This fluffy whipped cream and cream cheese frosting is the perfect cupcake frosting. This vanilla frosting is easy, lightly sweet, pipes beautifully, and keeps well in the refrigerator.
This is our go-to frosting for our Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes. A single recipe will frost 24 cupcakes but it’s easy to double the recipe if you’re making a big batch for a birthday party.
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Watch Cupcake Frosting Video Tutorial:
This frosting pipes so beautifully onto cupcakes, cakes and even cookies! I used the Wilton 1M Tip with a large piping bag. These 3 piping tips are the only ones I use for frosting cupcakes. Watch the video below. If it doesn’t load, be sure your ad blocker is turned off.
Homemade Cupcake Frosting is Best!
Flashback: as a child, I used to hide in the pantry and sneak spoonfuls of canned frosting [gross]; there’s something about the store-bought one that was just terribly irresistible. Maybe all those fabulous chemicals? Well, take that irresistible trait, minus the chemicals, and you get this frosting.
It also stays put pretty well in the fridge for, well, mine has been in there a week and I’ll go poke my finger in it. Be right back……… ok that’s just ridiculous. It’s still good!
Ingredients for Vanilla Frosting:
Combining cream cheese and whipped cream creates a soft and airy frosting that keeps its shape when piped. Make it once and you will make it over and over.
- Cream Cheese – should be softened at room temp, but not overly soft. If cream cheese is too soft, the frosting will end up runnier and won’t have that brilliant white color
- Powdered Sugar – also known as confectioners sugar, adds sweetness and helps build texture
- Heavy Whipping Cream – make sure it’s labeled HEAVY which has a 35-38% fat content
- Real Vanilla Extract – the flavor of real vanilla can’t be beat
How to Make the Cupcake Frosting:
Cooks Tip: For best results with whipped cream, freeze your mixing bowl and whisk attachment 10-15 minutes before using. Also, keep the heavy whipping cream refrigerated until ready to use.
- Whip the cream on high speed with an electric hand mixer (1-2 minutes) until thick, fluffy and spreadable.
- In a second mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar (start on low speed unless you want to be standing in a cloud of powdered sugar), then beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix.
That’s it! Just three steps and you’ve nailed it! Keep it covered in the fridge until ready to use on these Vanilla Cupcakes, our moist Chocolate Cupcakes, or even these super fluffy Pumpkin Cupcakes.
Tips for Making the Best Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Use a full-fat cream cheese for the best taste and texture (avoid low-fat). Soften cream cheese inside of it’s packaging at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- Heavy whipping cream which has a higher fat content and will whip much easier. Avoid “whipping cream” or “light cream.”
- Make Sure Heavy Cream is Chilled until ready to use. Cold cream will whip up better.
- Don’t cut the sugar too much. We have tested with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar which works but if you take out more, the texture will be affected.
Can I Use this to Frost A Cake?
You’ll fall in love with this frosting and naturally, you’ll want to use it on all your desserts. This makes enough frosting for a 2-layer, 9-inch cake. If you want a super generous amount of frosting, or if working with a 4-layer cake, you can make 1 1/2 times the recipe.
More Frosting Recipes:
If you love to change up your cupcake frosting, try these top-rated frosting recipes. We have everything from rich chocolate frostings to marshmallow-soft creams.
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting – the flavor and texture are heavenly
- Chocolate Frosting – decadent but light with cream cheese
- White Chocolate Frosting – adding melted white chocolate is genius
- Chocolate Ganache – use it as a glaze or whip it into the best frosting
Cupcake Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, (confectioners sugar)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, (keep chilled until ready to use)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the cold heavy cream on high speed (1-2 minutes) until thick, fluffy and spreadable.
- In a second mixing bowl (using the same electric mixer - no need to wash it), beat cream cheese and powdered sugar. Start on low speed to incorporate then beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamy and whipped, then beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Use a spatula to gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix until well blended. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We first published this recipe in June 2012. We re-photographed and added new photos. After much testing, we now use 2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 1 1/2 since it gave the cream a better structure.
How long can the frosting sit out of the fridge? Once I frost the cupcakes, do they need to be served right away..or can they sit for a few hours?
They would probably be OK at room temperature for up to three hours or so.
