Whether you are making a birthday cake or icing 2 dozen cupcakes for your kid's preschool party this easy icing is creamy and delicious!
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- This is the perfect topping for chocolate cake, carrot cake, or red velvet cake! It's a not-too-sweet combo between thicker whipped cream frosting and rich, traditional cream cheese icing.
- More stable than traditional whipped frosting, so it's great for a layer cake (and holds its shape on cupcakes or in whoopie pies!)
- The pudding mix helps keep the frosting stable without making it too stiff.
This whipped cream cheese frosting recipe delivers the perfect balance of light, fluffy texture, and sweet but tangy flavor.
The delicious frosting is the perfect complement to whatever confection you're baking-and it tastes just as good licked straight off the spatula!
🧾 Ingredients for whipped cream cheese frosting
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Variations
- Reduce the amount of heavy whipping cream by a quarter-cup or even a half-cup if you want a heavier, thicker frosting. This also allows you to get really sharp definition if using a piping bag.
- If you'd like to adjust the flavor, swap the vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste, orange extract, ground cinnamon, or another similar idea!
- Add a small amount of gel food coloring (start with just a drop) for a fun pop of color. You can also use liquid food coloring, but don't add too much.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In an electric stand mixer or large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the cream cheese mixture and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Enjoy spreading or dolloping onto your favorite cakes and cupcakes.
🥫 Storage
For best results, I do recommend using the frosting on the same day you make it. However, both frosted cake and leftover frosting will last just fine for about three days in the refrigerator.
To store it, simply scoop any leftover whipped cream cheese frosting into an airtight container or plastic baggie. Let the frosting warm up a little at room temperature so that it's easier to work with after refrigeration.
Expert Tip:
Make sure to use room-temperature cream cheese so that everything mixes together easily.
💭 Things to know
- Use full-fat cream cheese in a block. Do not try to use low-fat or fat-free products in this recipe.
- I like to pop the bowl, mixer whisk, and heavy cream into the freezer for a few minutes to ensure it stays chilled as I'm making the frosting.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure that everything is mixing in properly. This is especially important if you're using the bowl of a stand mixer since the attachments don't always reach all the way to the bottom.
- Start mixing on low speed to avoid a powdered sugar explosion, and turn up the speed as it blends together.
- Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often!
- You can use the paddle attachment at first, but then I recommend switching to the whisk attachment once you add the heavy cream.
- Use medium speed and check often to see if heavy peaks are forming.
- Don't overbeat the whipped cream cheese frosting, or it can get soupy.
- Though this is a stable version of cream cheese frosting, it's not suited to hold up very long in a warm environment. If it's a hot day, avoid runny frosting by keeping the cake in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.
👩🍳 FAQs
In the fridge, it'll last for 2-3 days at the most. You may choose to re-whip it at a low speed after refrigeration until the luscious, creamy texture comes back.
Whipped cream cheese frosting is lighter and fluffier than traditional cream cheese frosting which is often dense.
Yes, it does! Stabilized whipped cream cheese frosting contains too much dairy to be left at room temperature. Always keep anything with cream cheese frosting in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.
No, unlike other types of frosting, anything whipped with a high dairy-to-sugar ratio doesn't freeze well. American buttercream and Swiss meringue buttercreams tend to freeze better than whipped cream cheese frosting.
You definitely can, but it is a little more tricky. In my experience, the stand mixer more effectively whips everything up than a handheld electric mixer-without making your arm feel like falling off!
Lift out the whisk attachment and flip it right-side up. If the tip of the frosting immediately falls and sinks down, you've got soft peaks. On the other hand, if the frosting forms a nice tip, maybe with just a slight curl, you've got stiff peaks!
Great question! The pudding mix contains thickeners that react with the liquid in the recipe, providing the best, smoothest, creamiest whipped frosting. It also adds a little flavor, too!
📚 Related recipes
- Southern through and through, this slightly spicy and sweet Maple Cream Cheese Frosting is perfectly cozy during the fall and winter.
- So easy to make, this Lemon Cream Cake has whipped lemon frosting that tickles your taste buds with a smooth, zesty flavor.
- Almond Whipped Wedding Cake Frosting is light and fluffy, but stable enough to make a bride's dream come true! Though, don't wait for a wedding to enjoy it-yum.
🍽️ Serve with...
Whipped cream cheese frosting tastes great with all kinds of cakes:
- Red Velvet Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Cake
- Southern Red Velvet Layer Cake
- Chocolate Spice Cake
- White Wedding Cupcakes
📞 The last word
This is the best frosting! Anytime I've used it on a cake (like this banana layer cake) everyone practically licks their plates.
And I never have trouble getting someone to lick the beaters!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, (confectioner's sugar)
- 1 tablespoon instant pudding mix, white chocolate or vanilla
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy.
- Add the cream, pudding mix, and vanilla extract.
- Beat until it thickens and stiff peaks form.
- Fill and frost your cake.
- Refrigerate if keeping longer than a few hours or if it is a warm day.
Notes
- Make sure to use room-temperature cream cheese so that everything mixes together easily.
- I like to pop the bowl, mixer whisk, and heavy cream into the freezer for a few minutes to ensure that it stays chilled as I'm making the frosting.
- You can use the paddle attachment at first, but then I recommend switching to the whisk attachment once you add the heavy cream.
- Don't over-beat the whipped cream cheese frosting or it can get soupy.
- Though this is a stable version of cream cheese frosting, it's not suited to hold up very long in a warm environment. If it's a hot day, avoid runny frosting by keeping the cake in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published February 3, 2023. Last updated February 13, 2024 for editorial improvements.
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