Cream cheese frosting from BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts (page 132) by Stella Parks

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Pumpkin spice layer cake

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • rmardel on July 23, 2025

    Fabulous cream cheese frosting! This is light, rich, slightly tart from the cream cheese and not too sweet. This might be both one of the best cream cheese frostings I've ever made as well as one of the best buttercream. Well worth the steps and the time involved.

  • jsguaium on January 05, 2024

    Excellent cream cheese frosting - perfect sweetness and beautiful texture

  • ebalk02 on April 16, 2022

    Requires some advance planning but with an outstanding result. Instead of the two tablespoons of lemon juice I used two teaspoons of distilled white vinegar, just as a matter of personal preference. Worked great.

  • LesE on December 15, 2019

    First try with this was a complete failure. I used store-brand cream cheese and cooked the 'custard' according to the times given. The result was like ice cream before it goes into the freezer! Second try was perfect. The difference? I used Philadelpia and cooked the 'custard' at a higher heat until it was almost impossible to move the whisk. Once cooled it was a solid slab with just enough 'give' to whip in. One tip is to cream the butter before adding the cream cheese otherwise you can get specks of butter that don't fully incorporate. If you can get this right it is superb, the best buttercream I have ever tasted.

  • stef on October 08, 2018

    This is a wonderful frosting. It doesn't give you that after taste of powdered icing sugar. Will be using it a lot

  • roxlet on June 28, 2018

    This is a completely different cream cheese frosting. Yes, it is more work than simply putting cream cheese, butter and sugar in a mixer and turning it on. This version has no grittiness from the sugar and no greasy mouthfeel. It is luxurious and delicious and it even pipes well.

  • amandabeck on May 07, 2018

    This is the best cream cheese frosting I've ever tried! Not sickeningly sweet, with a present but not overpowering cream cheese flavor. I made the custard the night before and used the follow day out of the fridge. Used with red velvet cupcakes. The recipe is labor intensive, but definitely tastier than varieties that rely on confectioners' sugar.

  • anya_sf on April 22, 2018

    Not the usual cream cheese frosting. More work, but not too bad, although does require planning. Strong vanilla (pudding) flavor, not so much cream cheese. Nice whipped texture that's easy to pipe.

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