Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting
Updated May 29, 2024
Lars Klove for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream, cold
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
12 ounces mascarpone, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
Nutritional analysis per serving
67 grams carbs; 408 milligrams cholesterol; 1530 calories; 35 grams monosaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 82 grams saturated fat; 135 grams fat; 5 grams trans fat; 1014 milligrams sodium; 18 grams protein; 62 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Whip cream by hand, in electric mixer or in food processor. Cover in bowl and refrigerate.
- Step 2
Blend cream cheese and mascarpone in food processor or electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, pulse briefly, then add powdered sugar and salt. Blend well.
- Step 3
Transfer cream cheese mixture to bowl; fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.
Private Notes
Comments
Cream cheese frosting is only the go-to in the North. In the South, where this cake originates, the standard and preferred frosting is an ermine frosting, sometimes called a boiled-milk frosting. It is extraordinary with a true red velvet and can be found on NYT Cooking with a search. Enjoy!
Really love the mixture of traditional cream cheese frosting and whipped cream to lighten it up. This also helps if you make it in advance- you can pull it straight from the fridge and start frosting without having to let it soften at all. Make sure your cream cheese-mascarpone mixture is REALLY soft before adding the whipped cream, though; otherwise you end up with chunks :)
Makes enough for at least three layers.
I normally make 1.5-2x the amount of frosting because recipes never make enough. This one, to my surprise, was an exception. I made 1.5x the recipe, and there was frosting left over after frosting a three layer cake. It's also delicious and easy to make!
This frosting didn’t have the right texture. I agree with many of the comments that said it was almost runny. The flavor was very good and there was a lot of frosting.. I used it on cupcakes. How could I have “stiffened up” this frosting?
Great with gingerbread cake. Half recipe is good for 3-tier 6" cake. Frosted cake keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days - but the frosting is more slippery than regular cream cheese icing. One of my layers slipped off when I left the cake on the counter for a couple hours. Next time, I'll stabilize the cake with bamboo skewers before I put it in the fridge.