Name: Cream Cheese Frosting
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 sticks (1 cup, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature; 2 cups confectioners’ sugar; 2 tablespoons milk, more as needed; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Made with much less confectioners’ sugar than the usual cream cheese frosting, it’s sturdy, dependable and not too sweet - just right for a child’s birthday party or to ice three-dozen cupcakes for a bake sale. While it’s not quite as silky as a buttercream based on beaten eggs and sugar syrup, it’s much, much less persnickety to make and it holds up well without refrigeration for several hours before it starts getting soft. Plus, the cream cheese makes it incredibly creamy while adding a tangy bite that helps tone down the sweetness of the confectioners’ sugar. To make lemon cream cheese buttercream (which tastes a little like a cheesecake), substitute one tablespoon lemon juice for the vanilla and add a teaspoon of grated lemon zest to the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

(1 cup, 8 ounces) unsalted butter,

(8-ounce) packages cream cheese,

confectioners’ sugar

milk, more as needed

vanilla extract

Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar, milk and vanilla. If the frosting seems too thick to spread, add a little more milk.

Melissa Clark, the author of A Good Appetite column, demonstrates how to put icing on a layer cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Total: 10 minutes

Servings: 6

Cost: $6.77 /serving

Author : Melissa Clark

Ingredients

Instructions

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