11 Techniques to Enhance the Flavor of Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting is made by beating cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar together and sometimes adding other ingredients like vanilla extract or milk. The resulting frosting is rich, creamy, thick, and tangy and is a great way to use leftover cream cheese that may be sitting in your refrigerator (just make sure to soften it first before beating). The texture is smooth and spreadable and it pipes well for a beautiful presentation. You can make your own or add 8 ounces of cream cheese to a can of store-bought frosting to improve it and add a little tang.

Frosting made with cream cheese gives desserts a unique flavor that’s not as sweet as buttercream. The milder flavor can enhance the taste of the rest of the dish, which is why it’s frequently used to top more strongly flavored cakes or baked goods like carrot, pumpkin, and chocolate cakes. While this versatile and delicious frosting is excellent on its own, it can be upgraded with a variety of ingredients to add special flavors and textures or to complement the taste of the dessert it will be paired with. Choosing add-ins with care can elevate the basic version of cream cheese frosting and make it stand out all on its own. Keep reading to find out how to take cream cheese frosting to the next level with ingredients you may already have in your pantry.

Popular warm spices include cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. Don’t confuse this kind of warmth with the weather. These spices are commonly used in winter and holiday recipes in the United States despite the fact that they’re grown in the tropics. Warm spices are so called because of the feeling of warmth we can perceive in our bodies after consuming them. For example, the aroma and flavor of cinnamon comes from a compound called cinnamaldehyde, which activates our nervous system to give us the same kind of feelings we get when we are exposed to actual warmth.

Warm spices pair beautifully with cream cheese frosting. Many cakes and baked goods are made with these spices in the batter. Mixing some spices into the frosting is a way to add extra flavor and aroma to the topping as well as the cake, or to make a special frosting to complement an unspiced cake.

Start with 2 teaspoons of spices per 16 ounces total of cream cheese and butter. Cinnamon and ginger work well with carrot cake and cinnamon and nutmeg are lovely on gingerbread. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice can be combined to make an apple pie spice for apple cake. Pumpkin pie spice has all those spices plus cloves, and is excellent on not just pumpkin cake but banana bread too. Ginger alone can be a great addition to a frosting used on lemon cake. Use freshly-ground spices if possible to take advantage of their more pronounced flavor.

Coconut is a rich, decadent, and at the same time refreshing tropical fruit that can elevate cream cheese frosting with its pronounced and unique flavor. Depending on the kind of coconut you use, it can also add a pleasing texture to your baked goods. Coconut flakes are easily found in the baking aisle of the grocery store and can be stirred into cream cheese frosting to add that desirable flavor and texture. Frosting is already very sweet, so we recommend using unsweetened coconut flakes to avoid making the frosting excessively sweet.

If you want your frosting to have a coconut flavor without the shredded texture of flakes, you can blend coconut cream or coconut milk into a basic cream cheese frosting instead. Choose this option if you plan to pipe the frosting, and save the coconut flakes to garnish the top of your cake if desired. Coconut cream is our first choice because it’s thicker than coconut milk and won’t add too much liquid to the frosting. You can get coconut cream by refrigerating a can of coconut milk overnight. Then open the can and scoop out the solid cream that has risen to the top. If you need to use coconut milk, you can turn your frosting into an icing, which isn’t as thick as frosting. Use 2 tablespoons for every 3 ounces of cream cheese. If it ends up too runny, add cornstarch or more powdered sugar to thicken it.

Nuts play several roles in elevating cream cheese frosting. First, they provide texture and a more flavorful and interesting bite. You can adjust the texture by chopping nuts as roughly or finely as you prefer. You can even process the nuts into a powder to add flavor and a slight texture without any chunks. This is essential if you’re planning to pipe the frosting because chopped nuts won’t pass through the icing tip. Toast the nuts in a pan first for a stronger nut flavor. The nutty and earthy notes will complement and tone down the sweetness of the frosting. Nuts also make a great visual presentation when sprinkled on a cake or other baked good.

Any nuts you like can be stirred into frosting, but keep in mind complementary flavor profiles for the best results. For example, walnuts or pecans are classic choices for a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting because the flavors go together so well, just like in this carrot cake cupcake with caramelized walnuts recipe. Peanuts may be more appreciated on a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Hazelnuts pair well with chocolate, too. Consider mixing macadamia nuts with coconut in your frosting, and don’t underestimate the beauty of colorful pistachios used as a garnish.

You can also use your favorite nut butter like peanut, almond, or cashew butter instead of nuts. Mixing peanut butter with cream cheese creates a delicious frosting for chocolate cake. Just stir in extra powdered sugar to sweeten it.

