Smooth and tangy with a fresh citrus kick, this melt in your mouth Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting strikes the perfect balance between rich and citrusy. Butter adds flavor and richness while cream cheese offers a subtle tang and velvety texture. Lemon zest brightens it up with a clean pop of sunny flavor. Enjoy on carrot muffins, cupcakes, cake, sandwich cookies and more! This recipe is vegetarian and egg free.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Highlights
This cream cheese icing with lemon is melt in your mouth delicious, smooth and creamy—basically the little black dress of frostings! In pastry school it was an icing we kept on hand because of its versatility and popularity. It adds a rich, tangy-sweet layer that pairs well with a wide variety of baked goods.
Ready in under 10 minutes, this lightly sweetened, rich and creamy icing is ideal for cupcakes, cakes, quick breads, and more using just five ingredients. It’s delicious on these moist Carrot Pineapple Muffins, Carrot Cake Bread, Lemon Shortbread Cookies and Carrot Cake with Pineapple.
This Recipe Is:
- lemony and tangy
- smooth and creamy
- schmearable and pipeable
If you enjoy making homemade desserts, this is a delicious icing to add to your recipe book!
About the Key Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter – this is the base of the cream cheese icing. It adds bulk, flavor and also fluffy texture. Use your favorite high quality butter here for best flavor.
- Cream Cheese – we’re using full fat, block/brick form cream cheese for best texture, structure and flavor. It’s denser than the kind sold in tubs and is the ideal texture to use in lemon cream cheese icing. I use Organic Valley or Philadelphia brands cream cheese – the variety sold in a box, wrapped in foil.
- Sifted Powdered Sugar – adds bulk and sweetness to the icing. This tangy lemon cream cheese icing is lightly sweetened. If more sweetness is preferred, you can add a bit more powdered sugar to adjust sweetness to taste.
I use organic powdered sugar by default. In baking for icings and custards specifically organic is noted for added tapioca starch rather than corn starch as found in conventional powdered sugar. Tapioca leaves a smoother, less gritty texture than corn starch. Stella Parks (Brave Tart) has more if you’d like to dive into the science.
- Fresh Lemon Zest – adds brightness and tangy flavor. Be sure you’re zesting the outer most layer of the lemon to extract it’s fresh lemon flavor and lemon oils and not the white pith that lies just underneath, since the pith can be bitter.
- Vanilla Options – use pure vanilla extract for best flavor. I use a combination of vanilla beans and vanilla extract for a boost vanilla flavor, and those pretty flecks of vanilla beans look beautiful throughout the icing. If you keep vanilla paste on hand, that can be used instead of vanilla beans, about 1/2 teaspoon.
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How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
Step by Step
Traci’s Tip: creaming the butter and cream cheese together first, then introducing the sugar last creates a light and fluffy cream cheese icing. Since sugar starts to break down the protein structure in cream cheese, we’re adding it last, gently mixing in the sugar just until incorporated. Overmixing at this point can cause the frosting to become runny.
Traci’s Tips
- Stand Mixer: I use a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for this recipe, but hand held beaters can be used as well. Use the paddle attachment to avoid over-whipping.
- Refrigerate: if your frosting is too soft to pipe or spread (but not runny), you can pop it in the refrigerator for a quick 10-15 minute rest. It will stiffen as it sets (similar to butter). You can gently mix it again with the paddle attachment to resoften as needed.
10 Minute Luscious Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
Servings:18 servings
Calories:180kcal
Smooth and tangy with a fresh citrus kick, this melt in your mouth Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting strikes the perfect balance between rich and citrusy. Butter adds flavor and richness while cream cheese offers a subtle tang and velvety texture. Lemon zest brightens it up with a clean pop of sunny flavor. Enjoy on carrot muffins, cupcakes, cake, sandwich cookies and more! This recipe is vegetarian and egg free. This recipe yields about 3 cups (635 grams), enough for 12-18 generously iced cupcakes or muffins, 9" single layer cake or 6" layer cake. *Plan ahead: the butter needs to be at a cool room temperature (68F) and the cream cheese, set at a cool room temperature for about 45 minutes to soften before mixing.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces (232 grams) Unsalted Butter 2 sticks, soft and at a cool room temperature (68F)
- 12 ounces (342 grams) Cream Cheese full fat, one and a half blocks, set at cool room temperature for 45 minutes.
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest about 3 lemons
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) Powdered Sugar organic, measure then sift
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Vanilla Bean Pod beans scraped, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (optional)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (I use Kitchen Aid) add the butter and cream cheese. Cream on medium speed, 3 on a Kitchen Aid, for 5 minutes (set a timer), stopping to scrape down the bowl twice during mixing. The mixture will be soft, light and fluffy.
- Add the sifted powder sugar all at once, lemon zest and vanilla (scraped beans too if using). Mix on low for 20-30 seconds, just until the sugar is incorporated. Scrape down the bowl, and mix again for about 10 seconds until no white patches of sugar remain.
- Your cream cheese icing is ready to schmear, pipe or spread. If you need it to stiffen a bit before piping, you can pop it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
- To Store: if making ahead, once mixed, store the icing in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can gently beat it with the paddle attachment or silicone spatula to loosen it. To Freeze: store in a lidded container for up to a month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
*According to the FDA, cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated within two hours. This includes the prep time.
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Serving: 2.5tablespoons | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 578IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 0.03mg
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