Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese (softened to room temperature); ½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter (softened to room temperature); 3 cups (334 g) confectioners sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1.2 ounces freeze-dried strawberries (pulsed into a powder)

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This strawberry cream cheese frosting is perfectly creamy and fluffy and loaded with strawberry flavor! I’ll show you the trick to how to achieve the perfect consistency for this frosting recipe. This homemade strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe takes only a few minutes to mix up and just a few simple ingredients!

piping bag piping strawberry cream cheese frosting into weck jar

I’ve been wanting to make a strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe on the blog for awhile now. So when I set out to create this strawberry cake recipe, I knew this frosting had to be a part of it.

To create this frosting I used my cream cheese frosting recipe as the base because frankly I think it’s downright perfect. But to get maximum strawberry flavor, I used my secret ingredient from my Strawberry Buttercream Frosting – freeze-dried strawberries.

strawberry cream cheese frosting in a glass jar

Freeze Dried Strawberries!

The key to making a strawberry buttercream with true strawberry flavor is freeze dried strawberries. I’ve tried different variations with jam (too sweet!) or a puree (too liquid-y and way too time consuming!). So enter the freeze dried strawberries. By using freeze-dried strawberries you get maximum strawberry flavor but without adding an extra liquid to it.

I find the freeze-dried strawberries usually in the health food aisle of my grocery store. I simply pop them into my food processor and pulse them into a fine powder and stir them into my frosting. Maximum strawberry goodness in every bite.

Ingredients Needed

Cream Cheese
Unsalted butter
Confectioners (powdered) Sugar
Vanilla
Freeze-dried strawberries

ingredients for strawberry cream cheese frosting

How To Make Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

So simple, you ready? Ok here is a step by step photo tutorial of how to make this strawberry cream cheese buttercream.

Step 1: Cream your butter and cream cheese

In a your stand mixer with paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

You want to cream together the butter and cream cheese first before adding any powdered sugar. You can make this in your stand mixer, or use a hand mixer as shown below. It’ll just take a bit more elbow grease on your part!

Heather’s Baking Tip

Use softened butter and cream cheese. This is important. If either one is too cold they won’t incorporate and turn into a smooth frosting. You will end up with a lumpy cream cheese frosting. And if you need to soften your butter quickly I have 3 easy ways to do that for you. But basically you can leave them out on the counter for an hour or so until softened.

Step 2: Add your powdered sugar.

Do this 1/2 cup at a time to avoid a blizzard all over your kitchen. Then mix until incorporated. And be sure to start your mixer on low. I also like to wrap a kitchen towel around the mixer to catch any sugar that is determined to fly out of the bowl.

I usually don’t have a problem with powdered sugar lumps. But if you want to be on the safe side, especially if you are going to use a piping bag with this frosting, you can sift your powdered sugar first. This will ensure no lumps get stuck in your piping bag. If you’re not a fan of sifting (and neither am I!) you can also just whisk your powdered sugar in a bowl before adding it to the frosting.

powdered sugar and butter being creamed by mixer

Step 3: Add Vanilla.

Because this is a no bake recipe essentially using a good quality vanilla is essential since you will taste it. I love using either Nielsen-Massey or Heilala vanilla.

vanilla being added to cream cheese frosting

Step 4: Add the strawberry powder.

I simply grind the freeze-dried strawberries up in my food processor until they are broken down into a fine powder.

food processor bowl of strawberry powder

freeze dried strawberry powder added to cream cheese frosting

Step 5: Mix until light and fluffy!

You want to do this for about 5-7 minutes. It’s a long time, but trust me it’s worth it 🙂

glass bowl of strawberry cream cheese frosting

Step 6: Frost and enjoy.

And if you need help frosting, then check out this post on how to frost the perfect cupcake (+ video!).

You can also learn how to master all 6 buttercreams in my Buttercream Basics Guide!

chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting

Recipe Tips

Use softened butter and cream cheese. This is important. If either one is too cold they won’t incorporate and turn into a smooth frosting. You will end up with a lumpy cream cheese frosting. And if you need to soften your butter quickly I have 3 easy ways to do that for you. But basically you can leave them out on the counter for an hour or so until softened.
Scrape down the bowl as you go. Sometimes the butter and cream cheese will stick to the bottom of the bowl or beater and not be mixed in evenly. So stop and scrape the bowl down with a sturdy silicone spatula to ensure that everything is being mixed in.
Use Full Fat Brick Style Cream Cheese. Sorry but now is not the time to save those calories. You want to use the block style cream cheese, full-fat is best, and do not use the tub variety as that’s a whipped variety and will not yield the same results.
Use unsalted butter. Different brands of butter can use varying amounts of salt in their salted butter. So you want to control the amount of salt by adding it yourself.

strawberry cream cheese frosting piped into a glass jar

Recipe FAQ’s

How should I store this strawberry cream cheese frosting?

This frosting needs to be stored in the fridge, up to 5 days. You may need to let it soften again before trying to frost with it. I also like to throw it back in my mixer and re-whip it again before using.

Can I freeze this frosting?

Yes place in an airtight container and pop into your freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw it overnight in the fridge, then re-whip until it’s light and fluffy again! You can read a full tutorial on how to store your buttercream here.

How many cupcakes or size cake will this cover?

For Cupcakes – This recipe will generously frost 12 cupcakes. I like to pipe a pretty tall amount of frosting on each cupcake. So if you don’t use as much as I do as in the photos, then you might get more frosted (around 24 cupcakes). For help on decorating cupcakes, be sure to check out my The Ultimate Guide To Baking Cupcakes At Home and The Ultimate Guide To Making The Best Buttercream Icing.
For Cake – This frosting will cover a 9 x 13 sheet cake or a 2 layer 8-inch. For a larger cake like a 9-inch cake I’d make a double batch.

Recipes To Use This Frosting On

You can add this to any thing you might want a big old layer of frosting on top! Here are a few recipes that I think would be perfect to pair with it:

close up of strawberry cream cheese frosting in a bowl

More Frosting Recipes To Enjoy

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