If you’re a coffee lover, the flavor of coffee and the boost of caffeine it provides doesn’t need to be limited to your morning brew. The bittersweet, rich, and complex flavor of coffee can benefit a range of sweet treats from cakes and cupcakes to breads, cookies, and pastries. Adding coffee to cream cheese icing is a way to add an extra pop of coffee flavor to the creamy spread. It tastes especially good on chocolate cake and other chocolate goodies, but give it a try on red velvet cake and plain cakes like vanilla, too.

You can brew espresso and use the liquid in a frosting in place of the liquid the recipe calls for, which is often milk or lemon juice. You can also use espresso powder instead of liquid coffee. Cream cheese frosting only needs a very small amount of liquid, and too much can make it runny, so this choice won’t add any extra moisture. Beat in the powder during the final step of the recipe when you add the vanilla, after the cheese, butter and powdered sugar are mixed. If you don’t have espresso, you can substitute instant coffee. One teaspoon of powder per 8 ounces of cream cheese is a good starting point, but start by mixing in less and tasting it before adding more because everyone’s tastes are different. Just don’t make the mistake of using coffee grounds, which will add an unpleasant gritty texture to your dish.

The supermarket spice and baking aisle is full of neat boxes of different kinds of extracts. While vanilla is a popular one, others like almond, orange, peppermint, lemon, and even birthday cake extract are often available. Extracts are much more strongly flavored than the raw ingredients used to make them. They’re made by steeping ingredients like fruit, nuts, and spices in a liquid, usually alcohol, to extract the oils that are responsible for their flavor. That’s why a squeeze of lemon or peppermint extract will have a much stronger effect on the flavor of your dish than a slice of lemon or a few mint leaves.

Flavoring cream cheese frosting with your favorite extracts is an easy way to create a new flavor that can complement your bake. Try raspberry extract in a cream cheese frosting meant for chocolate cake, anise extract in a topping for sweet breads, and peppermint extract for holiday sugar cookies.

A little goes a long way. Start by adding just a few drops, stir, and taste the frosting to see if you like it. You can make the effect as subtle or pronounced as you wish, but about 1 teaspoon per batch of homemade frosting is a good rule of thumb. Vanilla extract is commonly included in homemade cream cheese frosting recipes. If you’re using store-bought frosting, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract per can. This is a simple trick to make it taste more homemade.

Chocolate paired with cream cheese frosting creates a decadent topping with a sweetness that’s balanced by the tangy cheese. You can stir in chocolate chips to add small bursts of chocolate flavor and an interesting texture to the frosting. These won’t be melted, so choose the best chocolate chips for your tastes. If you don’t have chocolate chips, you can chop a bar of chocolate to create chocolate chunks that will work equally well or even use chocolate sprinkles.

Cocoa powder is a form of chocolate that has an intense chocolatey flavor without the creamy texture of cocoa butter. Stirring in some unsweetened dark cocoa powder will add an elegant touch and a rich, bittersweet, deep flavor without any extra sweetness that could overwhelm the already-sweet frosting. Use high-quality cocoa powder for the best results, and don’t exaggerate. To avoid making the frosting bitter, add a little cocoa powder and then taste the frosting to see if you like it before adding more.

The third way to make chocolate cream cheese frosting is to use melted chocolate. This adds not only a deep chocolate flavor but a creamy consistency as well. You’ll need to melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave along with heavy cream to keep it from firming up too much. Then, mix it with cream cheese and powdered sugar to create the frosting. It will be runny at first, so refrigerate it until the consistency is spreadable.

Using fresh fruit is a great way to elevate cream cheese frosting with a natural, unprocessed flavor that many people prefer to sweeter options. Make sure the fruit is ripe because it will be easier to blend smoothly. Any soft fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and peaches can be blended before being mixed into the frosting. Firmer fruits can be diced before being stirred in, but you can also choose to dice softer fruits instead of blending them if you prefer your frosting to have texture and more noticeable bursts of fruit flavor.

Special mention goes to citrus fruits, which pair exceptionally well with cream cheese frosting. Citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges add a lovely bright flavor and aroma to frosting, but that’s not the only reason to reach for them. Frosting often includes a teaspoon of lemon juice, even when the frosting is not citrus flavored because the acidity of the lemon helps play up the tanginess of the cream cheese.

Making citrus the main event will provide even more showstopping flavor. This works especially well when there is citrus juice built into the cake recipe, too. Add a little lemon, lime, or orange juice to the frosting, and for a stronger effect, finely grate the zest of your chosen citrus fruit and stir that into the frosting as well. The delicious pop of bright flavor will be unmistakable. Zest adds minimal texture, so you can still pipe the frosting if desired.

