This homemade delicious fluffy marshmallow frosting is the perfect white icing recipe for cakes and cupcakes and it’s made without using egg whites, which makes it very easy.
This is the perfect white icing recipe for cakes and cupcakes. You’ll use marshmallow fluff and there are no egg whites in this frosting recipe, yay! It’s super easy and quick to make and there’s not a ton of ingredients.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
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Marshmallow buttercream is insanely good on coconut cake, piped onto chocolate, as a filling for chocolate chip cookies, a filling in cupcakes, or you might just want to eat this one directly out of the bowl!
There isn’t much that I love more than crackin’ open a jar of marshmallow creme and digging straight into it with a spoon.
Ingredient Notes:
Now let’s talk a little about just some of the ingredients in this xxxxx. (The printable list of all ingredients are in the recipe card below.)
Cream cheese: This helps to give the frosting some stability and it adds to the taste by cutting the sweetness of the marshmallow fluff and confectioner’s sugar.
Marshmallow fluff: Of course, marshmallow frosting needs marshmallow fluff…it’s also called marshmallow cream. I don’t know of an alternative to this. Using melted marshmallows won’t give you the same results.
Butter: Butter makes everything better, right? Well, it’s in this recipe to give flavor, creaminess and stability.
Confectioners Sugar: This is what will give it some sweetness.
(Make sure to check out the FAQ section below in this post for ingredient and substitution questions.)
How to make this frosting:
Let’s talk a little about how to make marshmallow icing. (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
In a mixing bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Beat on medium until smooth.
Step 2:
Add in the marshmallow fluff and beat on medium until smooth. Then add the vanilla extract and the pinch of salt. Mix on medium until everything is well mixed.
Step 3:
Add in two cups of the confectioner’s sugar and beat on medium until smooth. Then, add in the last two cups of confectioner’s sugar and beat on medium until well mixed and fluffy.
Step 4:
Place the frosting in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or so for it to firm up a bit before piping onto cupcakes or adding to cake.
(Remember that the instructions will also be in the recipe card below.)
Tips & FAQs:
I don’t think there’s any difference at all. I use the two terms interchangeably. Marshmallow creme does sound fancier though, right?
Yes, you can. Just make sure to omit the pinch of salt called for in the recipe.
Yes, the tanginess cuts the sweetness of the marshmallow cream and the confectioner’s sugar. The same goes for the salt.
You probably can, but it probably won’t taste as good and the texture will be off.
Yes, if you’ll be adding this frosting to a larger cake or also using it as the filling, feel free to make a double batch.
This frosting includes cream cheese and cream cheese just doesn’t freeze well in my experience. It changes the texture. Feel free to test that out though and maybe you’ll have better luck than I have.
Because this frosting includes cream cheese, it needs to be stored in an airtight container, in the refrigerator and can last up to 5-6 days.
Supplies used for this recipe:
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Video:
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 (13 ounce) jar marshmallow fluff (aka marshmallow cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
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Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the room-temperature butter and cream cheese. Mix on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the marshmallow fluff and mix on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract and the pinch of salt. Mix on medium-high speed until incorporated.
- Add in two cups of the confectioner's sugar and mix on medium until incorporated, then on medium-high until smooth.
- Add in the last two cups of confectioner's sugar and mix on medium until well combined and then medium-high until fluffy.
- This frosting is soft, so place in an airtight container and in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or so for it to firm up a bit before piping onto cupcakes or adding to cake.
- See the notes section for the best way to store this frosting and for more questions.
Notes
Nutrition
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Justine
This frosting is delicious. I think it tastes like cream cheese more than marshmallow, but I’m fine with that! I made it for “s’mores cupcakes” for my daughter’s backyard camping birthday party with chocolate batter and teddy grahams as a garnish. Will DEFINITELY make this frosting again!
Kara Jane
Hi Justine! So glad you like it! I had a lot of trouble getting myself to stop eating this straight out of the bowl when I made it. ? Thanks for the great review and the s’mores cupcakes sound wonderful!
