Strawberry cream cheese frosting is made with real strawberries that are cooked down to a jam. The resulting flavor is a tangy, fruity and pink frosting that is perfect for cupcakes, between cake layers, or a little girl's birthday party.
A few weeks ago, I was given very strict orders by Camille. She's just old enough to understand what a birthday party is, and so when she knew her birthday was approaching, she made a list that I call 'birthday demands'.
Last year, we were in Seattle for her birthday, and we passed off a donut tour of the city followed by an ice cream cake after dinner as a child's birthday party. We felt smug, yes, but we also knew this was our last year getting away with such behavior.
About 4 months before her birthday, she started making plans/ 'birthday demands'.
I was told everything was to be 'Elsa blue,' which is really just a lovely shade of muted turquoise, except the center of her grand birthday cake should have pink strawberry cream cheese frosting.
Strawberry cream cheese frosting
The lovely thing about strawberry cream cheese frosting is that it can absolutely be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer until the day its needed.
My recipe makes a heaping 2 cups of frosting, which fits nicely into a freezer-safe bag. This amount of frosting is perfect for spreading between cake layers or frosting cupcakes. I made a double batch because I made her a triple layer birthday cake, and I was told that the strawberry layer had to be thick. Also, my chocolate buttercream frosting is freezer-safe, too.
What makes this strawberry cream cheese frosting different is that it's made with real strawberries. Now, there are recipes for frosting made with freeze-dried strawberries out there, but I don't like to use those. One reason is because we snack on freeze-dried strawberries voraciously, and the bag hardly ever makes it home from the store. Yes, my daughter thinks freeze-dried fruit is candy, and if any of you tell her differently, I'll find you.
Fresh strawberry frosting:
I like to use fresh strawberries when making this frosting because I usually have an abundance of strawberries in the springtime. All I do is cut up fresh strawberries, and cook them over low heat with a splash of water and sugar. This effectively cooks the strawberries down to a jam consistency, which is exactly what we want. If you think about it, jam is essentially the true essence of a fruit: concentrated juices and flavors. A freshly made batch of strawberry jam tastes like 100 strawberries fresh off the vine, condensed into one bite.
Speaking of jam, I have a small batch strawberry jam recipe here, if you like.
While the berries cook down on the stove, stir them occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile, lay your butter and cream cheese out of the counter to soften.
How to thicken strawberry cream cheese frosting:
If for some reason, your frosting is runnier than you'd like, I have a few suggestions:
- Place it in the fridge for 20 minutes, stir, and then give it another 10 minutes.
- Beat in more butter or cream, and then refrigerate. Both of these ingredients are firm when cold and will help the consistency.
- Drain the juices from the strawberries before incorporating them into the butter mixture.
This recipe is so easy that you can make it with your kids, if they're demanding such. Just be sure to make the jam ahead of time, because these little maniacs lack patience, don't they?
You're going to need a hand mixer for this recipe. This is the one I use and love. You're also going to need to make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before making this recipe. Room temperature butter and cream cheese are the keys to a non-lumpy cream cheese frosting. For me, that means leaving them out on the counter for 1-2 hours. You can unwrap the packages and expose more surface area to air by slicing them up, if you need to.
I have a few fun ways to use this strawberry cream cheese frosting, if you aren't under strict birthday orders.
It's great on my small vanilla cake, small chocolate cake recipe or my small batch of chocolate cupcakes. If you can see the video of me making this frosting with my daughter, you can see that we spread it on the small batch of chocolate cupcakes.
I think you deserve to the see the cake that my Princess demanded. It's three layers of Sally's vanilla cake, stuffed with this strawberry cream cheese frosting, and topped with turquoise Swiss meringue buttercream. And yes, the turquoise macarons were not optional.
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Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Strawberry cream cheese frosting made with fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the fresh strawberries, sugar and a splash of water in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium low, and cook while stirring every few minutes until the strawberries reduce to ¼ cup. Stir frequently, and lower the heat as needed to prevent burning. You can add a splash of water to help, if needed. It should take about 20-30 minutes, and it will turn into a thick jam that looks like preserves.
- Scrape the strawberry mixture out of the saucepan, and let it cool in a separate bowl.
- Meanwhile, beat together with an electric mixer on high the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add the strawberry mixture and vanilla, and beat until combined.
- Finally, stream in the powdered sugar while beating until everything is creamy and smooth.
- Use on cupcakes, in between cake layers, or place in a plastic storage bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
You can add a drop of two of red food coloring if the color isn't pink enough for you.
To use frozen cream cheese frosting, simply defrost it in the fridge overnight before using.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 466Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 1gSugar: 50gProtein: 3g
Eliza says
Hello! Is it possible to use vegan butter and vegan cream cheese for this recipe? Are there any other alterations I should make to keep the consistency and texture relatively the same?
Christina Lane says
I think you. I have had problems with the tofutti cream cheese beating up super fluffy before, but as long as it's not too warm, it should be ok. Let me know how it goes. My husband is vegan :)
Courtney says
Could I use a store bought strawberry jam instead? And if so, how much?
Rebecca says
Can you please provide an ingredient list with measurements? There are so many ads that I cannot read this part of your article. They’re covering the list and I cannot close them.
Christina Lane says
Scroll down to the recipe card :)
Autumn says
Tastes delicious! What’s your best recommendation for firming it up a little more? It held up with a piping bag, but just barely. More powdered sugar? I’m always worried it’ll lose some of its strawberry flavor! Thanks for the simple recipe! I ended up making strawberry lemonade cupcakes with this.
Christina Lane says
Definitely the fridge! The cream cheese and butter will firm up when chilled. Just keep pulling it out every 15 minutes or so and check to see if it's the right consistency for you.
Powdered sugar is actually a wet ingredient (sugar dissolves, so it's considered wet), and will make it more runny.
Your cupcakes sound delicious! So glad the frosting held :)
Pamela says
Is this enough frosting for a sheet cake?
Christina Lane says
Yes :)
Sheena says
How many days ahead can I make this and store in the refrigerator before using? Instead of freezing. I need these cupcakes on a Sunday and was thinking about making the frosting on Friday. Is that okay?
Christina Lane says
Yes, just take it out of the fridge to soften before frosting, as needed. Cover it tightly.
Aimee' C says
Could I use blueberries instead of strawberries to make the icing?
T says
Have you tried making this with frozen strawberries? I would love to make it but I only have frozen. Thank you
Christina Lane says
I'm a bit worried about the water content of the strawberries from frozen. Just make sure to really cook the strawberry jam down until it's very thick and jam-like.
Ami says
Hi! I’m going to make this for a 3 layer 6 inch cake for my daughters birthday tomorrow. I’d like to avoid having extra frosting. Do you think this is the perfect amount or should I half the recipe? Thank you!
Mae says
It would have been helpful to know that you absolutely cannot frost a cake with this, much less decorate with it. The consistency is far too runny.
Christina Lane says
You need to read the whole post. Your butter was probably too soft, making your frosting too warm. Also, just in case you added more sugar to make it thicker, adding more sugar MAKES IT RUNNIER because sugar is technically a liquid ingredient in a recipe. Temperature is the key for all buttercream frostings! This includes any cake made, from wedding cakes to birthday cakes. If you don't like the consistency of any frosting, just place it in the freezer for 15 minutes and beat again. Or, the fridge for 30 minutes and beat again.