How to Make Smooth Cream Cheese Frosting – Not Too Sweet

My secret to making Cream Cheese Frosting that is perfectly smooth, fluffy, tangy, creamy and not overly sweet is milk powder! It’s this magic ingredient that helps give you a cream cheese frosting that is stable enough to fill cakes or pipe on top of cupcakes!

You can use this to fill cakes like my carrot cake and red velvet cake, or pipe it on top of cupcakes or eat it with a spoon!

My Cream Cheese Frosting recipe is

• Creamy, because of the milk powder
• Perfectly pipeable because of the same magical ingredient!
• Not overly sweet – I use half the amount of sugar and still get a stiff frosting
• Tangy because I don’t add too much sugar or butter, and
• Fluffy! It’s like cream cheese mousse!

My secret ingredient: MILK POWDER!

Ok, so I’m going to get stuck into the ingredients further down, but I wanted to have a quick chat about the milk powder first. It’s used in this recipe for 2 reasons:

1. It helps stabilize and give structure to the frosting making it pipeable instead of just spreadable.
2. It makes the frosting ultra-creamy.

Milk powder is dried milk. It was commonly used in ye olde days when fridges weren’t common in kitchens. It was an easy way to make milk without it spoiling. These days, you can find it in the long-life milk isle of your supermarket. You can also use the skim or full fat one. It doesn’t matter.

Just a note though. Not all milk powder is the same texture wise. It should be as fine as powdered sugar. If it’s courser than that, put it in the food processor and get it as fine as you can before using. Otherwise it will make your frosting gritty.

Tip: make sure your milk powder has not passed its used by date otherwise it will not disolve into the frosting.

Ingredients You Need To Make Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe heavily relies on really good quality ingredients at the right temperature!

• Butter – I used unsalted butter for this recipe. It’s really important to use really good quality butter and to make sure it’s softened. Usually, butter made in New Zealand and France is good quality butter. Using cheap butter can cause your frosting to split. You also want to make sure your butter is softened. If you keep your butter in the fridge you can soften it by adding it to the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, turning over each time until softened. It usually takes about 2 goes.
• Cream Cheese – Use block-style cream cheese, not spreadable, for structure. In the UK, Philadelphia works well. Soften it by leaving it out for 30-60 minutes until it’s cool but leaves an indent when lightly pressed.
• Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
• Milk Powder – See above for more details. Milk powder is what people used to use to make milk before fridges were widely used in kitchens. It can be found in the long-life milk isle of your supermarket. Skim or full fat can be used. To learn more about Milk Powder, take a read of the post I wrote up!
• Powdered Sugar – Also known as icing sugar, I use less sugar than most recipes. Which gives you a nice tangy cream cheese frosting. You don’t want to use less sugar than what’s listed in the ingredients as it will affect the stability of your frosting.
• Cocoa powder – I used Dutch processed cocoa powder. You want to make sure you sieve your cocoa powder into the frosting at the same time you add the powdered sugar to avoid there being lumps in your frosting.
• Dark Chocolate – It’s important to use good quality chocolate here. You don’t want to use eating chocolate; you want to use cooking chocolate found in the baking isle of your supermarket with at least 70% cocoa solids. You also want to make sure your chocolate is cooled to room temperature after it’s been melted so that it doesn’t melt your frosting.

How to make the BEST Cream Cheese Frosting!

This frosting couldn’t be easier to make. You can make it with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer. Just an important note though, ALWAYS MIX ON HIGH SPEED! Lol. You never want to mix on low speed because the cream cheese over softens. The only time you don’t beat on high speed is when you’ve added the dry ingredients. Ok, now that I’ve yelled at you, let’s move onto the method!

1. Add the softened butter and cream cheese to your mixing bowl and beat on high speed until the two ingredients are well combined. About 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
2. Add the milk powder and powdered sugar (add the cocoa powder if making chocolate cream frosting) .Mix on low speed to begin with until the dry ingredients are mixed in.

3. Turn back up to high speed and continue beating for 5 minutes.
4. Scrape down the bowl and add the melted chocolate if making chocolate frosting Beat on high speed for a final 2 minutes.

PRO Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!

• Always mix on high speed when making this frosting to ensure it comes out fluffy. The only time you don’t mix on high speed is when you’ve added the dry ingredients.
• Make sure you use the right ingredients! Use full-fat, ‘block style’ cream cheese. Don’t use spreadable cream cheese.
• Make sure you sift your powdered sugar and cocoa powder if making chocolate frosting!

Frequently Asked Questions about Cream Cheese Frosting

What does it taste like?

Tangy, creamy and not overly sweet! It’s also fluffy and smooth.

Why is my frosting runny?

• You didn’t beat on high speed! It’s really important to make sure you beat this frosting on high speed. The only time you mix on low is when the dry ingredients have been added.
• If it’s a warm day, like most frosting made mostly of fat, it will soften. Place back in the fridge until semi stiff, about 30 minutes, and beat on high speed until fluffy.
• You added liquid or berries to your frosting. Any additional liquid added to this frosting like frozen or fresh berries will cause it to soften and split. Opt-in for crushed freeze-dried berries or powdered flavorings.
• Make sure you use the right ingredients! Use block style cream cheese, not spreadable cream cheese

How do I store this?

You can store this in an airtight container, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Simply thaw for 30 minutes before beating on high speed until fluffy again. You can freeze this in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

How Much Frosting Does This Make?

• For Cakes – This will be enough to fill and coat one 8-inch cake with two layers of cake. Double the recipe for a 4 layer cake.
• For Cupcakes – This recipe makes enough frosting for about 24 cupcakes with a nice medium-sized swirl on top. If you prefer smaller swirls or just a thin layer of frosting, it could stretch a bit further.

Will this hold up on warm days?

In short, no. Like most frostings, this is made mostly of fat. So naturally, fat melts and softens in warm temperatures. If you’re using this for cakes and cupcakes on warm days, keep your desserts in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Only way to handle the heat!

Looking for recipes to pair with your cream cheese frosting?

• Red Velvet Cake
• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Carrot Cake
• Carrot Cake Cupcakes