If regular old icings and buttercreams aren’t your thing, then we can bet that a sweet, tangy cream cheese icing is just your thing. We love cream cheese icing on everything, but it works super well for carrot and heavily spiced cakes.

What you’ll need

  • 600g icing sugar, sifted
  • 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 250g cream cheese, cold (see note below)

Method

Step 1

Beat the butter in an electric mixer on a medium speed until the butter lightens in colour, about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Add the cream cheese and beat until it is completely incorporated.

Step 3

Add half the icing sugar, and beat until just incorporated. Add the rest of the icing sugar, and continue beating until the icing is light and fluffy. Be careful not to over-beat the icing as it can turn runny.

Strawberry jelly cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting

Why should my cream cheese be cold?

You may be used to seeing cream cheese icing or icing recipes that call for room-temperature ingredients, including the cream cheese. This is the one time you need to go against the age-old rule of room-temperature ingredients! Cold cream cheese helps the icing stay a thick consistency – perfect for covering cakes or piping with.

Twist on a classic cream cheese icing

  • Add a tablespoon of citrus zest or juice in step one to make a zingy icing
  • Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract in step one
  • Sprinkle crushed nuts over the finished cake to add contrast to the icing

Our best cream cheese recipes:

Now you’ve got the icing, what can you do with it? These recipes are just begging to be topped with cream cheese icing:

Red velvet cake

Get creative with your icing and test it on more recipes in our cake recipes collection.