Strawberry (or Cherry) Cream Cheese Buttercream

Rich and buttery, light and fluffy, all-natural and pretty in pink, this dreamy cheesecake-like buttercream frosting has a slight tang from the cream cheese and is flavored and sweetened just right. Also, it pipes beautifully. Quite simply, a baker’s dream come true!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks or 226 grams) unsalted butter, softened (or 1 stick salted & 1 stick unsalted)
• 1 (8-ounce/226 grams) package cream cheese, such as Philadelphia®, chilled from the fridge
• 2½ teaspoons (12.5 ml) pure vanilla extract, such as Nielsen-Massey®
• 4 to 4½ cups (480 to 540 grams) confectioners’ sugar, spooned in cup, leveled off & sifted
• 2 to 2½ cups (36 to 45 grams) freeze-dried strawberries or cherries, such as Karen’s Naturals, pulverized, about 6 to 8 tablespoons, see Tips below in the Notes section
• Heavy cream, to thin buttercream to desired consistency

 

Directions

1. Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer and large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add cream cheese and vanilla; beat until fully incorporated. Gradually increase mixer speed to high and continue beating until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary with rubber spatula.
3. Gradually add 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, beating on low speed (stir), until well combined. Add additional confectioners’ sugar until desired consistency for spreading and level of sweetness is reached. Add desired amount of pulverized (powdered) strawberries or cherries and mix on low speed (stir) until blended. Beat on high speed until well combined and smooth while scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. If desired, beat in heavy cream by the ½ to 1 teaspoonful to reach the ideal consistency for frosting, icing and piping. Before frosting cake layers, rebeat buttercream to ensure smoothness.
5. Yield: Makes over 4½ cups; enough to fill and frost a 9-inch two layer cake, or 8-inch three layer cake, or 18 to 24 cupcakes—depending on amount used to simply ice cupcakes with a knife or icing spatula (in the traditional manner) or pipe elaborate swirls, or decorate with other piping details.

 

Recipe Notes

Tips:
If not using immediately, the buttercream can be refrigerated for up to 2 to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature before beating smooth again.
If using the buttercream to pipe details, be sure to use chilled hands when handling pastry bag as warm hands can melt the buttercream.
Cook Time above simply means Active Time for preparing buttercream.
To Pulverize Freeze-Dried Fruit: Using a food processor, process desired amount of fruit for 2 minutes. To prevent the powder from escaping and floating through the air, cover processor with a kitchen towel. After processing, wait 30 seconds before removing lid from processor. This will allow the fruit powder to settle and prevent it from messing up your kitchen workspace. If you do not own a food processor, a blender or very clean coffee grinder (dedicated to spices only perhaps) can be used. However, depending on the type of units used, the consistency may not be as powder-fine.
Should you not have a food processor but still wish to work with pulverized freeze-dried fruit, or you do not want to deal with messy fruit powder by pulverizing your own, Karen’s Naturals offers convenient fruit powders.
Variation:
For Raspberry Cream Cheese Buttercream: Simply substitute the same amount of freeze-dried red raspberries for the strawberries or cherries called for in the recipe at 36 to 45 grams, after sifting seeds out using a fine-mesh sieve. Due to the sifting process, it will be necessary to purchase two (2) bags of freeze-dried red raspberries since each bag, by Karen’s Naturals, contains 42 grams each.

Subscribe to receive free email updates: