Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe goes well with so many different types of cakes. The absolute best is carrot cake cupcakes – check out my carrot cupcakes recipe and combine it with this one for the ultimate sweet treat!

This frosting recipe will also taste fantastic on top of any spiced cake, banana bread, banana cake, red velvet cake, layer cake and just about any cupcake. 

Stuck for cupcake recipes? See the bottom of this article for some incredible Greedy Gourmet cupcake recipes.

If you want to keep your frosting for longer, it’s best to keep it in the fridge in an airtight container. However...

Hmmm… cake is best stored at room temperature and cream cheese needs to be refrigerated. Put the two together for a delicious frosted cupcake and you have a storage dilemma. So, how do you store cupcakes with cream cheese icing?

Well, that depends. If you live in a cooler climate – say, your house is 21ºC/70ºF or below – it should be fine to store cheese frosting cream cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. Only do this if you’re going to eat it the next day. Otherwise, refrigerate them.

If you live in a warmer climate where room temperature is more like a sauna, you definitely want to keep your cake or cupcakes in the fridge.

If you put your frosting in the fridge in an airtight container, it’ll last for around 1-2 weeks.

If you want to keep it for longer, simply place it in the freezer, again in an airtight container. It should last around 3 months. When you’re ready to use it, defrost it in the fridge overnight.

If you want to keep them for that little bit longer, you can even freeze your frosted cupcakes. Cakes take quite well to being frozen.

It’s best to freeze cupcakes without icing. Still, if you’ve already iced them, no problem! Just place them in the freezer for around an hour until the icing has hardened.

Then, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, then place them in an airtight freezable container. They’ll keep fresh for up to 3 months.

Yes, you can! If you over whip or overbeat cream cheese frosting, it’ll break down and start to become a runny mess. 

You want a beautifully light and fluffy frosting cream cheese mixture. So, as soon as it starts to get fluffy, stop mixing and get ready for some piping!

There are few things in a baker’s life quite as disappointing as runny cream cheese frosting! Having a slightly runny icing instead of a beautiful thick and fluffy icing is a baker’s nightmare.

Well, don’t sweat it! With just a couple of tricks, you can easily turn a baker’s nightmare into a baker’s delight! 

Lots of people suggest using cornstarch to thicken cream cheese frosting. You can of course do this – just add a teaspoon of cornstarch to a teaspoon of water to form a paste, then mix into the frosting cream cheese.

For me, this will affect the flavor a little too much. Make sure you don’t use any more than a teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken this recipe. Then you’ll definitely start affecting the flavor way too much.

If your cream cheese icing is just a touch too watery, try placing it in the refrigerator for around 10 minutes. The cream cheese and butter will cool, giving it a thicker texture, perfect for piping onto your cupcakes.

You could also add double cream, a tablespoon at a time, and whisk vigorously, to add some thickness to your cheese frosting. Cream is a good way to thicken without altering the taste.

You can spread or spoon your cream cheese frosting on top of your cupcakes, but the best way to get a pretty little swirl of cream cheese frosting is to pipe it on.

For this, you will need a piping bag. Simply spoon the cream cheese frosting into the bag and pipe it onto the top of the cupcake, making a spiral shape.

Buttercream frosting just uses a mixture of butter and powdered sugar, whereas cream cheese frosting uses cream cheese. For a buttercream recipe try this easy strawberry frosting.

For me, buttercream is nearly always too sweet and lacks that extra slight sourness that tones down the sweetness.

This means that, instead of having a sickly sweet icing, you end up with a rich, creamy icing that’s less sweet and sickly and goes so well with cupcakes, especially those that are slightly spiced.

The best cream cheese frosting uses butter, for that extra creamy texture. However, if you want to make this frosting without butter, you can swap in a few ingredients.

Add a tablespoon of whipping cream to thicken up the mixture, plus a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt, to cut through the powdered sugar. Cream cheese butter free frosting will have a lighter consistency than classic cream cheese frosting.

There are some occasions when only chocolate will do. Fellow chocoholics, I understand. Fear not. This recipe is completely adaptable. If you want to make it into a chocolate cream cheese frosting, all it takes is just one simple tweak.

Just add 45g of cocoa powder at the stage when you add the cream cheese. With a little bit of cocoa powder, you’ll have a delectable chocolate cream cheese and butter icing to die for!