A Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting sturdy enough to be used for piping perfect swirls onto cakes and cupcakes that tastes so good you’ll want to bathe in it!
Without a doubt, Cream Cheese frosting would be my favorite frosting in the whole wide world. I guess this comes as no surprise, seeing as how I am such a huuuuge fan of cheesecake.
The only problem with most cream cheese frosting is that it is so soft and delicate that it often tends to be very difficult, if not impossible to pipe… swirls have a tendency to lose their shape as soon as they get formed. And, well, something has to be said for swirled frosting. It just so pretty to look at, it seems to make it taste that much better!
So, if you’ve been looking for the perfect Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, rejoice! Your search has just come to an end.
Not only is the gorgeous, mouthwatering, drool-worthy cream cheese frosting you’re looking at right now sturdy enough to be used for piping the most perfect swirls onto your favorite cakes or cupcakes, it also tastes so insanely, heavenly good you’ll want to bathe in it… and then roll yourself in coconut flakes and bathe in it again.
Why coconut? Dunno… You could very well roll yourself in something else if you wanted to. I just find that coconut and cream cheese frosting make for a really good pair. Must be why I chose to add loads of coconut to the Hummingbird Cake I recently made and then covered in all those luscious cream cheese frosting swirls!
Wouldn’t you say that this is a very tempting slice of cake? I think I could stare at it and drool for hours…
Just in case you needed to take a closer look… can you get a sense of how dreamy that stuff is?
I’ve no doubt that this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe will become your new go-to recipe. And while this may seems like it makes a huge batch, trust me if you’re gonna be piping a whole bunch of swirls, you will be needing a very generous amount of frosting.
Besides, I’m sure you won’t mind a little bit of leftover, if you should be lucky enough as to generate some!
I’ve no doubt that you’ll think of ways to use it up…
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS & PICTURES
First, you need to make sure that your butter is at room temperature. While you could definitely get away with using coldish cream cheese, the butter absolutely needs to be soft and easily spreadable to start with.
Put that softened butter, cream cheese, a pinch of salt and about a quarter of a teaspoon of pure lemon extract in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
You’ll notice that I’m not adding any vanilla extract because I like to keep the liquid content as minimal as possible: powdered sugar requires so very little moisture to completely liquefy, I figure the less moisture we add, the better. Besides, the lemon extract adds so much POP to the flavor of the icing, the vanilla would only go unnoticed. Poor thing. Might as well not invite it to the party, if no one’s even going to notice its presence!
Next, in a separate LARGE bowl, combine a few tablespoons of dry buttermilk and a whole lot of powdered sugar — we’re talking a whopping 12 cups here (thank goodness we didn’t use that vanilla extract!) — and mix with a whisk until well combined and completely lump free.
Add this powdered sugar to the creamed butter and cheese mixture a few cups at a time and beat on low speed between each addition until well incorporated.
Now about that dry buttermilk: while you don’t absolutely have to add it in, I strongly suggest that you do if you can get your hands on it. Cream cheese frosting is extremely delicate in nature, and I find that the addition of dry buttermilk helps to stabilize it and makes it a tad firmer and easier to work with.
Not only that, but I find that it also makes the frosting fluffier and gives it a hint of a mysterious yet very pleasant aroma…
Once all the powdered sugar has been added, increase the speed to high and beat the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes, until it becomes really light and fluffy.
Your frosting is now technically ready to use, but chances are it’ll be a bit on the soft side from all that whipping action. If you find that it is indeed too soft to be used right away, refrigerate it for 10 to 15 minutes and then beat it again for a few seconds before you use it.
All that’s left to do now is load that piping bag of yours and pipe away to your heart’s content! See how beautiful those swirls are and how well they hold their shape?
If it’s particularly warm out, though, or if your cake is taking a particularly long time to frost and you ever feel like your frosting is starting to soften up a bit too much on you, feel free to return it to the refrigerator as necessary so it firms up again. Just a few minutes, followed by a gentle beating with a wooden spoon will do the trick.
Since cream cheese frosting is so delicate, I strongly suggest that you keep your finished cake, or cupcakes, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups (360g | 12.7oz) butter, at room temperature
- 2- (250g | 8oz) packages full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt (I use Himalayan salt)
- 1/4 tsp pure lemon extract
- 12 cups (1.5kg | 3.3lb) powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp powdered buttermilk (optional but strongly recommended)
Instructions
- Combine the the butter, cream cheese, salt and pure lemon extract in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Combine the dry buttermilk and powdered sugar in a separate bowl and mix with a whisk until well combined and completely lump free.
