Crusting Cream Cheese Icing/Frosting

"I found this recipe on another site, courtesy of Kathy Finholt. I love it and used it on the "Why I Joined Zaar Carrot Cake" recipe. It got such rave reviews - both the cake and the icing. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all have. In case you don't know, crusting means that it hardens, but not like a royal icing. This will allow you to smooth it out and get a really smooth icing. You don't have to, but if you like the look of Fondant, you can almost get it as smooth as Fondant."
 
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photo by Trixyinaz photo by Trixyinaz
photo by Trixyinaz
photo by sheributler photo by sheributler
photo by Mrs.Chance photo by Mrs.Chance
photo by dsimkovic photo by dsimkovic
photo by Trixyinaz photo by Trixyinaz
Ready In:
15mins
Ingredients:
6
Yields:
4-5 cups
Serves:
1
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ingredients

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directions

  • Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and extracts. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until nice and creamy. If you want whiter icing, try to use butter without dyes available at most health food stores.
  • This recipe is for a stiff consistency. For a thinner consistency, use 3 pounds of powdered sugar instead.
  • If you want a very smooth cake, let the cake sit for 15 minutes after icing (longer for a thinner icing). Then using your spatula or fondant smoothing tool (this works best) smooth it with the non-printed side of a Viva paper towel. To do this, take your paper towel and lay it on your icing (after it crusts) and lightly rub over the paper towel with your spatual or fondant smoothing tool to get a smooth surface. If the icing sticks to the paper towel, you didn't let it "crust" long enough. Stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to let it "crust" then try again. Don't let it set too much tho then it will be difficult to smooth it.
  • This recipe will ice, fill and decorate an 8" double layer cake with icing left over.

Questions & Replies

  1. Can this be made the night before or does it have to be used the day of?
     
  2. I am making a red velvet wedding cake and want to use a cream cheese frosting, but I need to cover it with fondant. Can this icing be covered with fondant?
     
  3. Can I add cocoa to this or melted chocolate?
     
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Reviews

  1. I'm used to making buttercream for my cakes but someone wanted cream cheese icing. I found this recipe and it was FANTASTIC. I was worried it wouldn't "work" the same as my buttercream when decorating the cake but it was pretty much identical. This makes a huge batch which was nice, too. One substitution I made was I used 1 1/2 cups of butter flavored shortening in place of the 1 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of shortening. I was told not to use butter in icing becasue shortening holds up better to heat.
     
  2. I tried this for a baby shower and used it on strawberry cupcakes. I like the way the frosting held up to storage and displayed very well. I piped it around and around the tops of the cupcakes. I added a little strawberry extract to add to the strawberry experience. I thought they turned out "berry" well. I did not try to smooth the frosting so I cannot comment on that aspect. Overall, a very nice and easy to use frosting. Thanks!
     
  3. I halved this recipe and it was enough to frost a 2 layer 9" carrot cake with some small piping around the bottom and top edge. If you are doing more significant piping/florals you will need to use the full recipe. I measured 1.75 lbs (because recipe was halved) and then sifted. It amounted to about 9 cups of sugar. I thought this seemed like an exhorbitant amount of sugar, but the conistency was good, creamy and not too stiff. The icing was entirely too sweet and was overhwhelming to the cake. If I used this recipe again, I would definitely cut way back on the sugar, but not sure how that might affect the consistency.
     
  4. Thank goodness for this recipe! I am not a cake decorator but have a small cupcake business on the side, and I have had very little success with any cream cheese frosting. For my boyfriend and my one year anniversary, I wanted to actually go for it and make a cake. He loves red velvet. I knew I didn't have anything in my recipe box that would withstand decorating. I found this recipe was thrilled with the results! Only change I made is that I only used about 3 lbs of sugar instead of the full 3.5. It still crusted just fine, smoothed nicely, and was the perfect consistency for borders and script. (Keep in mind I'm in humid South Texas, so if anybody would have needed the extra half pound it would have been me!) Was my first time making a fully decorated cake and it actually turned out beautifully, all thanks to this recipe.
     
  5. This is one of the best crusting cream cheese icings I have ever made. It crusts perfectly. I LOVE THIS. Everyone who tasted it thought that it was amazing. This is a keeper.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I'm used to making buttercream for my cakes but someone wanted cream cheese icing. I found this recipe and it was FANTASTIC. I was worried it wouldn't "work" the same as my buttercream when decorating the cake but it was pretty much identical. This makes a huge batch which was nice, too. One substitution I made was I used 1 1/2 cups of butter flavored shortening in place of the 1 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of shortening. I was told not to use butter in icing becasue shortening holds up better to heat.
     

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