chilled, then served with fruit topping!
Really great and simple. Think and made a lot of frosting, would have been perfect for a 3 layer cake.
Great frosting! i just used about 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar and it turned out really good! this icing also goes well with pumpkin spice cupcakes that i made :)
This is the best cream cheese frosting recipe I've tried. Creamy with just enough sweetness. I like it best on carrot cake.
I took the advice of other reviews and only used 3 cups of confectioners sugar. It was delicious. I frosted a two layer cake and had icing left over so I used some food coloring and decorated the cake with my pastry cake decorator. It was very delicious and several people complimented the icing. I won't buy container cream cheese frosting again.
OMG!! This was so yummy! I was making a yellow cake and realized I didn't have any frosting in my pantry. I've never made frosting from scratch, but I had everything I needed so I figured I'd try it out. I will never buy store bought frosting again! Oh yeah, I made it with just 2 cups sugar and after tasting it was afraid to mess it up by adding anything else. This was by far the best tasting frosting I've ever had!
I thought this was good, but not my favorite cream cheese frosting. I didn't want to eat gobs and gobs of plain frosting like I do with a really great recipe! :) The consistency was smooth, but the frosting was thinner than I expected it to be and didn't 'set up' at all.
Delicious...everyone loved it...used it on a chocolate cake! Very good...with definitely make this one again :)
I have been using the other Cream cheese frosting II on this site but I always had to make adjustments. I decided to give this one a try and it is the best! Dont change one thing and it is absolutely perfect. Thanks so much!!!
I'd have given this a 4.5 star if I could have. It tastes delicious, but it was INCREDIBLY thick. It would have worked much better if I had a kitchenaid instead of a hand mixer. I had to add a bit of milk to make it just a touch thinner. Even with the milk it was really thick and very good.
Didn't need quite 4 cups of sugar but hubby thought it was beater lickin' good. Fabulous on Strawberry Cake!
This is a great, basic cream cheese frosting. It will complement many varieties of cake including carrot and rhubarb. I used it on Steve and Jesse's Strawberry Cake from this website. Just be sure your ingredients are at room temperature - this makes mixing much easier and you will have a creamier frosting.
Super easy and really tasty! I just didn't use as much sugar as it it called for. Only 2 1/2 cups maybe 3 at that. Really easy though, and my daughter enjoyed helping make it. Family favorite around here from now on!
I made this today to go on a Red Velvet Cake. I only added 1 tsp of vanilla. I beat this about 5 minutes on high speed. This was fabulous! Thank you.
I accidentally left out a cup of sugar out of my cupcakes. This recipe saved my cupcakes! I notice tho whenever I make cream cheese icing it gets runny so I keep the cream cheese in the fridge until ready to make.
this serves as a good base. I do like butter in my cream cheese frosting but also like the tang of the cream cheese to come out. I'd probably cut the sugar to 3 cups next time but it is a very good consistency for spreading as written.
I made this frosting to go with an Irish pound cake. I added a tablespoon "or so" of Irish whiskey to the recipe, it was amazing. I loved the consistency and the flavor was spot on. In fact, my fiancée, who dislikes cream cheese frosting, loved it. He was disappointed that I only saved him the beaters. I did double sift the sugar to avoid lumps.
This is a great recipe! I added the full 4 cups of sugar and it turned out great. I also added about 3Tbsp of blueberry jam for flavor, so so yummy!
Used this to top my banana cake with.....mmm good! Can't wait to use for other baked goods! Maybe pumpkins bars for the upcoming fall holidays. Thanks JJ.
Cut back to 1 block cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter and 2 cups confectioner's sugar to start. Added more sugar to get desired consistency for spreading onto a cake that was going to be decorated (needed to be somewhat firm; no melting). I love cream cheese frosting and despite the reduction in cream cheese, the flavor still really came through. Very good!
Excellent!!! Needed a double batch for two cakes...and didn't have quite 8 cups of confection sugar (closer to 6)...came out smooth, creamy, and not too sweet!! Pairing this with a carrot cake and a pumpkin spice cake for fall birthdays!! Yumm!! Thanks
Great base recipe to vamp off of. In addition to the vanilla, I added a little orange extract, plus about a tsp. of cinnamon to put on spice cake. Just right with some extra appeal.
