This Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting is the ultimate fruity frosting! It is made with fresh raspberries cooked into a puree and added to a silky cream cheese frosting.
This is the perfect pink frosting to use to decorate your favorite cake and cupcake recipes. Its texture is amazing for piping the perfect swirls onto cupcakes or to use over sheet cakes, and even to decorate layer cakes.
If you are looking for the perfect cake and cupcake recipes to use this frosting on, then have a look at this easy recipe for a Vanilla Sheet Cake or this recipe for a Naked Chocolate Cake. Or, if you’d like try out this recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes.
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Ingredients
To make this delicious frosting, you will need the simple ingredients listed below. Remember always to use fresh room temperature ingredients when baking.
- Fresh raspberries
- Castor sugar
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla extract
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Cream cheese
Fresh raspberries – fresh raspberries are used to make a purée that is then added to the frosting. If you can't find fresh raspberries then frozen will also work.
Lemon juice – choose fresh lemon juice rather than bottled lemon juice for this recipe.
Unsalted butter – choose an unsalted butter for this recipe, and ensure it is at room temperature.
Cream cheese – choose a full fat cream cheese for this recipe. I like using Philadelphia cream cheese for this frosting.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Follow the simple instructions below to make this homemade raspberry cream cheese frosting recipe. First, you will make the raspberry compote, then the fluffy cream cheese frosting, and finally add the two together and whip the raspberry icing until it is the perfect consistency.
instructions for raspberry purée
STEP 1: Heat castor sugar, lemon juice, and raspberries. In a small saucepan set over medium heat add the fresh raspberries, castor sugar, and lemon juice. Allow the fruit to soften and the sugar to melt. Stir occasionally with a spatula and press the fruit against the sides of the saucepan to help them break down if needed.
STEP 2: Cool the puree. Once the sugar is melted and the purée has thickened, allow the mashed raspberry purée to cool to room temperature.
instructions for frosting
STEP 1: Beat icing sugar and butter. Add the icing sugar and butter to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
STEP 2: Add cream cheese. Add the cubed softened cream cheese and beat at medium-high speed until the frosting is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for about 2 minutes.
STEP 3: Add raspberry puree. Add ¼ cup of the cooled raspberry puree and the vanilla to the frosting and beat again.
STEP 4: Beat until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again at medium-high speed for a further 3 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. The frosting is now ready to use on cakes and cupcakes.
STEP 5: Decorate. Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle, or use an offset spatula to spread this frosting over cakes.
Hint: For a lump-free smooth buttercream make sure both the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. Otherwise, you may get lumps of cold cream cheese or butter in your frosting.
Variations
This recipe can be made with fresh or frozen raspberries, so choose whichever you can find as fresh berries can be hard to come by at certain times of the year! I like leaving the raspberry seeds in my frosting but you can choose to sieve the puree through a fine mesh strainer after it has thickened and then add it to your frosting.
If you’d like to try a raspberry frosting recipe without cream cheese then have a look at this Raspberry Buttercream recipe.
The color of this frosting relies entirely on the natural color of the raspberry puree, if you'd like more of a pink color then add a touch of pink gel food coloring or powdered freeze-dried raspberries. You can also add almond extract or lemon zest to this recipe for an extra flavor hit depending on how you'd like to use this recipe.
Equipment
To make this light and fluffy buttercream filled with fresh raspberry flavor you will need a stand mixer or hand mixer for the best results. Beating the frosting can take up to 10 minutes so you’ll need some help!
Storage
If you want to make this homemade raspberry frosting ahead of time, you can. Once made, store it in an airtight container or large bowl covered with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
Before using it, remove the frosting from the fridge and bring it to room temperature for a couple of hours before beating it again until it is light and fluffy. Once the frosting is soft and fluffy, use it to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
Leftover frosting can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store it away from strong-smelling foods. I do not recommend freezing cream cheese frostings.
Top Tips
Use these top kitchen tips below to help ensure you are making the perfect cream cheese raspberry frosting
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Be sure to beat the frosting for long enough. Depending on the temperature of your butter it can take 10 minutes or longer to get the right consistency.
- Use an electric mixer to help you get a fluffy buttercream.
- Only add the puree to the frosting once it has cooled.
- Never decorate warm cupcakes or cakes, the buttercream will melt.
- Always use the buttercream to decorate as soon as it has finished beating.
- If decorating is difficult because the frosting is too hard; add it back to the mixer and beat it again.
- Always cool your cupcakes or layer cake on a wire rack before frosting.
FAQ
Wait, having room-temperature butter is the most important step in a successful frosting. Choose to wait until the butter has reached room temperature before making this recipe, or cube the butter and heat it gently in the microwave, being careful to not melt it.
When in doubt keep mixing – getting a fluffy frosting takes time, so if your frosting looks too hard to spread then keep beating it. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often so that the frosting can mix evenly together.
This can happen if you have added too much liquid, in this case, the raspberry purée. Add sifted icing sugar to the frosting, about a 30grams at a time, and mix again.
I always recommend using a kitchen scale rather than cups when baking, this way you can ensure you’ve measured properly and that your baked goodies come out perfectly.
Related
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Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with [this recipe]:
I love this frosting recipe, not only is it the perfect pink but the texture of this frosting is incredible for decorating cakes and cupcakes. If you are looking for the perfect swirl, then this is a recipe you just have to try!
If you make this raspberry cream cheese icing and love it, please leave a comment and star rating below – I love hearing from all of you! And if you'd like to see more frosting recipes that use fresh fruit, send me your requests!
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Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Raspberry Purée
- 300 g raspberries
- 40 g castor sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 600 g powdered sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 250 g cream cheese
- ¼ cup raspberry purée
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Raspberry Purée
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat add the fresh raspberries, castor sugar, and lemon juice. Allow the fruit to soften and the sugar to melt. Stir occasionally with a spatula and press the fruit against the sides of the saucepan to help them break down if needed.
- Once the sugar is melted and the purée has thickened, allow the mashed raspberry purée to cool to room temperature.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the icing sugar and butter to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the cubed softened cream cheese and beat at medium-high speed until the frosting is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for about 2 minutes.
- Add ¼ cup of the cooled raspberry puree and the vanilla extract and then beat again.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat at medium-high speed for a further 3 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. The frosting is now ready to use on cakes and cupcakes.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle, or use an offset spatula to spread this frosting over cakes.
Cat says
This frosting was delicious and the colour was perfect!