This cream cheese buttercream is smooth and creamy with a good healthy dose of cream cheese. It’s wonderful on cakes with fruit, spice cakes and red velvet cake. It’s sure to be on your favorite list.
Besides cake, cream cheese is my favorite food and when you put it on top of cake, well, I just don’t know a better combination. This buttercream is smooth and creamy with a good, healthy dose of cream cheese. Cream Cheese Buttercream is definitely on my favorite list.
My obsession with cream cheese started early on. I would get a prize if I got the honor roll in school and do you know what I asked for? Cheesecake. No, I’m really serious. My Mom made the best no-bake cheesecake. It certainly wasn’t gourmet, but it was my favorite. (By the way, if you’re interested in that recipe, comment below and I’ll be happy to write a recipe post.)
So as you can see, I’ve always loved cream cheese. It’s wonderful on a cake with fruit in the ingredients and it’s also terrific on red velvet cakes and spice cakes.
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Enough of my talking…on to the recipe: (And if you keep scrolling, you can download a cute printable recipe card.)
Recipe
Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 2 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon milk can add another tablespoon if needed
- 6 cups powdered sugar can add another cup if needed to thicken it up
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract can add an extra teaspoon for even more flavor
Instructions
- Mix your butter and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl.
- Add three cups of powdered sugar and 1 – 2 tablespoons of milk and mix well.
- Add in the next three cups of powdered sugar plus the vanilla extract and mix well. Check your consistency. If the buttercream feels too thin, add another cup of powdered sugar. If it’s feels too thick, just add in another teaspoon to tablespoon of milk and mix again.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Share
I’d love for you to share this recipe link or tag it, but please do not share screenshots or copy/paste the recipe to social media as the content and photographs are copyright protected and we (bloggers) work really hard on our content. Sharing the link, tagging us on socials and pinning it is super appreciated though!
By the way, I won’t judge you if you don’t even put this on a cake and just eat it straight out of the bowl. If you know me at all…you know I have a habit of doing that 😉
Ok, let me know how you like it and if you’d like me to post my Mom’s easy no-bake cheesecake recipe.
‘Til next time!
Don’t Forget to Pin it for Later!
Kim Kerr
Ok this looks deadly to my hips. But I have to try it….lol….
Kara Jane
Haha! Oh yeah it’s definitely deadly to the hips…and thighs…and tummy! But it’s SO worth it! LOL!
Ashley
Can you pipe this?
Kara Jane
Hey Ashley, well it depends on what you want to pipe. Its a little softer than regular buttercream. It’s generally ok to pipe rosettes and non-intricate borders with, but not anything too complicated like actual roses etc. If you really want to use it to pipe with and want it a little more stable, you might try replacing some of the butter with vegetable shortening as that will add some stability. I don’t think it tastes quite as good, but it’s a trade off.
Lauren
Thanks for the recipe. I love this recipe. Sometimes I substitute the vanilla for fresh lemon juice.
Kara Jane
Yes! Good suggestion. I love with lemon…it really gives it a kick of tartness.
teresa anderson
i would love for you to print your mom’s no bake cheesecake recipe
Kara Jane
Hi Teresa, Oh my goodness, I totally forgot I even referenced my Mom’s cheesecake in this post! I actually used her recipe as a basis for my lemon cake bottom cheesecake. You can see that here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/cake-bottom-lemon-cheesecake/ The cheesecake layer is very similar to what she made. And thanks for asking! 🙂
teresa anderson
I would love to have your moms recipe for the no bake cheese cake
Kara Jane
Hi Teresa! I have been meaning to put that recipe up on the blog. I’m thinking I’ll get to it in the spring some time since it’s really a no-bake kind of cheesecake. In the meantime, I do have a recipe on the blog that is very similar. It’s the cake bottom lemon cheesecake and the top layer is based off my Mom’s cheesecake. You can check that out here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/cake-bottom-lemon-cheesecake/
Rosemary
Sooooo good. I made cupcakes frosted with this for a party at work and can’t believe how fast they went. Had some left over which I am keeping in my fridge and eating with a spoon
Kara Jane
Oh that’s great! Thanks for the wonderful review and I’m so glad you loved it. (I also eat this buttercream with a spoon. lol!)
Sabrina
Is this stiff enough to use under fondant?
Kara Jane
No I personally wouldn’t use cream cheese buttercream under fondant.
Valery
Hi!
This looks delicious! I want to make it for my boy’s birthday cake, I just have one question though: does it hold decoration made of fondant? Or will it just slide on the sides?
Thanks! 🙂
Kara Jane
Hi Valery, I wouldn’t use cream cheese buttercream under fondant. It’s a softer buttercream. For fondant cakes, I always use ganache (whether it’s chocolate or white chocolate). Ganache firms up really well and it’s much easier to work with if you’re going to cover a cake in fondant. The other option would be to use a different buttercream…one that uses actual butter and not shortening. The reason is that butter can firm up well in the fridge, but a frosting made with shortening just won’t firm up as well. If the buttercream won’t firm up well, when you go to add fondant on it, it’ll just become a disaster. Hope this helps.
Marilyn
Can I use this recipe for a carrot cake for an August event? I’m worried about it melting?…the room should have AC, but not that cool I’m thinking. Maybe keep it in the cooler for as long as possible?
Kara
It would go great on carrot cake, but because it’s made with cream cheese, it is a softer buttercream. I’d probably keep it in the fridge, well covered, until about 20-25 minutes before it’s served though.
Vivian
Can I use coconut flavoring instead of vanilla flavoring in this cream cheese frosting?
Kara
Hi Vivian, yes you can use any flavoring you like.