If you love a light, stable and fluffy frosting, this Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting will be your new favorite. It combines the tanginess of a classic cream cheese frosting with the airy structure of stabilized whipped cream. Made with just four simple ingredients, it delivers a balanced flavor that isn't overly sweet. It whips up easily, lasts for days and works perfectly smoothed over cakes or piped onto cupcakes. (I use a version of this frosting for my gluten-free lemon poppy seed cupcakes)!
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Quick Look: Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- ⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🧁 Servings: 24 (makes enough frosting for 24 cupcakes or a 9x13 inch sheet cake).
- ⚡ Calories: 99 per serving
- 🍽 Diet: gluten-free
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: smooth, light, creamy, airy, stable; slightly tangy and not too sweet.
- 👌 Difficulty: easy, but electric mixer is required.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: like a stabilized whipped cream without gelatin or cornstarch; tangy like a cream cheese frosting but not thick or overly sweet.
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Why this frosting works so well
It hits the sweet spot of perfect texture and balanced flavor!
- Stable texture: Plain whipped cream wilts quickly at room temperature. By blending in cream cheese and powdered sugar, this frosting holds its shape beautifully. There's no gelatin, puddings or powders required!
- Hint of tanginess: This isn't a heavy cream cheese frosting. Instead, a subtle touch of cream cheese cuts through the sweetness of the powdered sugar with a slight savory note.
- Not too sweet: Since we're relying on cream cheese for some of the stability, we don't need to go overboard with powdered sugar. The result is a whipped frosting that's not sickly sweet.
- Smooth and creamy: It's silky smooth like my peanut butter cream cheese frosting, but light and airy like the whipped cream I serve on top of my almond flour lemon cake.
- Lasts for days: You can pipe this frosting onto cupcakes, and even after days in the fridge, the frosting is still perfectly stable and creamy.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Cream cheese: You'll need full fat, block-style cream cheese for this recipe. Light cream cheese or the spreadable kind will not have the same texture.
- Heavy cream: Use heavy whipping cream that is at least 35% milk fat.
- Powdered sugar: This not only sweetens the frosting, but the cornstarch in powdered sugar helps to stabilize it as well.
- Vanilla: Just 1 teaspoon is enough. I don't like to add too much liquid to the frosting. If you want to change up the flavor, you can add different flavored extracts or citrus juice.
How to make whipped cream cheese frosting
Step 1: Cut the cold cream cheese into cubes and add to a large mixing bowl with the vanilla extract.
Step 2: Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a handheld mixer with beaters, beat together the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
Step 3: On medium speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. The mixture should look like a runny cream cheese frosting.
Step 4: On low speed, gradually add in the heavy cream until it is incorporated into the cream cheese mixture.
Step 5: Increase the mixing speed to medium-high, and mix until the mixture thickens.
Step 6: Keep mixing until stiff peaks form. Stop mixing at this point.
Measuring ingredients
For convenience, US cup measurements are included in the recipe card for this recipe. To ensure greater accuracy, however, weight and volume measurements are also provided. So, if you see grams (g), you'll want to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, and if you see milliliters (ml), you'll want to use a liquid measuring cup. Smaller quantities of ingredients are provided in teaspoons and tablespoons.
Expert tips
- Cold cream cheese. To ensure the cream cheese mixes smoothly with the cold whipping cream, make sure your cream cheese is cold. Don't worry, you'll still be able to beat it into a smooth consistency. I usually cut it into cubes before mixing and add the vanilla so it has a little liquid to help it along.
- Whisk attachment. I normally use the paddle attachment to beat cream cheese. But, since we need the whisk attachment to whip the heavy cream, I used the whisk attachment for the cream cheese too. Feel free to use the paddle attachment and then switch to the whisk. Or just use a handheld mixer with beaters.
- Beat cream cheese until smooth. The cream cheese should be smooth before you add the heavy cream. This will minimize any lumps in your frosting.
- Gradually add heavy cream to cream cheese mixture. Gradually adding the cream will ensure it mixes evenly into the cream cheese mixture before you increase the speed and whip the frosting.
- Don't over mix. Once you hit stiff peaks, stop the mixer. If you keep mixing, the frosting will start to curdle.
Whipped cream cheese frosting FAQs
Once piped or spread onto cakes, this frosting will last for 5-6 days in the fridge.
It makes enough to top 24 cupcakes, an 8-inch layer cake or a 9x13 inch sheet cake.
If your frosting is grainy, it could be because your cream cheese was too warm and it didn't mix properly with the cold cream. It could also mean that your powdered sugar was lumpy. Make sure you use cold cream cheese and sift your powdered sugar.
You might not have whipped the frosting long enough or it wasn't whipped on medium-high speed. It could also be because your heavy cream wasn't cold enough when you added it to the cream cheese mixture.
This is usually because the frosting was over whipped. Once you add the heavy cream and increase the mixer speed, the frosting will set up quickly, so keep an eye on it.
This frosting would taste amazing on top of my gluten-free sugar cookie bars, piped onto my vanilla almond flour cupcakes or swirled on top of my almond flour orange cake. We love it with chocolate too, like these almond flour chocolate cupcakes and this air fryer chocolate cake!
More recommended frosting recipes
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📖 Recipe
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170 g) full fat cream cheese, cold (about ¾ cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) heavy whipping cream, (at least 35% milk fat), cold
Instructions
- Cut the cold cream cheese into cubes and add it to a large mixing bowl with the vanilla extract.
- Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a handheld mixer with beaters, beat together the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
- On medium speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. The mixture should look like a runny cream cheese frosting.
- On low speed, gradually add the heavy whipping cream until it is incorporated into the cream cheese mixture.
- Increase the mixing speed to medium-high, and whip together until stiff peaks form.
Notes
- Cold cream cheese. To ensure the cream cheese mixes smoothly with the cold whipping cream, make sure your cream cheese is cold.
- Whisk attachment. I used the whisk attachment for the cream cheese since I needed it to whip the heavy cream. Feel free to use the paddle attachment and then switch to the whisk. Or just use a handheld mixer with beaters.
- Beat cream cheese until smooth. The cream cheese should be smooth before you add the heavy cream. This will minimize any lumps in your frosting.
- Gradually add heavy cream to cream cheese mixture. Gradually adding the cream will ensure it mixes evenly into the cream cheese mixture before you increase the speed and whip the frosting.
- Don't over mix. Once you hit stiff peaks, stop the mixer. If you keep mixing, the frosting will start to curdle.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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