ASB Basics: Cream Cheese Frosting (Updated with Video Recipe)

Cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting to eat. It's so tangy and creamy; I just love it!

It can, however, be a pain to work with if it gets too loose. Start with really room temperature butter and cream cheese, and if you need to, pop the finished icing in the refrigerator to firm up a little. Below are the amounts I find most useful, but feel free to scale the recipes up or down. You'll love the tangy vanilla flavor that pairs classically with red velvet and carrot cake.

Video Recipe!

Makes enough to cover two 9" layers of cake:

• 8oz full fat cream cheese (1 regular block of Philadelphia style) at room temperature

• 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1 1 lb box (454g) powdered sugar

• ~1 tsp vanilla extract

Makes enough to cover three 9" layers of cake, probably enough for 24 cupcakes:

• 12oz full fat cream cheese (1.5 regular blocks of Philadelphia style) at room temperature

• 1--1/2 sticks (170g) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1--1/2 lbs (680g) powdered sugar

• ~2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric hand mixer until well combined and creamy.

2. Add half of the powdered sugar, beat until very well combined, add the remaining half of the powdered sugar, and beat until very well combined.

3. Beat in the vanilla extract.

4. If piping, you may want to refrigerate the icing slightly before using to firm up.