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!
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!
FAQs
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.
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:
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.
Hi Wendy- I'm sorry that I missed your question. I would say that this would last at least a few days in the refrigerator.
@Aboyewa- Icing sugar or confectioner's sugar is what you'll want to use. Hope you like it!
I made the lemon cake, the lemon curd and this frosting. It's true what they say I could eat this frosting with a spoon! They all turned out great, but when I frosted my cake (after it had cooled compeletly with the cool frosting) I can back later to see it cracked from the center in three lines. I don't know what I did wrong ? Do you have any idea why it would crack?
Hi Brittany, I am sorry that happened, I hope you will be able cover the cracks to make it more presentable. The most likely cause is that the oven temperature was too high. You might want to purchase an oven thermometer to find out if the oven is heating to the temperature you set.
I actually was able to fill in the cracks with the extra frosting and you couldn't even tell! But I think you're right! The cakes were done by 28 mins in the oven and were a little over done . But everyone still raved about it! Thanks for the recipe ! We love anything lemon.
Wonderful!! I am so happy to know you were able to take care of the problem and that the guests loved your cake!
Can this icing be frozen? It made too much for my cake.
Hi Gem123, We have frozen cream cheese with no problem. When ready to use, let it thaw in the refrigerator, then gently remix.
Hi! Love the sound of this icing and was planning on using it with the pink lemonade cake for my daughters birthday.
I was planning on doing a lot of buttercream floral decoration though...will this icing hold up to that? Or am I better to stick with plain buttercream or a swiss meringue buttercream to hold lots of detail?
If so will they taste as good with the lemonade cake?!
Sorry! Such an amateur baker! ;)
Hi Bec, I'm glad that you're making the pink lemonade cake!
This frosting is definitely on the softer side. As it is, it may be a little iffy for roses, etc. However, I think that if you set aside some of the frosting for your flowers in a separate bowl, you should be able to thicken it enough with confectioners sugar to make it more suitable. I hope this helps! ;0)
How many cupcakes would thi pipe?
Hi Britanni, I think this recipe makes approximately 4 cups frosting. One cup of frosting will frost 12 cupcakes using a 2D tip and making a simple swirl. Of course, if you plan to make a high swirl it will take much more.
This cake looks amazing, thanks for much for sharing! I have baked two cake layers and am planning to put the rest together tomorrow for a birthday party. I am a newbie, what do I do with the lemon curd filling exactly?