- Add this powdered sugar to the creamed butter and cheese mixture a few cups at a time and beat on low speed between each addition until well incorporated.
- Once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to high and beat the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes, until it becomes really light and fluffy.
- If you find that your frosting is too soft to be used right away, refrigerate it for about 10 minutes and then beat it again before you use it. Return to the refrigerator as often as needed.
- Keep the finished cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
My Evil Twin is passionate about food and has a real sweet spot for the indulgent kind...
It does look tempting, however, I know just looking at the amounts that I would find it way, way too sweet. 1.5 kg of sugar, no, not for me. Let me know if you ever come up with a less sweet version. I like German buttercream/creamcheese frosting, which contains pudding.
Will using 1/3 less fat cream cheese make a difference in the way the icing holds it’s shape?
Thanks for the recipe. I think there’s a typo though as 1 1/2 c butter weighs 12 oz not 8.5. 🙂
Yikes! Thanks for spotting that, Debbie! All fixed now!
Where is the pineapple?
It’s pipeable not pineapple. I made that mistake too
How much butter to use for the icing? Salted or unsalted.
Excited to make the cake. Making it for Easter.
Thanks
Honestly I wasn’t expecting much from this recipe, considering the last “perfect pipeable” cream cheese frosting recipe I used was a total disaster. But THIS! This is perfect! A great cream cheese taste with just a hint of lemon.. and surprisingly stiff too! This will be my go-to cream cheese frosting recipe for decorating from now on! I am so thrilled.
Thank you for the recipe!!!
Why thank YOU for the awesome feedback, Emily. I’m real happy to hear that the frosting did the trick for you! 🙂
Mine doesn’t seem to have much of a cream cheese flavor. Can I add more cream cheese or cream cheese flavoring to it or will it not hold as good?
Definitely do not add more cream cheese if you want to preserve the frosting’s pipeability. As for adding cream cheese flavoring, you could replace the lemon extract with it, but I don’t recommend using both.
Approximately how many cupcakes would this frost? I like a nice fluffy stack of piped icing on each cupcake. Thanks!
Well, you’re looking at around 8 cups of frosting. Considering that there are about 16 tablespoons to a cup, this translates into roughly 128 tablespoons of frosting. I figure you’d use anywhere from 3 to 4 tbsp per cupcake, so you should be able to frost 32 to 40 cupcakes.
can you use a stand mixer for this recipe?
Absolutely!
What tip did you use to decorate with? Cake is beautiful. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Why a hand mixer?
Lovely recipe but is there a substitute for buttermilk powder… Can milk powder be used instead?
Just use a little more powdered sugar, Melanie… that’ll do the trick!
Oh my goodness what a wonderful recipe ! I have always made my own almost exactly the same recipe. I never added the buttermilk. Oh my stars, it was perfect! You are amazing. I thank you so much.
Sande
Why thank YOU so much for that amazing feedback, Sande! I’m so very happy to hear that you liked the frosting that much! 😀
Good evening, this is the first time on your blog. My name is Gwendolyn (Gwen for short). and l love love to bake. But l was reading your recipe and l never saw any pineapple flavor or anything to do with adding pineapple to this Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting. Did l over look it? I only saw Lemon flavor. Whst makes it a Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting? But your cake and fristing. Look’s absolutely delicious☺
Gwen, I did the exact same thing! I read the recipe over and over and finally scrolled down to comments and saw someone else also read pineapple as well. That does sound amazing now doesn’t it?
I just did the same thought it was pineapple and can I cut the recipe in half?
I really wouldn’t see why not, Carol!
Gwen and Sandy: at the very top of the recipe/page, there’s a typo- it says Pipeaple and it should say Pipeable (able to be piped using a piping bag).
I apologize for my previous comment, l went back and read your recipe, its Pipiaple not Pineapple. Please forgive me.☺ l can’t wait to try it. I will let you know how it turned out.
Hahaha, it’s all good, Gwen! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out! 🙂
Could I make this chocolate by subbing an equal amount of dutch-process cocoa powder for some of the powdered sugar? Maybe 1 cup? What would you suggest?
