Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Wow. Have you ever made something so good you even impressed yourself? Like, “Wow I can’t believe how good this is, it’s even better than I thought it would be-and I knew it would be great!” That’s how I feel about this frosting. Of course it helps that my super favorite chocolate stout cupcakes are underneath. Talk about a fantastic flavor combination. This is just my usual cream cheese frosting ramped up with the addition of the innards of a vanilla bean. By the way, this is not a recession post but I bought my vanilla beans at Costco-and nobody died.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
24 cupcakes, prep 10 min- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean pod
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- Slit your vanilla bean in half and use the tip of your knife to scrape the vanilla bean paste from each side of the pod.
- Whip cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add butter and beat to combine.
- Add vanilla and vanilla bean paste.
- Beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is as thick and sweet as you’d like.
Normally I don’t quibble about salted vs. unsalted butter but in frosting it does make a significant taste difference since the butter is a major player. Also, I use this tip
March 15th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Oooooooo….look at all of those little flecks of vanilla bean!! I’m thinking of what I can put your frosting on. It looks and sounds amazing. I can almost taste it from here.
March 15th, 2009 at 6:33 am
I agree, piping is faster and way prettier!
March 15th, 2009 at 8:48 am
What a great idea. I bought my beans there too.
March 15th, 2009 at 9:19 am
That vanilla bean frosting looks so good!
March 16th, 2009 at 10:18 am
These look so yummy! C’mon lets get a cost breakdown!!! 🙂
I would totally do the cost breakdown but I can’t remember how much the vanilla beans cost, they were like $10 for 5 or $17 for 5 or something…. Sorry! -katie
March 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
That looks so good. I need a good homemade frosting recipe. The last one I tried was way too stiff and flavorless.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Wow…these look sooo good!
March 16th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
These cupcakes look great! I have had a look through your site and found the onion idea for burns something i MUST try!
March 16th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
What an amazing frosting. That’s a great idea! Nice pics too!
March 17th, 2009 at 12:45 am
I get my vanilla beans at Costco too. Totally fine!! This looks great. Bookmarking it so I don’t forget!
March 19th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I usually don’t like cream cheese frosting, but with fresh vanilla?! I’m definitely bookmarking this!
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:18 am
Love it!
April 20th, 2009 at 10:48 am
SO goood thanks for the recipe. OHHH so good!!!
December 19th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
GREAT FROSTING.
I don’t even normally LIKE cream cheese type frostings; and this is SOOOOOO fluffy and smooth and delicious. I couldn’t resist adding just a touch of orange zest to it…but I am using it to top a passionfruit cake.
THANK YOU!
December 27th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Absolutely delicious and fabulous on red velvet cupcakes — which I made yesterday for a friend of our (her birthday). Everyone raved. Using real vanilla bean is expensive but worth it!
February 10th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
how gorgeous! i am definitely going to try this!
May 28th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Perfect! My almost-3-year-old told me she wants “white cake with white frosting” for her luau-themed birthday party. Easy for most, but I’m looking for something memorable – this definitely fits the bill!
October 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Hi!
it looks amazing 🙂 my question is tho does it stay put in hot weather? im in the Caribbean (Dominican Rep to be exact) and it still kinda hot around here (you just get 2 seasons here: hot and Hotter with some rain trhown in for good measure) so I wonder if it wont melt all over my cake wich would suck…
tnx for answering and sorry for the long winded post 🙂
It is going to melt if left out at hot temperatures for a long time. I usually frost then refrigerate until serving time. The frosting will soften up during serving but it will take it awhile before it gets too soft. -Katie
October 21st, 2011 at 6:14 am
Katie,
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. I made it twice now and it turned out awesome!!! 1st time for red velvet cup cakes and 2nd for pumpkin spice cup cakes. I put a little sprinkle of cinnamon on the of the icing when I did pumpkin. I also cut back the the sugar, since I like my icing a little less sweet. I did about 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 of sugar. Perfect every time. THANK YOU!!!
April 7th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
“By the way, this is not a recession post but I bought my vanilla beans at Costco-and nobody died.”
Cracked me up! Oh yeah, going to try this recipe today. Thank you! (Your cupcakes look very pretty.)
June 22nd, 2012 at 9:01 pm
I made this tonight for a cake on Sunday! The taste-test went well ;). I’ll be back once we try it on the cake 🙂
September 23rd, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Yum…found you thru foodgawker and made this today to top strawberry cupcakes. I used vanilla bean paste instead of the pods since I had it on hand and its perfect. This is my new go-to cream cheese frosting recipe!
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