It’s important to use softened ingredients or your frosting will have lumps that are hard to beat out.
If you don’t have a mixer, you can use a wooden spoon to make the frosting. You may want to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
If you forget to turn the mixer down, the powdered sugar will fly out of the bowl. Play around with other cream cheese frosting flavors. You could stir 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) of pumpkin pie spice into it, for instance.
If you’d like thicker frosting that you can pipe, you may want to beat in more powdered sugar. Try mixing in 1/4 cup (30 g) to see if it’s thick enough.
For long term storage, freeze the cream cheese frosting for up to 3 months in an airtight container. To thaw it, put the container in the refrigerator for at least 1 day and then whip it again before using it.
It’s important to soften the butter before you make the frosting. If the butter is cold, it will make the frosting lumpy. When the buttercream is like this, it can be very hard to put it on a cake.
If you don’t have a hand or stand mixer, you can use a wooden spoon to mix the frosting.
You can substitute your favorite flavorings for the vanilla extract. For example, try coffee, banana, or lemon extract instead.
If you don’t beat the frosting long enough, it will be thick, heavy, and harder to spread on your cake or cupcakes.
You can taste the frosting at this point and add more salt or vanilla extract if you like.
Store leftover buttercream frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you frost a cake with buttercream, you can store it at room temperature unless the cake is filled with a layer of fruit or custard filling.
Using a cold bowl and beaters will help the cream whip faster and give your frosting more volume.
Whipping cream is sometimes sold as heavy cream. Look for a cream that contains at least 35 to 40% fat and avoid using half-and-half or light cream because these don’t have enough fat to whip.
If you accidentally whip the cream for too long, it will start to turn into butter. To fix this, whip a little heavy cream into it until it loosens.
If you’re making the frosting in advance, cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate it for up to 8 hours. If it separates a little, whisk the frosting until it firms up.
