The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Our The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is tart and creamy and chock full of yummy Cream Cheese flavor – a great lemony twist on a classic frosting recipe.
Oh lemons, how we love you. Bright and tart and so yummy. Our Lemon Buttercream Frosting is so delicious that we thought it might be a great flavor for a Cream Cheese Frosting too. And we were definitely correct about that. This yummy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is a new favorite in our family and truly the best we have ever tasted. If you are looking for a cream cheese icing that is chock full of fresh lemon flavor, super creamy, and oh-so-delicious this is the recipe for you!
How to Make
Steps 1 &2: Start by juicing and zesting a lemon. You will need 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1 heaping tablespoon of lemon zest. For us, that was one large lemon.
Step 3: Add the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the mixer. Both the butter and the cream cheese should be “slightly softened” which means it is still cold but has been out of the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
Step 4: Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You want to fully cream the ingredients together so their flavors meld together. The lemon juice needs to be completely mixed in with the butter and cream cheese. At the beginning of this creaming process, the lemon juice will not mix easily with the butter but keep mixing it will come together. Scrap the mixture down from the sides of the bowl before the next step.
Step 5: Measure 5 cups of Powdered Sugar and add it to the measuring bowl. You can sift the powdered sugar if it is really lumpy. I do not always do this. Instead, I will mix the powdered sugar on low for 30 seconds to break up any large lumps.
Step 6: Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.
Steps 7 & 8: Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the cream cheese/butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy. The fresh lemon will give the frosting a slight yellow color. If you want the frosting to look a bit more lemon-y … add a tiny drop of yellow food coloring as we have done here and mix until combined.
Step 9: This is the fun part of the frosting-making process where you get to taste your icing. You are tasting to determine taste (does it need more lemon zest?) and consistency (is it too thin or too thick?)
Cream cheese frosting is a thin frosting. It will never be a frosting that will crust up like buttercream or be used to make fancy decorative elements. However, as you can see in our pictures, you can do a swirl on a cupcake or the top of a cake.
The first thing you should do before using the frosting is put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so, that will help the butter and cream cheese firm up and the lemon flavor to develop.
Please note that the flavor from the fresh lemon will continue to develop over time. For optimal flavor, we suggest that you refrigerate the frosting for at least a couple of hours (or even overnight) before serving it.
How to Serve
You are now ready to add your The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting to your favorite baked goods! But how much frosting will you need? That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Frosting to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
Of course but we highly recommend using Fresh lemons for this recipe. We think that the combination of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest offers the best lemon flavor when mixed with the cream cheese in this frosting. If all you have is bottled lemon juice you can substitute that for the 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If you want to use lemon extract, we suggest you use our The Best Cream Cheese Frosting recipe and add the lemon extract to the butter and cream cheese during the creaming process.
A thin frosting could mean that the butter and cream cheese has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Yes. Lemon Cream Cheese Icing needs to be refrigerated because of the Cream Cheese. You can leave it out for a couple of hours at a maximum before it needs to be refrigerated again and be very careful with it outside on a hot day.
Homemade Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting will only be good for as long as your Cream Cheese is good so make sure to check the expiration date on the Cream Cheese package before making the frosting. For example, if the expiration date on the Cream Cheese is two days away, the frosting will be good for two days. Store any leftover frosting, in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Other Homemade Frosting Recipes You Will Love
Did you Make This Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
And don’t forget to follow us on Tiktok, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram!
The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Our The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is tart and creamy and chock full of yummy Cream Cheese flavor - a great lemony twist on a classic frosting recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Butter, Slightly Softened (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese, slightly softened
- 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 heaping tablespoon Lemon Zest
- 5 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Juice and zest a lemon. You will need 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1 heaping tablespoon of lemon zest. For us, that was one large lemon.
- Add the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the mixer. Both the butter and the cream cheese should be “slightly softened” which means it is still cold but has been out of the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
- Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes.) You want to fully cream the ingredients together so their flavors meld together. The lemon juice needs to be completely mixed in with the butter and cream cheese. At the beginning of this creaming process, the lemon juice will not mix easily with the butter but keep mixing it will come together. Scrap the mixture down from the sides of the bowl before the next step.
- Measure 5 cups of Powdered Sugar and add it to the measuring bowl. You can sift the powdered sugar if it is really lumpy. (Two Sisters Tip – cover the mixer with a towel during this part of the mixing process to keep the powdered sugar from flying out of the mixer.)
- Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting and keep it on low until the cream cheese/butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for another 30-45 seconds so the frosting gets light and fluffy.
- The fresh lemon will give the frosting a slight yellow color. If you want the frosting to look a bit more lemon-y ... add a tiny drop of yellow food coloring as we have done here and mix until combined.
- Taste your frosting to determine if it needs more lemon zest or if the consistency is too thin or too thick. Cream cheese frosting is a thin frosting. It will never be a frosting that will crust up like buttercream or be used to make fancy decorative elements. However, as you can see in our pictures, you can do a swirl on a cupcake or the top of a cake. The first thing you should do before using the frosting is put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so, that will help the butter and cream cheese firm up and the lemon flavor to develop.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