I would like to add a strawberry flavour to the frosting. Is it possible to do it with fresh strawberries? What is the best method to do it?
I would suggest using this frosting for strawberry flavored. Follow the same method as you would for the blackberries, just add the strawberry syrup to taste since strawberries are a little juicier than blackberries and you don’t want to water down your frosting.
These look great! I’m going to try this frosting on the vanilla cupcakes this weekend. If I frost the cupcakes on Saturday for a party on Sunday would you recommend storing the frosted cupcakes in the fridge overnight or will they keep fine stored in an airtight container in a cold and dry place?
I would recommend frosting them the day before and covering them and keeping them in the refrigerator overnight. You definitely want to keep them refrigerated since the frosting has dairy in it. But they do refrigerate really well.
Hey Natasha, so I’m making a dress made of cupcakes for my cousins bridal shower and I was thinking of doing you cupcakes with this frosting. I was wondering if this frosting is good for decorating like for example making a frosting flower Would this frosting work with that?
Yes, that would work fine. This is the same frosting I used in this video tutorial on making frosting roses: https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/05/10/how-to-make-easy-frosting-roses-a-video-tutorial/
Hey, so I am making the cake for my cousins bridal shower and it is shaped like a dress with cupcakes. I was thinking of using this recipe for the frosting and I was wondering if this frosting is good to decorate cupacakes with like for example make a frosting flower?? Would it work?
Yes, I’ve made roses out of this frosting and it works well. Here is my tutorial :).
Just made the vanilla cupcakes and this frosting- A PERFECT 10 on both! Since my son and I just discovered your website we will be searching through it to find more great stuff! Thanks for the great explanations and wonderful photos- made it a fun and easy!!
Judie, welcome to the site and thank you for such a great review. I hope that you’ll find many more favorite recipes :).
My daughter and I made these cupcakes and substituted oat flour and almond milk, they turned out pretty good, but were excellent once we coated the top of the cupcakes with melted chocolate as the frosting, marshmallow and sugar! I wish I could upload a picture because they were very pretty and yummy
I wish there was a way to upload pictures too. I would have loved to see it! I guess you could always upload it on my facebook page ;). That topping sounds fantastic!
Im still chuckling about your intro…. the canned frosting thing 🙂 so true….
Haha yeah 🙂
Hi,
Can I make these cupcakes on Thursday for Sunday party? I will be leaving out of town on Friday and one of my friend wants the cupcakes on Thursday. Will they dry out?
They should be fine as long as you store them properly. Do you have a cupcake carrier or something with a lid to cover them in the fridge? You want to cover them to keep from drying out and to keep other food odors from getting to them.
My experiences with frosting have been quite weird. Every time I ate cake at a birthday party or some gathering, I always removed the frosting. Store bought frosting is grainy and overly sweet. When I try to make frosting myself, it always turns out so sweet that I would just remove it on the spot. When I found this recipe, I had such high hopes for it, and I’m so glad this exceeded it. This frosting is the BEST FROSTING I HAVE EVER TASTED IN MY WHOLE LIFE. I’m not a fan of frosting, but I just wanted to eat an entire bowl of this frosting by itself. The balance of sweetness was just right. I mean–cupcakes are darn sweet already. Thank you so much for this recipe! I love it!!!! If only I could add more stars to the rating
I’m all smiles after reading your review! Thank you so much Jasmin. You’re awesome! 🙂
Great cupcake recipe. I have made them twice to rave reviews from the family.
Thank you Dale for the great review, I’m happy to hear that everyone loves it :).
I live in the tropics with constant heat and humidity. Temperatures are normally at 90-93degress. My kitchen isn’t airconditioned but thankfully the party is (packaging and transportation an issue also). I made a trial batch of half cream cheese and half butter today and they completely curdled and turned to water. I need them for carrot cupcakes, badly! We also dont have the option of HEAVY whipping cream here, just the regular ones. Hope you can help!?!?
You might try replacing the whipped cream with a cool whip. Do you have cool whip where you live? It’s usually sold in the freezer section of the grocery store.
I want to make these for a birthday party in July. It will most likely be in the 90’s outside. Will the frosting melt outside in the heat?
