This delicious fluffy marshmallow frosting is the perfect white icing recipe for cakes and cupcakes. You’ll use marshmallow fluff and there’s no egg whites in this frosting recipe. It’s super easy and quick to make and there’s not a ton of ingredients.
This icing is insanely good on coconut cake, chocolate cupcakes, or you might just want to eat this one directly out of the bowl!
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!
There isn’t much that I love more than crackin’ open a jar of marshmallow creme and digging straight into it with a spoon. Ok, it does get better when you add peanut butter to it, but that’s not what we’re doing today.
Anyway, my point is I’m totally fine just eating marshmallow fluff out of the jar, but you can’t just throw some marshmallow fluff onto a cake and it work out. I mean I guess you could, but I feel like it just needs a little somethin’.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
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.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
The mixing method for this frosting is super straight forward. You’ll essentially just whip it all up until it’s all super light and fluffy.
I added this frosting to my pineapple coconut cake, but it would also taste amazing on some chocolate cupcakes. (And I will be the first to admit that I don’t even need to put it on anything but a spoon.)
TIPS & FAQs FOR MAKING THE FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
- Yes, you do want to actually add in the cream cheese. They tanginess cuts the sweetness a bit. The same goes for the salt.
- What is the difference between marshmallow creme and marshmallow fluff? I don’t think there’s any difference at all. I use the two terms interchangeably. Marshmallow creme does sounds fancier though, right?
- Try to get your cream cheese and butter close to room temperature, so they’ll mix together better.
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, not big deal, you can use vanilla extract.
- This recipe will not make a ton of frosting. It’s a really sweet frosting, so you won’t want to add a ton to your cupcakes or your cake. It makes the perfect amount to cover around 2 dozen cupcakes, or a two layer, 8″ cake that is filled with a different filling.
- If you’ll be using this to frost the outside of the cake AND as the filling between the layers, you may want to double the recipe.
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SUPPLIES & TOOLS USED TO MAKE THE FLUFFY MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:
- Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer
- Flex Edge Beater Attachment
- Marshmallow Creme
- Vanilla Bean Paste
- Icing Spatula
Video:
Ok, onto the recipe!
***I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are used to seeing and using. For weight in metric measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s a best guess. Please note that because I develop recipes using ‘cups’ I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results.
Recipe:
Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 13 oz jar of marshmallow fluff
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- pinch of salt
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Beat on medium until smooth.
- Add in the marshmallow fluff and beat on medium until smooth.
- Add in the vanilla extract and the pinch of salt. Mix on medium until incorporated.
- Add in two cups of the confectioners sugar and beat on medium until smooth.
- Add in the last two cups of confectioners sugar and beat on medium until well mixed and fluffy.
- Place in the fridge for about 20 minutes, or so for it to firm up a bit before piping onto cupcakes or adding to cake.
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.