Not-So-Sweet Whipped Frosting
Total Time
8 minutes
Prep Time
8 minutes
Cook Time
0 minutes
Rating
4.5 out of 5 stars
(118)
Ingredients
4 cups
- 6 ounces (170g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (very cold!)
How would you rate this recipe?
Preparation
Chef’s notes
Freezing Instructions:
This whipped frosting freezes and thaws surprisingly well. For best results, I recommend freezing the frosting after you’ve already frosted your cake or cupcakes– as opposed to freezing the frosting in your mixing bowl or other container. Frost your baked good(s), refrigerate for at least 1 hour to really set the frosting, and then cover and freeze for up to 3 months. (Note that covering this frosting can get messy and I haven’t found a workaround for that.) Thaw your frosted baked good(s) at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Special Tools (affiliate links):
Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Disposable or Reusable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip
Can this frosting sit out at room temperature or in a warm environment? A few hours at room temperature is fine. If you’re serving your frosted confections outside on a hot day (I’ve done this a few times), refrigerate your frosted cake/cupcakes for up to 1 day. Remove from the refrigerator 30-60 minutes before serving them. This way they start out a little colder and can last longer in the heat.
Can I leave out or replace the cream cheese? No. See notes above. Instead, I would try a different recipe like regular whipped cream, Swiss meringue buttercream, or this whipped buttercream.
Can I tint this frosting a color? Yes. This frosting holds onto food coloring nicely and I strongly recommend using gel food coloring or natural food coloring powder. If you plan to tint the frosting, it’s best to add the food coloring when you add the heavy cream. If you need to add more food coloring after the frosting is done, gently stir it in by hand. If the frosting becomes too thick, stir in a splash of heavy cream to thin out again.
Can I flavor this frosting? Yes. Feel free to replace up to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract with another extract of choice such as lemon or coconut extract. If it’s a potent extract such as peppermint extract, I would only use 1/2 teaspoon. You can also turn this into a whipped strawberry frosting by replacing 1/4 cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar with 1/4 cup freeze-dried strawberry crumbs/dust. See strawberry frosting for how to do that.
If your frosting begins losing shape:
If your frosting becomes unstable or thins out/loses shape over time, whip it on high speed until stiff peaks form to reintroduce more air.
Quantity:
This recipe yields about 4-5 cups of frosting. This is enough to heavily frost 12-16 cupcakes (as pictured), a 9×13 inch quarter sheet cake, or a 2 layer cake. For a 3 layer cake, I recommend slightly scaling up the recipe by using 8 ounces (226g) of brick cream cheese, 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 2 cups (480ml) heavy cream. After adding the heavy cream, you may need to whip the mixture for slightly longer.
Piping Tip:
I used (affiliate link) Wilton 1M piping tip in the photos above. This is one of my favorite piping tips and you can watch how to use it in this Piping Tips tutorial video.