I am so excited to share this Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe with you because it is one of my most requested frosting recipes of all time! Although I include it with my recipes for Red Velvet Cake, Pumpkin Layer Cake, Lemon Layer Cake, and Pumpkin Cupcakes, I finally decided to create a standalone post just for this frosting. It’s the perfect consistency for piping, frosting cakes smooth, and decorating cupcakes, all without being too sweet or complicated to make. It’s become my go-to and I hope you love it as much as I do!
Before this recipe, I dreaded working with Cream Cheese Buttercream because it’s usually so soft (unless you add way too much powdered sugar). After lots of experimenting and researching though, I found some ways to thicken it up for cake decorating and now it’s a joy to work with! To make it the perfect consistency, I like to add cornstarch in with the powdered sugar. It helps thicken and stabilize the frosting without adding any flavor – basically like adding powdered sugar without the sweetness! You can certainly skip the cornstarch and still have a great Cream Cheese Buttercream as well – it’ll just be a little bit softer.
Another important ingredient in this frosting is brick-style full-fat cream cheese. It’s critical that you don’t use low-fat or spreadable cream cheese, as these variations contain way more water than the full-fat brick kind. That means your frosting will be extra soft, liquidy, and overall frustrating to work with. I always use the Philadelphia brand, but feel free to experiment with other brands as long as they meet the general requirements.
One more tip for working with Cream Cheese Buttercream: if you find that your kitchen environment is humid or the frosting is still a bit soft, pop it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, then re-mix it on low in your stand mixer. The butter in the recipe will solidify a little bit in the refrigerator, so the overall buttercream should feel a bit thicker afterwards.
Here’s a quick video to show you how to make this Cream Cheese Buttercream before you read all about it below:
If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients
- 4 Cups (480g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 Cup (32g) buttermilk powder or cornstarch (optional)*
- 1/2 Cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 Oz (226g) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature brick-style, not the spread
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Sift together the powdered sugar and buttermilk powder or cornstarch (if using) and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium-high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the vanilla and salt and mix on low for another minute, until fully combined and smooth.
Notes
- Frost 15-20 cupcakes with a piping bag
- Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe.
Did you make this Cream Cheese Buttercream? I want to know how it went! Let me know in the comments below or feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram. I’d love to see how you used it!
Could you use unflavored gelatin for this instead of cornstarch?
Hi Lesia! I haven’t tried it with unflavored gelatin but a friend suggested powdered buttermilk as a replacement for the cornstarch. I have yet to try it myself but it sounds like it would taste amazing and helps make the buttercream thicker for piping in the same way cornstarch would.
Hi there, I’m looking at trying this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake coming up. I usually use your vanilla buttercream recipe which I love but want to try a cream cheese version for a change. Can I ask, can you colour cream cheese frosting just like you can with buttercream, using colour food gel? It’s going to be a unicorn cake so I need blue, pink and purple. Thank you so much
Hi Amy! Yes, you can color cream cheese buttercream exactly the same way as my other vanilla buttercream recipe. A unicorn cake sounds so fun!!
Hi Whitney! I’m 21 years old and never been happier to come across your frosting recipe on tiktok! I made my first decorated cake for my boyfriend’s birthday and his whole family couldn’t stop talking about it! His aunt ordered two cakes for this coming 4th of July, and i will definitely be using your cream cheese buttercream frosting. Thank you so much! Not only is this frosting really good! But it was a HUGE ice breaker between me and my boyfriend’s family, and it means so much to me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️
Yay, Perla! That makes me so happy 🙂 I’m glad you made such a great impression!
Hi there, love all your recipes, your IG is beautiful, I’m a big fan!! Quick question, does your cream cheese buttercream recipe stiffen slightly to form a thin crust after being pipped or spread on cakes & cupcakes?
Hi Sandy! Thanks for the kind words 🙂 and yes, this buttercream does crust slightly.
Hello Whitne. I tried your recipe but I couldn’t find brick style cream cheese and so I used the spreadable one. Unfortunately it came out runny …I am wondering , if I use more sugar will it be thickened ?