Rebecah, I won’t leave them outside for more than couple hours, especially when they have dairy. You definitely want to keep them out of the sun.
Can you frost the cupcakes the night before you are going to serve? I wasn’t sure with the whipping cream if I could or if I needed to wait until right before serving. Wondering if I could frost and then refrigerate them overnight.
You can absolutely frost them the night before and refrigerate overnight. They will hold up really well. I’d recommend keeping them covered with something (like a cake carrier if you have one), so they don’t take on any smells from the fridge.
I have trouble with frostings in general, bad luck all around. Your recipes never failed me, so I will be giving this a shot.
Would this frosting hold up to me adding some caramel sauce or caramel chips into it? (Fingers crossed). Would the consistency change?
Thanks a bunch!!
I think it would be best to drizzle caramel sauce over the top. I’m not sure if it would make the frosting too loose for piping if you mix it into the frosting.
I was asked to make some cupcakes for a wedding, (never done it before so very nervous!) but I’m limited on time before the event. Would it be okay to make the actual cupcake (with your attached recipe) 48 hours before the wedding and make the frosting and frost, say, 36 hours before, storing in a fridge? Of course they need to be perfect for a wedding! 🙂
I’d be a little nervous to make the cupcakes four days ahead. If you cut back by just one day, I think you’d have a solid plan. 🙂
Hi Andrea, I’d be a little nervous about making the cupcakes that far ahead. If you can push everything forward by at least 1 day, it would be much better. I’d be concerned about the cupcakes getting dry. I think it would work to make the cupcakes and frosting 36 hours or less. Once they are frosted, you’ll want to make sure they are refrigerated since the frosting has dairy.
Hi Natasha! I really want to try this frosting, unfortunately I couldn’t find any cream cheese here. What’s the best substitute for cream cheese? Is сирок same as cream cheese? I see lots of сирок in the grocery store, some plain others with raisins, vanilla and other flavor. They also have сливочный сыр but it doesn’t look and taste like cream cheese. Can I use quark cheese or farmer’s cheese (творог)instead? Thanks in advance! Oh I made your Apple Sharlotka cake and it was great! I dredge the apples in 1 tbsp flour and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon. Thanks a lot! Can’t wait to try your Keks recipe, a few bakeries here sell Keks with different add-ins: dry cottage cheese and raisins; dried cherries; fresh apples – all covered in powdered sugar!
HI Cher, to be honest I haven’t tried anything besides cream cheese. I think the next closest thing would be mascarpone. Farmers cheese wouldn’t have the same consistency and I don’t think it would work.
I also can’t find any mascarpone here (in Ukraine). I’ll try with pureed cottage or quark cheese – this would be a whole new recipe, don’t you think?…and less calories! I don’t mind the consistency as long as it tastes great! 🙂 Will report the outcome! Appreciate your time!
Do let me know how it works out. Thanks Cher! 🙂
Cupcake was super moist (I used evoo rather than canola oil), and frosting so light and fluffy! Everyone loved them, thanks so much!
Thank you for the great review Caris, I’m happy to hear that everyone loved it :).
Oh my God, thank you so much for sharing the best frosting recipe ever! I’m not kidding, it was soo good, my friends who ate the cupcakes are still talking about them! I had sort of a weird question: I’m trying to make a rosette covered cake and I was wondering if you’ve ever tried decorating a cake making shapes with this frosting? It holds so well on the cupcakes that I have a feeling the rosettes will stay but perhaps you have some experience with this. Appreciate any suggestions:)
Hi Raquel! Thank you so much for the awesome review! I’m so happy you all loved the frosting :). Good news! Yes, this frosting does pipe well. I’ve even created a little how to video making frosting roses with this very frosting: http://youtu.be/1XP9Yz7QAME
Made the frosting today, and it made fine. I guess I am just used to butter, because it tasted like a cousin to cool whip. I might try it again and cut the whipping cream in half and increase the powder sugar and Mabie add a touch of milk. Do you have any buttercream frostings?
I’m embarrassed to say that after 5+ years of writing this food blog and about 500 recipes into it, I don’t have a true, simple buttercream. I actually have it on my to-do list already and it will happen one of these days 🙂 I do have a crazy amazing cream cheese chocolate frosting recipe coming soon to the blog 🙂