I would never think that cream cheese frosting can be so sturdy!! What a fantastic recipe! I iced my cupcakes and they stayed out overnight and they are still perfect! Thank you 🙂
You are very welcome, Melissa! Glad you like it! 🙂
Is this salted or unsalted butter? I really don’t like lemon, could I just omit the extract for the hummingbird cake or I could do coconut extract?
I always use salted butter, but unsalted would work just as well… I find that lemon adds a lot of depth to the flavor of cream cheese, but if you really don’t care for it, you can certainly omit it. Coconut extract would make for a very interesting addition, too!
Can I substitute an extract for lemon?
Hey!
I live in a pretty warm and humid country.
Was wondering if the frosting all hold up after I pipe them? I intend to decorate rosette on a bday Cake.
Also, is the taste of the frostingvery sweet ? On a scale of 10?
You might want to keep it in the fridge until you are ready to use it, it won’t become rock solid… just give it a quick stir right before using it. Then refrigerate finished product. And yeah, it’s sweet. Real sweet. A full solid 10. Maybe even an 11! But it’s GOOOOOOOOD! 😉
This icing, with and without the lemon, was a hit for a recent wedding I did cupcakes for. Very nice to work with and great flavor. I will mention that this makes a ton! I was able to ice 12 dozen cupcakes with 1.5 batches (pretty generous swirl)
I believe there is a typo for the first step – reads “First, you need to make sure that both your butter is at room temperature.”, should this be “…both your butter and cream cheese are at…”?
Haha, thanks for that, Devon. Actually, it was just the word “both” that didn’t belong there. Thanks for spotting it! 🙂
How do you properly store the leftover frosting if you don’t use all of it right away?
In the fridge, in an airtight container.
Is that 12 cups of sifted or not sifted powdered sugar?
Don’t really matter Gwendolyn. I never bother sifting mine, to be honest…
Was this quantity of frosting for a carrot cake with a few layers?
Yes, that is correct.
This sounds exactly like what I need for a birthday cake I am making for my daughter’s 26th birthday in a couple of days. Her favorite cake is red velvet, so of course I have to use a cream cheese frosting. I’m doing a 3 tiered red velvet with the bottom 8″ layer being an ombre lavender horizontal ruffle. The top layer is going to be rosette. Do you think that this recipe would be stiff enough, even for delicate ruffles? I’m not sure of the name of the type of ruffle, but it will use a Wilton #104 or #104, so the flat type of ruffles that hang over a bit, if that makes sense. Sorry for the lack of proper lingo! I just want to make sure this will work before I’m elbow deep in frosting. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. -Sheena
Haha! It all makes perfect sense Sheena. I’m pretty sure that it’ll be up to the task; it’s pretty firm, this frosting, and if it ever gets too soft on you, you can always stick it in the fridge for a bit, give it a good stir every 5 minutes or so, until it gets to the desired consistency.
Okay, thanks so much for the reassurance. I’m about to make it right now. I’m giving all the credit to you if I can make this work!! : ) Wish me luck!
Sorry, a #104 or #103. Thanks!
This recipe is EXACTLY what I hoped it would be. It tastes glorious, smoothed easily and piped and held its shape like a dream. This will now be my go to cream cheese frosting . Don’t be afraid to try it!!!
So very happy to hear, Kathy! Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
Hi! I want to make a 2 layer 8 inch italian creme cake and I was wondering how much frosting would be enough for that. Thank you
Can I use liquid buttermilk instead ?
I’m afraid not. The dry buttermilk absorbs excess moisture and makes for a thicker, stiffer, fluffier icing. Liquid buttermilk would have the complete opposite effect to what we’re trying to accomplish…
Where can I find powdered buttermilk at the grocery store? Is it the same as meringue powder?
No, it’s not the same. Meringue powder is dehydrated egg whites. Buttermilk powder is dehydrated buttermilk…
How could I make this into a chocolate cream cheese frosting?
Hello! I haven’t try to look for a powdered buttercream but I have a liquid buttercream, is it the same or let me know other options. Thank you
Do you mean buttermilk, Marie? They are the same, except one is the dehydrated version of the other, and they are absolutely not interchangeable for this recipe. You absolutely must use the powdered version, else you’ll end up with soupy buttercream… no bueno!
