This deliciously sweet raspberry cream cheese frosting is bursting with real raspberry flavor thanks to a secret ingredient, freeze-dried raspberries.
Valentine's Day is coming up. Are you Team Valentine's Day or nah? I feel like people typically fall into one camp or another. I guess I'm more Team Valentine's Day than not. A reason to celebrate something like love? Sure! Why not. If you've been following for awhile, you know that we celebrate a random Monday night with an easy celebration cake. I'll celebrate any victory, big or small, particularly these days when terrible news abounds.
Just because I'm Team Valentine's Day doesn't mean I want to buy copious amounts of sappy junk though. I must be getting older because all that cheap candy and chocolate makes me feel queasy. I'll celebrate in my own way with a little extra bit of homemade indulgence. This raspberry cream cheese frosting is perfect on top of brownies.
Some raspberry cream cheese recipes call for raspberry jam, some call for fresh raspberries, and some call for freeze-dried raspberries. After trying them all, I much prefer using freeze-dried raspberries. The raspberry flavor is incredibly intense without having any additional sugar or too much liquid that it makes the frosting runny.
Why This Recipe Hits
- Easy - It will take you no more than 10 minutes to make this raspberry cream cheese frosting.
- Jazzes up so many desserts - If you're a cream cheese frosting kinda person, it's nice to have a new variation. Put the raspberry cream cheese frosting on brownies (my favorite), cupcakes, cake, or just use it to dip cookies into. It goes with chocolate cake or vanilla cake just the same.
- Pipe-able - This cream cheese frosting is thick enough to pipe onto beautiful desserts or you can just spread it with a knife.
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If you like this frosting recipe, I have a classic cream cheese frosting on my Pumpkin Loaf that is deliciously thick, or a strawberry cream cheese frosting on this Homemade Strawberry Cake. I also have a chocolate cream cheese frosting on my Banana Cake you'll love or a copycat Nothing Bundt Cakes bundt cake with cream cheese frosting that's a bit less rich and heavier on the cream cheese.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Rejoice! The ingredients are minimal to make this raspberry cream cheese frosting. The hardest part will just be finding freeze-dried raspberries at your grocery store (hint: dried fruit aisle).
- Freeze-dried raspberries - Don't use fresh raspberries. Fresh raspberries are too wet and make the cream cheese very runny. You also don't want to use dried raspberries. Dried raspberries have a chewy and leathery consistency. You need freeze-dried, the kind that are so light it feels like you're buying a wrapper. Freeze-dried raspberries are typically found in the dried fruit section of the grocery store or you can buy on Amazon.
- Cream cheese - make sure you get the cream cheese that comes in a brick. Full fat cream cheese is best. The low fat cream cheese tends to be too thin, too.
- Unsalted butter - makes everything better
- Vanilla extract - I use pure vanilla extract and prefer it to the imitation stuff.
- Salt - just a pinch will really give the frosting a nice salty finish
- Powdered sugar - You'll likely need to use approximately four cups, although add it slowly so you can decide your preferred level of thickness. If you're spreading it, you don't need it to be as thick.
The recipe card will have the full quantities and directions below!
How to Make Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Here's how to make a deliciously sweet, versatile cream cheese frosting with raspberries.
Step 1: Pulverize your raspberries
Throw the whole 1.3 oz package of freeze-dried raspberries into a food process. Process on high until the raspberries have turned into a powder with no chunks of raspberries. The powder will be a beautiful, deep red color. Set aside.
Step 2: Make a classic cream cheese frosting.
This is done by whipping cream cheese with butter, then adding salt and vanilla extract. Then slowly adding in your powdered sugar.
Step 3: Add in the pulverized raspberries.
Add the raspberry powder into the cream cheese frosting and beat for just another minute until fully combined. If it's too thick, you can add a splash of milk. If it's too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
It's as easy as that!
PRO TIPS:
- The longer your whip your frosting, the lighter and fluffier the frosting will be!
- You can use either a paddle attachment or whisk attachment if you're using a stand mixer, but I prefer using a whisk attachment for this frosting.
Other Cream Cheese Flavors
Now that you know the secret to pipe-able raspberry cream cheese frosting, you can make all sorts of cream cheese variations using this same recipe.
They sell freeze-dried mangoes, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, bananas, and cherries (and probably even more!) so you can make tons of other cream cheese frosting recipes.
Storage
The frosting can be made up to a day in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator with plastic wrap resting tight against the frosting like you would for guacamole. This will ensure your raspberry cream cheese frosting doesn't dry out.
Take the frosting out approximately 1 hour before you need to use it so it will soften up. Give the frosting a good stir before spreading or piping.
FAQ
Yes! The secret is yours now. This same process works for a strawberry, raspberry, mango, or any other freeze-dried fruit option you can get your hands on.
I love raspberry paired with chocolate, so my mind always goes to chocolate cake, chocolate cupcakes, mini chocolate cupcakes, or brownies. You can also make a vanilla cake or on top of sugar cookies bars or on cinnamon buns.
More Valentine's Day Desserts
Favorite Cakes & Cheesecake Recipes
If you like this frosting recipe, try these other cake and cheesecake options!
Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened brick-style, not spreadable
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1.3 ounce package freeze-dried raspberries
Instructions
- Place the freeze-dried raspberries in a food process, Process on high until the freeze-dried raspberries turn into powder. Set aside.
- Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment (or you can use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy and no lumps, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add vanilla extract and salt and stir well to combine.
- With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar* and pulverized raspberries until completely combined.
- Use frosting to frost cooled cake, cupcakes, brownies, the options are endless!
Let Me Know What You Think!