Cream Cheese Frosting
Built on whipped cream rather than butter, this frosting tastes cleaner and lighter, and the cheese keeps its faint salty edge instead of being muffled. Everything depends on temperature: cold cream whips into a stable foam, cold cheese does not weep, and together they hold a sharp edge under a palette knife.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Rest
- 1 h
- Total
- 1 h 15 min
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 240 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: about 900 g — enough for a 22 cm round cake with 3 layers, or 12 cupcakes
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Chill the bowl
Put the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes. A warm bowl warms the cream, and warm cream whips up fluffy but collapses.
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Step 2: Whip the cream
Whip the cold cream with the icing sugar on medium speed to soft peaks — it should trail behind the whisk and flop over gently.
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Step 3: Loosen the cheese
Beat the cold cream cheese on its own, by hand or for a few seconds with the mixer, just until smooth. Long beating turns it runny.
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Step 4: Combine
Add the cheese to the cream in three additions, mixing on low for 15–20 seconds each time. Add the vanilla and salt.
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Step 5: Bring it to body
Beat for a final 30–40 seconds until smooth and holding a clear whisk mark. Stop there; beyond that point it starts to break.
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Step 6: Chill
Cover and refrigerate for an hour. The frosting firms up and spreads much more cleanly.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Use real full-fat cream cheese with no vegetable fat in the ingredients list; cheap spreads slump within the hour.
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Tip
If it does split and weep, do not beat harder. Fold in 2 tbsp of cold cream cheese by hand and it comes back together.
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Variation
For a chocolate version, fold 60 g of dark chocolate, melted and cooled to 30 °C, into the finished frosting.
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Storage
Three days in a sealed container in the fridge. Keep the cake cold and take it out 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 240 kcal | 2,880 kcal |
| Protein | 4 g | 48 g |
| Fat | 21 g | 252 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g | 108 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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