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Close-up of a cupcake with pink swirled frosting in white liner.
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4.80 from 25 votes

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

This strawberry cream cheese frosting is rich, tangy, and full of real berry flavor thanks to freeze-dried strawberries and strawberry jam. It’s smooth, sturdy, and pipes beautifully. Perfect for cakes, cupcakes, or anything that needs a fruity finish.
Prep Time10 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Keyword: strawberry cream cheese frosting, strawberry cream cheese frosting with jam, strawberry cream cheese icing
Servings: 2 cups
Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup butter softened
  • ¼ cup strawberry jam
  • 3 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened

Instructions

  • Add the powdered sugar, powdered strawberries, and butter to a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for several minutes until creamy and fluffy. 
    Mixing the powdered sugar, strawberry powder and butter together.
  • Add the strawberry jam, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until well combined. 
    Mixing strawberry jam into buttercream mixture.
  • Add the cream cheese and beat for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth and creamy. 
    Adding cream cheese to the buttercream mixture.

Notes

How to Make Strawberry Powder: Place ½ ounce of freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor and blend until finely powdered. This will yield about 3 tablespoons of strawberry powder.
No Freeze-Dried Strawberries? You can substitute the strawberry powder with 1 teaspoon of strawberry extract. The flavor won’t be quite as natural, but it still works—just don’t overdo it.
Add Cream Cheese Last: Cream the butter and sugar first to coat the sugar in butterfat. This keeps the sugar from pulling moisture out of the cream cheese and prevents the frosting from turning soft or runny.
Use the Right Cream Cheese: Stick with full-fat, block-style cream cheese. The spreadable kind in tubs (or anything low-fat) will make the frosting too thin.
Want a Brighter Pink? Add a drop or two of red food coloring if you’d like a more vibrant color.

Yield and Scaling:

This recipe makes enough frosting for:
  • One single-layer 9-inch cake
  • The top of a 9x13-inch sheet cake
  • 24 cupcakes with a modest 1½-tablespoon swirl
  • Or 10 cupcakes with tall, piped mounds of frosting
  • For a double-layer 8- or 9-inch cake, double the recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 57kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 44mg | Sugar: 3g
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