Can any of you recommend a good Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe that I can use to make nice swirls on cupcakes?? t

he ones that I have tried taste really good but the consistency is always too thin and runny...

help please!

if you like the taste but consistency is runny try adding more sugar or refrigerating it a bit to harden it up and then frost.

Another idea is to make it without any liquid.

The first batch of cream cheese frosting I made also turned out very runny. Turns out I had over mixed it.
The next batches came out perfect.
HTH!

From a terrible wedding cake experience, adding more powdered sugar is not the answer to stiffening up cream cheese icing.

Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it readily absorbs moisture, so it doesn't have the expected effect of tightening up CC icing.

Usually what I do is use nearly ALL cream cheese, and add only the smallest amount of sugar to make the icing a LITTLE sweeter, a bit of butter for creaminess, and only a tiny amount of vanilla.

Hope this helps...Scott

i love the "crusting cream cheese" recipe in the recipe section here on CC. Has a little bit softer consistency than my decorators buttercream, but it holds it shape and i can use it for borders, flowers, and writing easily.

I have always found that cream cheese icing is predictably unpredictable. One batch can turn out perfect while another (using the exact same recipe) can become a mess! Which is why I won't ice a wedding cake with it. I only use it as a filling.

Here's what I do know that might help you out. Cream cheese usually contains guar gums that break down when overbeaten. So the problem might not be your recipe, just the speed or the amount of time that your mixing it for.

For a nice smooth icing your cream cheese MUST be at room temperature, as does the butter.

I find that most recipes contain the same basic ingredients (cream cheese, butter, conf sugar, vanilla, lemon juice). Most do not contain liquid like milk as it tends to cause the icing to be runny.

I usually first beat my cream cheese on low speed until smooth, then add the butter, beat on low again until combined, then mix in (again on low speed) your conf sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice and your end result should be a nice smooth but spreadable icing.

Another thing I've tired in the past is to mix my butter and conf sugar together with the vanilla, lemon juice and just a touch of milk to a stiff consistency and then beat in the cream cheese until blended.

Hope this helps.

Non-crusting cream cheese icing is tricky. That's why I usually make Edna's crusting cream cheese recipe:

http://designmeacake.com/cccbc.html

It pipes and swirls beautifully--handles just like a good buttercream! Everyone loves the flavor, and it goes especially well with chocolate, red velvet & carrot cakes, but I've also used it on marble and spice cakes.

As others have said, the cream cheese needs to be room temp for it to properly combine with the other ingredients.

Good luck to you.

ALWAYS use 100% REAL butter, not margerine, or spread, these contain water, which makes the frosting thin. Best of Luck!!!

I've had trouble with my normal cream cheese icing being tempermental, so the last time I decided to experiment. I used 8 oz. of room temp cream cheese to which I added 2-3 cups of indydebi's bc I had on hand (can't remember exactly) along with a tbsp of pineapple juice (it was for a carrot cake that has pineapple) IT WAS DIVINE!!! Best cream cheese icing EVER..not too sweet, but perfectly creamy and creamcheesy Perfectly pipeable, if that is a word. I brought a cake over to my neighbour and they raved about the frosting...apparently they all sat around trying to guess how I made it!