Cream Cheese Icing

My sister is a brave person. She makes her own frosting/icing a lot. I haven't attempted it completely from scratch since I got my KitchenAid Stand mixer. I tried it once before using one of her recipes but I was using a hand mixer and it just wasn't the same. It's a lot harder when you have to sift in ingredients while mixing with the other hand. The frosting didn't turn out like it really should have. Now that I have the stand mixer I definitely want to try it again.

Growing up my mom believed in home-made food. I didn't even know you could make pancakes from a box mix until I had them at a friend's house. She also used to make her own frosting/icing and I grew up doing this with her and her stand mixer. Something about homemade frosting/icing adds a little extra effort. I do, however, think using store bought frosting is totally fine. I usually do it. Or start with a store bought base and add to it.

Below are two recipes for homemade icing that I got from my sister. She sent them to me when I was making Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Icing:

The first recipe comes from Food Network and is a little outside of the box of cream cheese icing. It's a pretty simple one. First time icing makers can find more details and instructions with the second recipe.

Ingredients - 

1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 lb. cream cheese
2 c. icing sugar (powdered)
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions - 

First: Don't forget to take out the butter and cream cheese so they can get to room temperature.


Mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly sift in the powdered sugar. Lastly, add the lemon juice. Mix until fully blended.

Recipe number 2:

Ingredients - 

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/4 lb. unsalted butter (softened)
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions - 


First: Don't forget to take out the butter and cream cheese so they can get to room temperature.


Mix softened butter and cream cheese together until consistency is smooth. Start at a low speed as you combine everything together and move up to a high speed. Beat at a high speed for about 3 minutes or until icing has fluffy peaks and looks like a cloud. Next, add the vanilla while beating the frosting at medium speed. Add sugar slowly (while continuing to beat the mixture). Add about 1/4 c. at a time or if you can add sugar at a slow, steady pour (this keeps the icing fluffy).

Tips: Apply icing to room-temperature baked goods (cake/cupcakes/cookies, etc.) If you have extra icing, chill it in the refrigerator for later use. Icing can be used later. Simply take out of the refrigerator and beat at medium speed until it is room temperature.