Brown butter is a staple ingredient in the restaurant world, but not all home cooks are familiar with it. This decadent ingredient can elevate the flavor of many kinds of dishes, including cream cheese frosting. Brown butter has a rich and complex flavor that takes regular butter to the next level. It’s savory and sweet at the same time because the milk solids caramelize. The flavor is sometimes compared to that of toffee — sweet and toasted. Cream cheese frosting already calls for butter, so adding brown butter instead is a simple way to give it a deeper, more luxurious flavor without added ingredients.

The good news is that while it may sound complicated, brown butter is very easy to make, but don’t step away from the stove during the process. All you need to do is melt butter in a pan until it passes the normal melting stage, gives off a strong aroma, and turns sizzly and golden brown. Stir the butter the whole time so it doesn’t burn, and pour it into a bowl once it’s done so it doesn’t burn in the pan.

It’s important to let brown butter cool down before you mix it with the cream cheese and other ingredients to make the frosting. If it’s too hot, you risk curdling the cream cheese and making the result too runny. After you mix the frosting, refrigerate it until it firms up to the right consistency for spreading if it’s still a little thin.

If you’re wondering about the different between jam, jelly, and preserves, you’re not alone. Jam is thicker and contains pieces of fruit, jelly is blended and smooth, and preserves, the oldest kind, contain whole or roughly chopped pieces of fruit and no pectin. Any of these can be used to add sweetness and flavor to cream cheese frosting, so choose your preferred variety or use what you have on hand. Jam is a good option when your favorite fruit isn’t in season or if you want to add a more intense flavor to frosting than that achieved by fresh fruit. Jam has the added benefit of imparting a beautiful vibrant color to your frosting.

After you make a basic cream cheese frosting, stir in a spoonful of jam. Evaluate the color and the flavor and add more until you achieve the desired results. There are so many options when it comes to which flavors of jam, jelly, or preserves to choose. You can use your favorite fruit or choose flavors that will complement the cake, cupcakes, or other baked goods you’re making. For example, raspberry or blackberry will pair well with a chocolate cake while apricot, peach, and strawberry go well with vanilla cakes.

Step out of the box with a stronger flavor like orange marmalade or mint jelly, depending on what you’re making. Finally, consider making an easy lemon curd, which is like a creamy kind of jam, for a sharper flavor that complements lemon cake.

Adding a little liqueur to your cream cheese frosting can add a more sophisticated flavor and a complex aroma that will elevate your recipes. Just add your favorite kind 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired strength is reached. Amaretto is an Italian liqueur with a very sweet and almondy flavor. It pairs well with complex recipes like chocolate cheesecake or almond berry cake. Southern Comfort is flavored with whiskey, spices, and fruit and can be savored in a frosting over yellow or vanilla cake. Kahlúa, a Mexican coffee liqueur, is made from Arabica coffee beans and rum, and just like espresso works well in a cream cheese frosting, so does Kahlúa. We recommend pairing it with chocolate cream cheese frosting on a chocolate cake, or try it on a rum cake.

Another Italian liqueur, sambuca, pairs very well with sweet desserts. Sweet and herby sambuca boasts a nice flavor that is similar to licorice. It adds a subtle but distinctive touch both to complex desserts and to simple bowls of fruit. Add it to cream cheese frosting to create a versatile and delicious topping for cakes, sweet breads, and cookies. The Italians must know something about liqueur because the next choice, limoncello, is another Italian drink. Limoncello is a famous lemon-flavored liqueur from the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy made from special local lemons. Lemon lovers won’t be able to resist a splash of limoncello in cream cheese frosting spread over lemon cake or cupcakes.

Believe it or not, marshmallow fluff has been around for about 100 years, having been made in a factory in Lynn, Massachusetts for most of that time. It’s still made in the same way with only four ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, egg white, and vanilla flavor. Smooth, white, fluffy, and sticky, it’s similar to its cousin marshmallow crème, and, along with peanut butter, makes up the famous Fluffernutter sandwich first eaten by New England children in the 1920s.

Marshmallow fluff is often spooned into coffee, used to top pie and ice cream, included in fudge and brownie recipes, and layered in pudding, but that’s not all. This sweet and nostalgic ingredient has another, less commonly known use — elevating frosting. Mixing some marshmallow fluff into your cream cheese frosting will affect the flavor, adding sweetness and vanilla notes. The added flavor is similar to actual marshmallows, which are made with similar ingredients, but which can’t be melted into frosting without making a mess. However, the resulting frosting has a neutral enough flavor to work well on a wide range of cakes. Try adding a pinch of salt to the frosting to cut the sweetness if you think the combination is sweeter than desired.

Marshmallow fluff will also change the texture, making frosting thicker and more structured. This helps it adhere to baked goods and hold its shape, making it a dream to pipe. Although it’s stiffer, it stays light and fluffy, so it’s also easy to spread.