Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Perfectly balance Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s silky, slightly tart, and a little sweet. Everything you’d expect with cream cheese and lemon flavored frosting!

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Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve been working hard to build up my frosting archive. So far, the most post popular frosting is the pineapple frosting. You guys love it! It’s creamy and full of pineapple bits.

My 7 Minute Frosting has also been a huge hit!

My latest and most favorite is lemon cream cheese frosting. This one took several tries to get right. It’s finicky because cream cheese frosting is already soft. It’s not a frosting that holds up well against intricate piping. Then, if you add lemon curd to the mix, it can get all sorts of soupy.

To counterbalance the soupiness, you have to add a billion pounds of powdered sugar. Then you end up with a frosting that’s overly sweet and toothachey.

I was on a mission to have a happy balance of creamy, tangy, and sweet.

I chose lemon curd because it offers the most natural lemon flavor without being too wet. Lemon juice simply wouldn’t work here. You can add some lemon zest if you find the frosting isn’t quite lemony enough, but I was pleased with the lemon curd alone.

My biggest tip for frosting success is to make sure the cream cheese, butter, and lemon curd are at room temperature. It’s so much easier to get them mixed together that way.

What you’ll get with this Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Creamy & silky
• Not too sweet
• Real lemon flavor
• Kind of tastes like lemon cheesecake!

 Let’s go over the full list of ingredients and how to combine them.

Cream cheese and butter. Mix these two together first. Make sure they are at room temperature and beat them together until they are smooth and creamy.

Powdered sugar, lemon curd, vanilla extract, and salt. Toss all of these in at the same time once the cream cheese and butter are smooth. Start the mixer on low speed so the powdered sugar doesn’t go flying all over the place then once it’s almost combined, turn the mixer up to high and beat for a couple minutes.

Get the flavor just right:

Taste it here and if you feel like it’s just not lemony enough for you, add the zest of one lemon. But, resist adding more lemon curd as this could throw off the texture and consistency of the frosting.

Everyone raved about this frosting and claimed that it tasted like cheesecake. I’ll agree to that!

The cupcakes pictured with the frosting are my favorite vanilla cupcakes. They pair so wonderfully with lemon cream cheese frosting. I bet these lemon cupcakes would also be to die for!

Looking for more delicious frosting recipes?

• Nutella Frosting
• Pineapple Frosting
• 7 Minute Frosting
• Coconut Buttercream Frosting
• Salted Caramel Frosting

Tools used to make this Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Stand Mixer: I wouldn’t be able to live without my stand mixer.
• Silicone Spatula: This is my most used spatula. I actually have 3 of them!

5 from 1 vote

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Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Perfectly balance Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s silky, slightly tart, and a little sweet. Everything you’d expect with cream cheese and lemon flavored frosting!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Yields 16 servings

Calories 173 kcal

Author Jen Sobjack

Ingredients

US Cups - Metric

• 8 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
• 1/4 cup lemon curd room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• zest of one lemon

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.

2. Add the sugar, lemon curd, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low until just incorporated then turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in lemon zest if desired.

3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

This recipe yields about 2.5 cups which is enough to frost 12-16 cupcakes or one 9x13 sheet cake.

The lemon zest is completely optional and may not be needed depending on your taste preference.

Nutritional values here on my recipes should be used a general guide only. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the values shown are just an estimate.