Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting

Name: Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Enough for one three-layer cake
Ingredients: 2 cups heavy cream, cold; 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature; 12 ounces mascarpone, at room temperature; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

Recipe from John Doherty and John Harrisson

Adapted by Florence Fabricant

Updated May 30, 2024

Cream Cheese-Mascarpone Frosting — Lars Klove for The New York Times

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 5(405)
Comments: Read comments

Cream cheese frosting has become the go-to topping for red velvet cake. Not only do the colors provide a feast of contrast for the eyes, the creamy richness of the icing perfectly complements the deep flavor of the cake. This version calls for freshly whipped cream, cream cheese and mascarpone, which makes an impossibly satiny and cloud-like frosting that is lighter, silkier and a bit less sweet than the plain old cream cheese sort. You're going to lick the spatula clean. —Florence Fabricant

Featured in: So Naughty, So Nice

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Ingredients

Yield:Enough for one three-layer cake

2cups heavy cream, cold
12ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
12ounces mascarpone, at room temperature
½teaspoon vanilla extract
1½cups powdered sugar, sifted
½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Whip cream by hand, in electric mixer or in food processor. Cover in bowl and refrigerate.
Step 2
Blend cream cheese and mascarpone in food processor or electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, pulse briefly, then add powdered sugar and salt. Blend well.
Step 3
Transfer cream cheese mixture to bowl; fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.

Ratings

5 out of 5

405 user ratings

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Comments

Bryant7 years ago

Cream cheese frosting is only the go-to in the North. In the South, where this cake originates, the standard and preferred frosting is an ermine frosting, sometimes called a boiled-milk frosting. It is extraordinary with a true red velvet and can be found on NYT Cooking with a search. Enjoy!

Janice7 years ago

Makes enough for at least three layers.

Lauren1 year ago

Really love the mixture of traditional cream cheese frosting and whipped cream to lighten it up. This also helps if you make it in advance- you can pull it straight from the fridge and start frosting without having to let it soften at all. Make sure your cream cheese-mascarpone mixture is REALLY soft before adding the whipped cream, though; otherwise you end up with chunks :)

Janet1 week ago

Great with gingerbread cake. Half recipe is good for 3-tier 6" cake. Frosted cake keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days - but the frosting is more slippery than regular cream cheese icing. One of my layers slipped off when I left the cake on the counter for a couple hours. Next time, I'll stabilize the cake with bamboo skewers before I put it in the fridge.

GW4 months ago

Up to the end, I didn’t believe in this but it was delicious. More than enough to frost a 3 layer red velvet cake with more to spare.

Jose4 months ago

We enjoyed trying out this version of frosting, however the family voted and the traditional cream cheese frosting will be the way to go in the future.

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