I give it a 5 star with these changes. I only used 1 - 8 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. butter, and 2 c. powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. It covered a 9 x 13 carrot cake perfectly.
Note: You need to know that this cream cheese frosting is for the person that wants a REAL cream cheese taste, as if they were eating actual cheesecake. This is not a sweet, sweet, sugary frosting. This is a cream cheese blessing! Not the kind you find in the container in the grocery store. This is homemade, amazingly delicious, cream cheese frosting!
Oh my goodness, this is a simple and yummy recipe and only took 15 minutes in my mixer. Make sure you start with room tempurature or softened butter and cream cheese. It will make your life a million times easier. I also followed the advice of the previous reviewers and added an extra 1 cup of sifted confectioners sugar because we like our frosting sweet. I also doubled the vanilla extract for a more intense flavor. I had no problems with the consistancy whatsoever. Since my husband likes the white frosting and I like chocolate, this batch made enough so I could divide it up into 2 separate batches. I just took out 1/2 of the batch and set it aside. Then I added 1/3 cup of pure cocoa powder (not hot chocolate mix) to the remaining batch and mixed it some more. We each frosted our own 1-layer 9" separate cakes and it was delicious both ways! If you only have 1 cake, you might want to reduce the recipe by half. Enjoy!
Great recipe! I used a slightly different method: beat softened cream cheese with vanilla until smooth, then add softened butter a little at time, beating until smooth. Finally, add powdered sugar to taste (I usually use less than called for). I found this method to give the best consistency. I've used this frosting on sam's carrot cake and pumpkin gingerbread (both from this site) with great results!
This recipe has both an unusually high proportion of cheese and low proportion of sugar (IMO). I like the resulting flavor, but it isn’t for everyone. For a less 'in your face' cheese flavor, I halve the cream cheese (8 oz instead of 16), add 1/4 cup of butter, and one more cup of powdered sugar. The final thickness tends to vary on several factors (brand/type/temperature of the cheese and butter) so I add milk/powdered-sugar to give me the 'spreadability' I want. I use this as a 'base' recipe for frosting many baked items, changing thickness and flavoring to suit my current use. It isn’t a decorator frosting for the real fancy stuff, but it isn’t meant to be.
This frosting could be eaten by the spoonful. Thought it was a tiny bit too tangy, so I used 3 cups of powdered sugar instead of 2. I used it to top a carrot cake, and everyone wanted the recipe. I truly don't see how you can go wrong with this frosting.
It was the lesser amount of butter and sugar that made me curious to try this recipe over what I've been making since forever. I don't know how this would have held up on a layer cake as it would definitely need to be firmed up in the refrigerator first, but let me tell you, it was awesome on the carrot bars I made today, and would be great on any sheet-type cake. Just lightly sweet and perfectly cream cheesy. Each recipe has its place, and I will make this again for any kind of bar or sheet cake needing a cream cheese frosting. Thanks for sharing your recipe Janni!
This was delicious!!!! I cut the recipe in half and it came out perfect. Also everytime I make homemade frosting, I always add a 1/2 cup of cool whip, it makes it so much fluffier, and yummy. It was awesome with this recipe, you should give it a try :)
This frosting is EXCELLENT! It makes enough to frost two 9" cakes, sides and all! The flavour is delicious and the consistency is perfect!
Not a frosting, more like an icing. Very runny after following the recipe exactly. Had to alter the end product to try and thicken it enough so it wouldn't run off my cupcakes. I wish I would have read the reviews. With such a high rating, I was expecting something much better. Would use again if I needed a thin icing, but not as a frosting.
