Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe

Calling all lemon lovers! You are going to fall in love with this DELICIOUS Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe.

It is the perfect lemony, light and flavorful complement to white, yellow, citrus, and even coconut cakes!

Amazing Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe! Perfect as a Filling or Frosting! MyCakeSchool.com Online Cake Tutorials & Recipes!

Table of Contents

Why We Love It

We love cream cheese frostings and this recipe is no exception. There are so many reasons to love this recipe. Here are just a few:

Wonderful Lemon Flavor
Silky smooth consistency
Pipeable (as you can see in our photo below of lemon cupcakes)
Makes a great filling and frosting
So easy to make!

Piping lemon cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes

FAQs

We have used this delicious frosting on so many cakes and cupcakes! Here are just a few: Lemon Cake from scratch, Lemon Cupcakes, Blueberry Cake, Strawberry Lemonade Cake, and more!

It would also be great with our homemade white cake or yellow cake, along with a lemon curd filling.

Cream cheese frostings like this lemon cream cheese frosting recipe are a softer consistency than for example an American buttercream like our Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe.

It is more sensitive to the heat of your kitchen, heat of your hands (if in a piping bag), etc. We recommend chilling the frosting for at least five to ten minutes after making a batch.

If it still seems too soft, you can add a bit more confectioners sugar, but this usually isn't necessary.

While frosting your cake or adding decorative piping, if you notice that the frosting is a bit too soft or isn't holding the shape of the piping very well, just pop the piping bag, bowl, (and even the cake!) in the refrigerator for five to ten minutes to firm up.

Yes, this frosting needs to be refrigerated. If you have made the frosting in advance and chilled, you will need to allow it to warm closer to room temperature before decorating your cake. We do not recommend microwaving.

If needed, you can remix it once it has softened.

Cakes that have been frosted or filled with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated.

However, for best taste and texture, remove it from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This will allow the cake and frosting to warm and soften.

We do not recommend low fat cream cheese for our cream cheese frosting recipes. Cream cheese frostings are already fairly soft. If you use a low fat option, it will be even softer, making it more difficult to work with.

We love this recipe! However, if you are not a fan of cream cheese, or are looking for a lemon frosting that is a bit less perishable, try our easy Lemon Buttercream Frosting!

How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Aside from its wonderful flavor, another reason to love this recipe is how easily it comes together!

You can find the full, printable lemon cream cheese frosting recipe further down, but here is a quick look at our steps:

First, cut the softened unsalted butter into smaller slices and add to the bowl of your mixer.

Next, slice the softened cream cheese into smaller pieces and add to the butter, mixing until blended.

Next comes the lemon juice and lemon extract. The lemon extract is optional but I really like the boost of flavor that it adds.

Finally, add the powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Cakes and cupcakes frosted with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting should be refrigerated.

Tips for Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frostings are a softer consistency than other buttercream frostings.

If you need a thicker consistency, you can add additional powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency.

If your Cream Cheese Buttercream becomes increasingly soft as you pipe, to the point that it no longer holds its shape, just pop the piping bag or bowl in the refrigerator for five minutes or so. This will firm up the consistency.

Delicious Lemon Cake Recipe from Scratch by MyCakeSchool.com! Cake Recipes, Online Cake Tutorials, Videos, and more!

More Cream Cheese Frostings

We have many more cream cheese frosting recipes for you to try! You can find our favorites in our collection of Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting Recipes. Some of our most popular are:

The Most Delicious Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! Online Cake Decorating Tutorials & Recipes!

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

This lemon cream cheese frosting has amazing flavor is and so easy to make!

Ingredients

2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
2 8oz packages Cream Cheese (453 total gram weight) Use full fat cream cheese. Do not use reduced fat or cream cheese in the tub containers. Soften
2 teaspoons (8g) lemon juice
1 teaspoon (4g) lemon extract
Zest from 1 lemon, approximately 1 ½ teaspoons (3g)
6 to 6 ½ cups (690g - 747g) powdered sugar, adding more if necessary

Instructions

Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer, mix until smooth.
Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, mixing until blended.
Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. 1 teaspoon lemon extract, for a stronger lemon flavor.
Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.

This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly and remix. Do not microwave to soften. If the frosting becomes too soft while using just refrigerate the piping bag or bowl for a short while to firm it up.

Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.

57 Comments

Looks beautiful, my question is will a cream cheese butter cream hold up better ,than a plain butter cream with a bit of shortening?Summer wedding, help.Thanks so much for your help.

Hi Nancy, If the wedding is outside, a buttercream made with all shortening (high ratio shortening, if possible ) would be the best option. A buttercream with some shortening added the next choice. I would have both well chilled if you are traveling with the cake, and also keep in a cool area until time for serving. I think using a cream cheese frosting would have the most risk for problems.

I just traveled with a wedding cake for 3 1/2 hrs. I made it because of dry ice in each corner and the box completely sealed up.

I recently made a wedding cake that sat in 90degree weather. We kept it chilled as long as we could, but when I made the frosting I added a couple T meringue powder that was supposed to help stay nice, and it did. This recipe looks wonderful. Thank you!

I just made this frosting last night with the lemon cake and the lemon curd, which by the way is AMAZING! So delish! The cake takes very good , but didn't rise and I discovered my baking powder was expired, ?! bought new and rebaked, just right :). The frosting tasted wonderful but it was so soft it just slid down the sides of the cake. Couldn't even crumb coat effectively. I did add an extra cup or so of powdered sugar but it was still too soft. I kept the butter soft but cool and didn't soften the cream cheese. I didn't but back in the fridge to let it harden some because I was concerned it would be too hard to spread. Do you think adding some shortening would affect the taste too much? Or do you have a suggestion to what I may have done wrong or could do differently? And I've posted a couple other questions on your site and want to thank you for such quick responses. This world of baking can be frustrating and to have this site and be able to ask questions and get answers is so wonderful. Thank you!

HI Terri, If it becomes too soft, you can put it in the refrigerator to get it back to a consistency to like. I would put on the timer and check every 5 minutes. You also could replace 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter with 1/2 cup (95g) of vegetable shortening. I don't think that would affect the taste too much. Hope this helps.

Hi!this recipe sounds amazing! :-)
I have question. Here in England there is only soft spreadable soft cheese like Philadelphia. I can't find any soft cheese that I could be able to cut :-)
Is there is any other cheese I could use? Ricotta or mascarpone?
I couldn't understand why my cheese frosting always becomes runny :-) till I figured out that you have different consistency soft cheese.

This icing sounds amazing!! With the dairy products in it, is it safe to leave out? Or does it need to be refrigerated? Thank you!

HI Jackie, This recipe does need to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese. You can remove your cake from the refrigerator about 1 hour before serving to allow it to soften a bit. Hope you like it.

I LOVE MAKE CAKE AND TKANK YOU FOR LOVELY RECIPE

Hi! I made this and it was FANTASTIC! Everyone that had it raved about it. I'm planning on making it again but my question is, if I were to make it ahead, do you have any idea how long it is good stored in the fridge? Or is it best made and served same day? Thanks so much for the great recipe!