You are going to love this amazing Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting recipe!

I love any dessert that involves cream cheese, and I especially love cakes and cupcakes that are filled and swirled with a generous dose cream cheese frosting!

We have another delicious recipe for Cream Cheese frosting that we have used for years, and can still be found on our site.

This new version of ours seems to hold it's shape even better, and has even more cream cheese flavor.

You'll find that this Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting recipe delivers all of the cream cheese deliciousness that you are looking for without being overly sweet.

We hope that you enjoy it!

Table of Contents

What Cakes Pair Well with Cream Cheese Frosting?

This is a trick question, because I would argue that EVERY cake tastes better with cream cheese frosting! But here are a few favorites!:

Red Velvet Cake (Try our Red Velvet Scratch, Doctored Cake Mix, or Cupcake recipes!)

Carrot Cake- This scratch carrot cake recipe is out of this world!

Spice Cakes (Like our Caramel Apple Spice, Gingerbread Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cake...)

Hummingbird Cake- A fantastic combination of bananas, crushed pineapple, pecans, and a hint of cinnamon

Italian Cream Cake-This southern classic wouldn't be the same without cream cheese frosting!

Classic Chocolate Cake- Ahhhh... this decadent chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting is heaven!

Helpful Tips for Cream Cheese Frosting

Is Cream Cheese Frosting softer than regular frosting? Yes. As with most cream cheese frostings, the consistency of this frosting is a little on the softer side. If you need a thicker consistency, you can add additional powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency. However, this cream cheese frosting is thicker than most, thanks to the amount of cream cheese in the recipe.

What Should I do if my Cream Cheese Frosting becomes too soft to work with? If your Cream Cheese Buttercream becomes increasingly soft as you pipe, to the point that it no longer holds it’s shape, just pop it in the refrigerator for a minute. Some decorators even prefer to prepare two piping bags and alternate between them.

This could be caused by a very warm kitchen, or warm hands against the piping bag. Either way, a few minutes in the fridge will work wonders. (Just not too long or it’ll become too firm!)

Does Cream Cheese Frosting need to be refrigerated? Yes. Cream cheese frosting, and cakes frosted with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated. However, it does become firm when chilled. You will want to remove from the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving (or using) so that it has time to soften.

don't miss our roundup of the best cream cheese frosting recipes!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the recipe!

Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting

This easy and delicious Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting is the BEST! Wonderful cream cheese flavor and perfect for piping!

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) (226g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in microwave)
3 (8 ounces) (226g) packages full fat cream cheese, (total 678g) cut into 1 inch pieces and softened.....do not use reduced fat cream cheese or cream in tub containers (do not soften in microwave)
3 cups (343g) powdered sugar
2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract

Instructions

Put the softened butter in the bowl of your mixer and mix until smooth.
Add the pieces of softened cream cheese to the mixing bowl. The cream cheese should be soft enough that it combines easily into the butter/powdered sugar mixture. Beat on low/medium speed about 1 minute or until the cream cheese is blended in.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on Medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes (a bit longer if using a hand mixer). Scrape the bowl mid way through. Do not over beat.
Makes 6 cups
Use immediately or refrigerate. If beaten too long it my become too soft. If this happens, just refrigerate a short time and let it firm up.

118 Comments

Hi Teresa, We used 1 recipe of this frosting for the Hummingbird Cake. Just to make sure you have enough, I would not make the filling too thick. It all depends on how much decorative piping you will be doing on your cake.

I would like to make this with Strawberry extract. Can I just replace the Vanilla extract with the Strawberry or should I still use the Vanilla extract but at a reduced amount? If so, how much of each? Thank you.

Hi Stephanie, I haven't tried doing that but I think I would use 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon strawberry extract. I think you could also add 1 Tablespoon of seedless strawberry jam. I don't think that would make it too soft. It would give it some strawberry taste as well as color. You might need to add a bit of pink coloring gel ( add with a toothpick so you can control the amount).

Hey how many cupcakes does it make? I need to make 150 plus a two tiered cake. I need to know how much more I need.

Hi Ariel, This recipe makes 6 cups of frosting. One cup of frosting will frost 12 cupcakes with a simple swirl using a 2D piping tip, so if you double the recipe you will have 144 cupcakes. Here is a link to the Wilton Batter and Frosting Chart that will give you the information you need to decide how much frosting you will need.

http://www.wilton.com/cake-serving-guide/cms-baking-serving-guide.html

Our other cream cheese frosting can also be piped, though it is a bit softer. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate for a short while. Hope all goes well.

Hi there Melissa. How do I make a lemon version of this frosting?

Hi Salina, Add 2 teaspoons (8g) lemon juice, 1 teaspoon (4g) lemon extract and the zest of 1 lemon.
With this additional liquid you may need to add more powdered sugar, another cup or so to reach the spreading consistency you like. The recipe does need the lemon extract, lemon juice alone will not give enough lemon flavor.

I made this cream cheese frosting today and it turned out fantastic! It has a lovely cheesy flavor without being too over powering. I paired it with the strawberry cake on this site and topped it with ganache.

I wonder why other recipes online for pipeable cream cheese frosting uses only 1 pkg cream cheese to way more powdered sugar, and your recipe is the opposite... the ratios of cream cheese to sugar are opposite... do they both pipe well? I'm trying to figure out which real would be better. Can you please help?

Hi Amy, I think it will come down to personal preference. Both recipes will be good but this one has a less sweet taste and more of the cream cheese flavor comes through. Let us know what you think if you give it a try.

Ok great. Thank you... do you think I could do the vertical ruffle design with this recipe? And flowers?

Hi Amy, we haven't used this recipe for the vertical ruffles. The recipe pipes very easily, keeps its shape nicely, and would work fine for flowers. I really think that it would be fine, but if you don't have time to experiment in advance (on a glass for instance), you may want to go with a recipe that contains more sugar and would be closer to an American buttercream (or just be prepared that you may need to incorporate more sugar into our recipe if necessary.