Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
This whipped cream cheese frosting takes less than 10 minutes to make and is perfect for decorating your favorite cakes and cupcakes. It’s much lighter and fluffier than traditional cream cheese frosting and made with just four ingredients!
This whipped cream cheese frosting is everything you want in a frosting! It’s super smooth and creamy, but with a fluffier texture than traditional cream cheese frosting.
The trick to this recipe is to gently fold whipped cream into a sweetened cream cheese mixture instead of adding butter. The cream cheese stabilizes the whipped cream, and you’re left with an airy frosting that holds up well (even after several days in the fridge!).
This frosting is also a dream to pipe, and pairs perfectly with just about any flavor of cakes or cupcakes. It’s delicious on top of my white cake, vanilla cake, angel food cupcakes, and so much more!
Watch The Full Recipe Video To See How It’s Made
Ingredient Notes
Cream Cheese
Make sure to buy a brick of foil-wrapped cream cheese for a thick, smooth frosting. Avoid anything labeled as “light” or “whipped,” or else your frosting will turn out soft and be difficult to pipe.
Heavy Whipping Cream
Look for whipping cream that contains at least 36% fat, and leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to whip it to stiff peaks. Cold heavy cream is easier to beat!
How To Beat Whipped Cream To Stiff Peaks
Since you’ll be folding whipped cream into the frosting, it’s important to understand how to do this step properly. If you’ve never done this before, I highly recommend reading through this section first.
To beat the whipped cream, you can use either a handheld mixer, a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or a good old bowl and whisk. If you have time, I also recommend chilling your bowl and beaters before you actually get started. This not only makes it easier to whip the cream, but it will make it more stable.
Next, add cold (not room temp!) heavy cream to the mixing bowl and mix on low-medium speed for about 1 minute to begin gently incorporating air into it. Then, turn your mixer up to medium-high speed and continue mixing until the whipped cream thickens and holds stiff peaks.
If you’re not sure if your whipped cream has reached the stiff peak stage, turn off the mixer and pull it out of the cream. If the peaks stand straight up without curling over at the top, the whipped cream is done. If the tips curl over, you need to mix a little longer. Just be careful not to over mix or the whipped cream will start to curdle!
Tips For A Creamy Frosting
- The temperature of your ingredients matters. You want to use softened cream cheese to make sure that you don’t have any lumps of cream cheese in your frosting. The heavy cream, on the other hand, needs to be cold (straight from the fridge!) to ensure that it whips up properly.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. This is especially important when you’re mixing the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Scraping the bowl often will prevent any lumps and make for a creamier frosting.
- Don’t over mix the whipped cream. We’re going for a smooth and creamy frosting, not grainy! Once the whipped cream reaches the stiff peaks stage, stop mixing. If you happen to mix a little too long, just pour in a tablespoon or two of heavy cream and gently fold it in until it’s smooth again.
- Gently fold in the whipped cream. Start by folding ⅓ of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Then, fold in the rest of the whipped cream. The reason the whipped cream gets added a little at a time is to prevent the air from getting knocked out of it. You want the whipped cream to stay nice and fluffy so the cream cheese frosting maintains a beautiful whipped texture.
Can I Add Zest Or Extracts?
Yes! You can add 2 to 3 teaspoons of lemon, lime, or orange zest to this frosting. If you prefer a stronger citrus flavor, just add a little more zest. I also recommend using a microplane for quick and easy zesting.
If you want to flavor this frosting with mint, almond, or lemon extract, start with ¼ to ½ teaspoon and slowly add more as needed. These are much more potent than vanilla extract, so be careful not to add too much at one time.
How To Color Your Frosting
I recommend using gel food coloring and adding it to the cream cheese mixture before folding in the whipped cream. If you add the food coloring after the whipped cream, you may accidentally end up over mixing the frosting trying to achieve a solid color.
Keep in mind that the color of the frosting will lighten some once you mix in the whipped cream, so you can go a little darker to start.
Liquid food coloring will also work for lighter/pastel colors, but I don’t recommend using too much or it will thin out the frosting.
This recipe makes 4.5 cups of frosting, which is enough for a two layer 9-inch cake, a 9×13-inch cake, 24 cupcakes, or a lightly frosted three layer cake.
If you make this frosting, don’t forget to leave a comment below letting me know what delicious treats you piped it onto!
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces brick-style cream cheese softened (226 grams; 1 block)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (360 ml)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.8 ounces brick-style cream cheese
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Set aside.1 cup powdered sugar,1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Add the heavy whipping cream to a separate mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix on low-medium speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until stiff peaks form, making sure not to over mix the whipped cream.1 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream
- Gently fold one-third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until just combined, then fold in the remaining whipped cream until fully combined.
- Use to frost cupcakes, cakes, etc. or cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to use.
