This fluffy cream cheese icing is everyone's favorite carrot cake frosting recipe and is often used for red velvet cake icing as well. Since it tastes delicious and is so simple to make, it's easy to see why.
Beat the cream cheese and butter mixture until it is fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes
Reduce the speed to low.
Gradually add the icing sugar, waiting between each addition until the previous one has been incorporated and the icing is fluffy.
4 cups (or 1 pound) sifted icing sugar
Notes
Leaving the butter and cream cheese out for a few hours to soften before making the recipe is not absolutely necessary, but it is much easier to mix without lumps if you do.Cutting the butter and cream cheese up into chunks before adding them to the bowl makes it easier to mix them (especially if you are using a hand held mixer).Using salted butter helps to keep the icing from being too sweet, but unsalted butter will work, too.It is possible to make this recipe with a hand-held mixer but adding the ingredients in over time will be a little more difficult, unless you have a helper.You can adjust how sweet the cream cheese icing is by using less sugar. It will still work with 3 cups of sugar instead of 4.Since this icing is made from cream cheese, it does need to be refrigerated to stay fresh and keep its shape.You can store cream cheese frosting in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let it warm up before spreading. If it seems lumpy, mix it for a few seconds in a mixer to get its fluffiness back.