Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

This smooth Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is both sweet and tart with lemon flavor and fresh lemon zest mixed in. Simple ingredients make it easy to prepare and it’s great for icing cakes, cupcakes, and even cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Only 5 ingredients. The ingredients needed are cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. That’s it to make a truly zesty and rich frosting.
• Great for many uses. Some ways to use lemon cream cheese frosting are on a 9×13-inch cake, an 8″ round layered cake, piped on top of cupcakes, or even spread over quick bread. This frosting can be used just like a regular frosting.
• Quick and easy. As stated above this frosting has only a handful of ingredients and can be made in under 10 minutes.

How to Make Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Juice and zest the lemon. Using a zester, zest about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of lemon zest into a small bowl and set aside. Slice the lemon and juice it until you get 1/4 cup of juice (you may need 1 and a half lemons depending on its size).
2. Beat the ingredients together. Place the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest into the bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer. Beat the ingredients on medium until smooth and fully combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Mix in the powdered sugar. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl and beat it into the mixture on a low speed for about 30 seconds then increase the speed to medium and continue to beat the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Ingredients Needed

• Cream Cheese
• Butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon Zest

Recipe Tips

• Zesting. When zesting the lemon make sure to only remove the yellow part of the rind not the white portion. The white part is bitter in flavor unlike the rind, which has a zesty flavor.
• Use an electric mixer. I prefer to use an electric mixer when preparing frosting because it keeps the powdered sugar from flying everywhere in the mixing process.
• Cover your mixing bowl with a dish towel. To avoid the powdered sugar from coming out of the bowl when you begin to mix it cover your mixer with a clean dish towel.
• Sift the powdered sugar. To make sure there are no bumps in your frosting sift the powdered sugar into the mixing bowl before mixing it in.
• Too thick or thin frosting? If you find the frosting is too thick then add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and mix it in until the desired consistency is reached. To Thicken the frosting add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
• For a richer color. To make the frosting appear yellow you can add a few drops of food coloring.

FAQS

Related Recipes

Brownie Cake

Coca Cola Cake

Lemon Ricotta Almond Cake

If you enjoyed this easy recipe, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a photo and tag me on Instagram using @AimeeMarsLiving and #AimeeMars.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

This smooth Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is both sweet and tart with lemon flavor and fresh lemon zest mixed in. Simple ingredients make it easy to prepare and it's great for icing cakes, cupcakes, and even cookies.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 Servings

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Aimee Mars

Equipment

• ▢
  Electric Mixer or handheld mixer
• ▢
  Zester

Ingredients

• ▢ 8 ounces Cream Cheese softened
• ▢ 1/2 cup Butter room temperature
• ▢ 4 cups Powdered Sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Lemon Zest plus more for garnish

Instructions

• Using a zester, zest about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of lemon zest into a small bowl and set aside. Slice the lemon and juice it until you get 1/4 cup of juice (you may need 1 and a half lemons depending on its size).
• Place the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest into the bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer. Beat the ingredients on medium until smooth and fully combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the powdered sugar to the bowl and beat it into the mixture on a low speed for about 30 seconds then increase the speed to medium and continue to beat the frosting for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Notes

• Zesting. When zesting the lemon make sure to only remove the yellow part of the rind, not the white portion. The white part is bitter in flavor unlike the rind, which has a zesty flavor.
• Use an electric mixer. I prefer to use an electric mixer when preparing frosting because it keeps powdered sugar from flying everywhere in the mixing process.
• Cover your mixing bowl with a dish towel. To avoid the powdered sugar from coming out of the bowl when you begin to mix it cover your mixer with a clean dish towel.
• Sift the powdered sugar. To make sure there are no bumps in your frosting sift the powdered sugar into the mixing bowl before mixing it in.
• Too thick or thin frosting? If you find the frosting is too thick then add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and mix it in until the desired consistency is reached. To Thicken the frosting add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
• For a richer color. To make the frosting appear yellow you can add a few drops of food coloring.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 145kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 0.03g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 245IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.03mg

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @AimeeMarsLiving or tag #AimeeMarsLiving!