Cream Cheese Frosting
Total Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
20 minutes
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(3)
Ingredients
~5 cups
- 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 16 oz full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature (use Philadelphia cream cheese for the best results)
- 5 cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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Preparation
Chef’s notes
**AMOUNTS PER DESSERT** – This amount is perfect for a 3-layer 6, 8, or 9 inch cake. With a 6 inch, you’ll have extras left over to use as decoration on top. For the 8 or 9 inch, it should cover the entire cake with very little excess. For any other dessert, such as a dozen cupcakes, 9x13 sheet cake, or sugar cookies, you will only need half of this recipe.
**CUSTOMIZATION** – For more details, see the blog post above. Otherwise, here’s a quick breakdown
For chocolate cream cheese frosting:
Add 3/4 cup of dark cocoa powder for every 16oz of cream cheese (or 6 tbsp for every 8oz).
For brown butter:
Simply brown the 1 cup of butter and pour it into a shallow dish. Chill for about 1 hour to solidify. It should be firm but not hard.
For fruit:
There are two options. One, add 1/4 cup of fresh fruit puree (blended in a food processor) for every 8oz of cream cheese and add 2 cups of powdered sugar to the recipe. This frosting will be a bit thin, so it’s best for sheet cakes. Two, blend freeze-dried fruit into a powder and add 1/4 cup for every 8oz of cream cheese. No addition sugar is needed. This will not be thin like it is with the fresh fruit, so it can be used to pipe or layer.
For color:
Use gel food coloring to add a few drops to the frosting. Don’t use liquid food coloring as this will thin out the frosting.