Cream Cheese Frosting

This cream cheese frosting recipe is FANTASTIC. I was so excited at how great it turned out. The frosting recipe also comes from the cookbook Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans and I made it to top my pumpkin ginger cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 3 cups

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar


It is important that the butter and the cream cheese come to room temperature before you begin. If you use those two ingredients straight out of the refrigerator the frosting will be lumpy and no amount of mixing will get the lumps out. Set the butter and cream cheese on the counter while you make your cake or cupcakes and by the time you’re finished they should be ready to go.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly blended, about one minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing.


Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth for about 1 minute, then beat on medium to high speed for 1-2 minutes until whipped and creamy. The frosting is ready to use, or for flavor additions.


The best tool to use to frost a cupcake or cake is an offset spatula, as I mentioned for basic buttercream frosting. Now I have a picture of it:


This is a small one that I use for cupcakes. To frost a cupcake, scoop a big dollop of frosting out of the bowl with the spatula and plop it in the middle of the cupcake. The more the better!


Then flatten the dollop and spread the frosting around the edges of the cupcake, twirling it in your hand. You can do the same thing with a spoon if you do have or do not want to buy a special spatula. I like to leave a little bit of the cake part showing but that’s just my preference.


Voila – the perfect cupcake!


So is it worth it? This is the best frosting I’ve ever made so it’s a resounding yes for me. I swear I am never going to use frosting out of a can ever again. I can’t wait to make red velvet cupcakes to go with this frosting. And the next time I make homemade oreos I’m definitely going to use this frosting for the filling.