Glad I found your recipe. Making my granddaughter’s wedding cake and I think I found just what I am looking for. She asked for a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Have never made this type of cake for a wedding. Will bake anything she wants.
Oh happy times!!!! 🙂 It should indeed do the trick alright! Just keep in mind that cream cheese frosting is very fragile and melts easily at warmer temperatures, so be sure to keep the cake well chilled and don’t go leaving it out in the sun or something like that (well, if it’s an outdoor wedding, that is…) Try and keep it chilled for as long as you possibly can before taking it out. Best of luck to you, Connie! And congrats to your granddaughter!
Thank you for the recipe – it worked really well!! Much obliged 🙂
I made this icing for my Red Velvet Cake and it was a huge hit! I loved the way it tasted and it was so easy to decorate with!! Perfect I wish I could show a picture of how good it look!!
Thanks Teresa! Happy to hear it came out great! 🙂
How long would this stay good in the fridge?
Can I add just half the amount of powdered sugar so it’s not too sweet?
I am wondering how far in advance I can make this frosting, and still have the texture
easy to pipe? Should I rewhip it after coming out of the frig?
You can easily make it as far as a few days ahead, and the frosting should be pipeable right out of the fridge, after giving it a gentle stir with a wooden spoon.
Can I use part shortening in place of butter to help it not be so fragile?. I am making my daughter’s wedding cake and the wedding is outside in the evening.
I never tried it, but I wouldn’t see why not…
Hello,
Can I substitute fresh lemon zest for the lemon extract? If so, how much would you recommend I use?
I’m considering your recipe for a lemon poppyseed layer cake I’m making for mine and my twin sister’s (not evil!) birthday.
Thank you!
Absolutely! Just make sure that you grate it really super fine, especially if you intend on piping the frosting! Half a teaspoon to a teaspoon should do the trick, depending on how intense you want that lemon taste to be…
WHAT DO I DO IF IT IS TOO THICK
Thanks for all the lovely recipes. BUT, the title still has not been corrected. No such word as pipeaple. It’s PIPEABLE. (PipeAPLE must be some new shorthand for a Pipe Apple. LOL)
Aha, I just noticed that in your Step-By-Step section you do have it spelled ‘pipeable’ –so only the title itself (of the recipe) is in need of a fix. 🙂 (And there are two ‘the’s in a row in first step of recipe.)
would this recipe be good to use with a chocolate cake?
I wouldn’t see why not!
Nice consistency for piping but the flavor is too sweet, not very “cream cheese” tasting. A bit disappointing….
Hi, I’m wondering if regular powdered milk would work in place of the buttermilk powder??
While it wouldn’t give the same results, I’m sure that it wouldn’t hurt to add it. However, the powdered buttermilk is entirely optional and can simply be left out.
How well would this freeze? I am making three cheesecakes within a month and wanted a cream cheese frostings for my piped flowers, however it is about a week apart for each one. Would I be able to freeze this and thaw to use or how long would it last in the fridge in an airtight container?
It does freeze well if your only goal is to thaw and eat, but I’m not so sure how well it would behave/pipe after thawing. In the fridge, it will keep for a few weeks.
Hi..I really want to try this recipe for baby shower cupcakes..client wants yellow icing. Can I tint this yellow with gel coloring? I’m a little nervous I’ll ruin consistency. Thanks so much!
There really shouldn’t be any problems if you use gel, but to be on the really super safe side, I would go with paste food coloring.
I was making a cake for work to celebrate someone’s recent marriage and decided on red velvet. Wanted to be able to make it pretty but obviously had to have cream cheese icing. After reading the reviews I decided to try this recipe even though it was so different from any other icing I’ve ever made. I couldn’t understand how there was no milk at all. Happy to say it worked! I did swirl roses and leaves on top and they held their shape all day out of the refrigerator. Everyone loved it and raved about the icing. However, I’m not sure I’ve ever made such a mess in my kitchen just making the icing! I used the two biggest bowls I own and trying to whisk the buttermilk into the powdered sugar was almost comical. Took forever to get everything combined and my hand mixer could barely handle it. Definitely makes a ton too… I generously frosted a layer cake and then had decorated and still had a good amount leftover, which I froze. Thanks for the recipe!
Will the lemon extract make the buttercream separate ?