Hi Maria. Unfortunately the spreadable cream cheese has too much water content to make a good consistency cream cheese unless you add a ton of powdered sugar which will affect the taste. I don’t know of a brick-style cream cheese substitute. I can only recommend trying a different flavor of frosting like my vanilla buttercream: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-buttercream-recipe/
i was wondering if i could use margarine instead of butter and it would still be stable enough to decorate a cake with?
Hi Isabelle! Margarine is a lot softer than butter and therefore won’t yield as stable a frosting as butter will. It will be a softer/thinner consistency but it will technically work. Hope that helps!
Is this Gluten free?
Hi Zane! Yes, it’s gluten free. Sometimes cornstarch and powdered sugar are made in the same facilities as gluten products though, so be sure to check your labels if you’re worried about gluten contamination.
Simple, delicious, had a good time making it and an even better time eating it. I like to make cupcakes a few times a month and this is second icing recipe I have used of yours. Would love a chocolate cake recipe from scratch and of course delicious buttercream chocolate icing recipe to go on top. Thank you and God bless. I bake with love ❤️
Hi whitney,
I’ve tried so many of your recipes and they all come our perfect.
Just want to know will the raw corn strach have a noticeable taste ?
Hi Mahnoor! I’m so happy you’ve been loving my recipes! You can’t taste the cornstarch in this recipe.
I can taste raw cornstarch, I measured very carefully…am I the only one who can taste it? It’s for a kids birthday party, hopefully they won’t notice, I will only use it for filling and crumb coat, and do a different frosting for underneath the fondant. Was going to try your buttercream, but now hesitant because of the cornstarch 🙁
Hi Michelle! I’ve never been able to taste the cornstarch in this recipe but if you feel that there’s too much of a cornstarch flavor you can omit it or reduce it next time. None of my other recipes have cornstarch added, it’s only added in this one to make it more stable for piping.
Hi! Am concerned about the amount of sugar. Do you add this much to make it more consistent or even with the amount mentioned it will not be overly sweet??
Hi Danna! This is the correct amount of sugar for this recipe. Most cream cheese buttercream recipes use even more sugar than this. The powdered sugar plays a huge role in stabilizing this frosting to be spreadable consistency, but I like to use a little cornstarch to lessen the amount of sugar while creating the perfect consistency.
Hi!
I followed the recipe in my thermomix with the paddle, but it is very thin and runny. Do I throw it out and start again?
Hi Skye, did you use brick style cream cheese or the spread kind (in the tub)? The spread kind contains a lot more water content which can result in a very thin buttercream.
Hi Whitney,
Can I use meringue powder instead of cornstarch? Also, could I substitute the butter with shortening?
Hi there! I’ve never tried this recipe with meringue powder but if you want to experiment with it, I would add about 1 Tbsp of meringue powder per batch. Let me know if you try it!
Hi Whitney!
Quick question, my cream cheese frosting cracks after several hours. Why is that? I use Philly Cream Cheese, sugar, vanilla essence. Is it the lacking of butter making my frosting crack?
Much love from Malaysia!
Hi Yazreen! In your recipe, are you using powdered sugar or granulated sugar? Is the only difference butter? It sounds like the frosting either doesn’t have enough fat in it or is otherwise too dry somehow but these are just guesses. I’d have to see the recipe you’re using to try and figure it out.
love your cakes, I can’t wait to try this cheese buttercream. greetings from Spain.
Thanks so much, Ana! I hope you love this recipe!
Hi Whitney,
Do you think that this recipe, as is, is thick enough to use with Russian piping tips? Or should I add a bit more cornstarch?
Hi Victoria! I’ve actually never tried Russian piping tips so I’m not sure how stiff the frosting should be! It’s definitely stiff enough for lambeth piping but you could always try it as-is and add extra cornstarch/powdered sugar from there if it’s not stiff enough.
Hi Whitney, Wondering if I could use this to frost a semi-naked cake? Would the consistency be too thick?
Hi Delia! This frosting works great for semi-naked cakes.