Creamy lemon cream cheese frosting whipped together with just five simple ingredients in less than 10 minutes. Perfect for cakes, cupcakes and cookies this pipeable frosting is made with fresh zested lemon peel and lemon juice.
With summer fruits in full swing, I love to experiment with frostings and icings to go along with them. Last year, I posted my cream cheese orange frosting to spread over cakes, rolls and breads. Today, I’m going to show you a lemon version that I love to pipe into shortbreads and strawberries. Lemon and berries are the epitome of summer refreshment, don’t you think?
Just like it’s orange cousin, this frosting has freshly zested lemon peel to give it both texture and zing. I also include fresh lemon juice and quality vanilla extract. It’s not too sweet so that the lemon comes through and it has the perfect consistency to spread or pipe. I think you will love it!
How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese and powdered sugar are the usual stars of cream cheese frostings, but here we also have our fresh lemon, pure vanilla extract and softened butter. You will need either a small stand up blender (as I used with the orange version) or a hand held mixer, which I am going to use today.
In a large bowl, mix together softened cream cheese, softened butter, fresh lemon juice, fresh lemon zest and pure vanilla extract.
Mix the ingredients until they are mixed well. If you see any tiny lumps, it is likely the zest and that is normal!
Add 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, to the cream cheese mixture until creamy. I like to mix it on high for 10 seconds to whip more air into it before turning off the mixer.
What I love about this lemony tart and sweet frosting is that it goes so well with crunchy shortbreads or scones as pictured here. Add some fresh fruit and you have a refreshing and impressive dessert that will delight your summer guests.
For a more simple version, I also like to fill fresh strawberries with this frosting. Scoop out the inside of the berry and cut the bottom tip so that it will lay flat on the plate. Pipe in the cream cheese lemon frosting and wha-la! It’s like a firework of flavor in your mouth.
Enjoy!
More Frosting Recipes
- How to Make The Best (and Easiest) Sugar Cookie Icing (Glaze)
- Chocolate Icing Recipe
- Chocolate Cherry Cake Icing
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Pin RecipeDescription
Creamy lemon cream cheese frosting whipped together with just five simple ingredients in less than 10 minutes. Perfect for cakes, cupcakes and cookies this pipeable frosting is made with fresh zested lemon peel and lemon juice.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. softened cream cheese
- 6 Tablespoons room temperature butter
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the cheese, butter, fresh lemon juice, fresh lemon zest and vanilla extract using a hand held or stand up mixer.
- Add 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until the mixture is creamy. Mix on high for 10 more seconds before turning off the mixer.
- Pipe into shortbreads or fresh strawberries or spread onto a 13×9 cake.
Notes
Does this recipe make enough for a cake? If you use the entire bowl of frosting, it will easily cover a 13×9 cake, but you will need to double the recipe for a layered cake.
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: lemon cream cheese frosting
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