Jackie Gibson
I was thinking of using this only as the filling between the layers. Thoughts? Would buttercream or cream cheese frosting be best for the cake itself?
Kara Jane
Hi Jackie, Oh yes I think it would work just fine as the filling. I’d do a thicker icing dam around the layers, or just don’t add a hugely thick layer of the marshmallow filling. It’s a little lighter and might squish out if you make it too thick or if the cake is too heavy. I think the frosting on the outside of the cake would depend on the type of cake you’re making. So, if it’s chocolate, I’d probably just do a chocolate buttercream on the outside. If it’s an apple cake, pumpkin cake, spice cake, red velvet, strawberry…then I’d do the cream cheese. If it’s vanilla, I’d do a vanilla buttercream and even add a little fruit in it if you wanted. I hope that helps!
Veronica
Does the icing become like a marshmallow once on the cake?
Kara Jane
No, not really, it stays as a buttercream consistency.
Becky
First – this was really good. Only had a 7 ounce jar of fluff on hand, so made a half batch. It was still a lot of frosting and more than enough to put a thick layer on a 9×13 pan. Yum.
Kara Jane
Hi Becky, I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for the great review! ?
Maria
How long can this be made beforehand? Does it need to be refrigerated? Could you add cocoa to make it chocolate?
Kara Jane
Yes you could add cocoa powder to it if you’d like. And yes, you should store this in the fridge because it contains cream cheese. This buttercream should be good up to a week, so you could make it a couple days beforehand if you needed to. When you get ready to use it, you can re-whip it if you want.
Kim
Had to take the time to comment… this is my new favorite frosting! Birthday cakes in our house are angel food with cream cheese frosting. Thought I’d try this for my marshmallow loving 7 year old. Unbelievably good!!! So delicious, so easy to spread, and so pretty! Will be using this from now on. Thank you!
Kara
Oh yay! I’m so glad you like this one…it’s one of my faves too. 🙂
Cheryl
Is this pipeable?
Kara Jane
Well you could probably pipe your average cake borders with it, but it wouldn’t work well piping intricate designs or flowers really. It’s on the soft side.
Kristina Marie Andersen
Is this a really sweet frosting?
Seems like it would be with all that powdered sugar AND the marshmallow fluff.
Kara Jane
Yes, it’s a pretty sweet frosting. If you’re looking for a frosting that tastes similar to marshmallow but isn’t as sweet, you might check out 7-minute frosting. It doesn’t use confectioner’s sugar to thicken it, so it’s less sweet. It does take a bit longer to make, but it’s another option. I don’t have a recipe on my site for that yet, but you can google and it will give you tons of options. It’s a much softer icing though, so keep that in mind.
Bob
Made this icing today and put it on a chocolate cake. Wow, I received rave reviews from my wife and grand kids..I did cut the sugar from 4 cups to 3.
Kara Jane
Oh yay! So glad everyone liked it!
Linda Watkins
I’ve made this frosting before to go on a Applesauce cake & it was delicious ! I’ve been baking/cooking for over 50 years. This recipe made plenty to do 2 cakes so I froze what was left & it kept in freezer great. Was just like fresh when I thawed it. I’m making a double batch today. Some to go on a orange cake for my mother in laws birthday & i’ll freeze the rest for a couple future cakes/cupcakes/fruit breads. Besides the vanilla extract, I think i’ll add a dash of almond extract also. This is the best cream cheese icing i’ve ever had ! Props to you Kara Jane !
Kara Jane
Hey Linda…thanks for that awesome review! So glad you love it!
Becky
Would this icing set up well enough to sit at room temperature for 8 hrs?
Kara
Hi Becky, no I wouldn’t let this one sit out all day as it does contain cream cheese. It’s probably okay for a few hours outside of the fridge, but cream cheese is perishable so to be safe, I would store it past that time, in the fridge. It will also soften up a little more the longer it stays out since it does contain cream cheese. Hope this helps.