Finally, a strawberry frosting that actually tastes like fresh berries. It’s made with cream cheese for an extra bit of tang, and a whole pint of strawberries!
what makes this the best strawberry frosting?
This frosting wins the top prize because it has a nice thick texture (perfect for piping) and a clean fresh strawberry flavor. It’s difficult to infuse fresh fruit flavor into frosting because fruit is full of water, and too much moisture makes a droopy frosting. I’ve gotten around all that and managed to squeeze a whole pint of fresh berries into my recipe ~ how do I do it? Read on!
Table of contents
what you’ll need ~ just 5 ingredients
- strawberries ~ I prefer fresh but this is one recipe where frozen berries will work just fine. Let them thaw before pureeing.
- butter ~ unsalted, and have it at room temperature.
- cream cheese ~ good to let this sit out for a bit before using to soften it up, this will help make a creamy lump-free frosting.
- lemon juice ~ lemon juice brightens the strawberry flavor and keeps things from tasting too sweet.
- powdered sugar ~ gotta have it, this is frosting!
how to make fresh strawberry frosting
- The key to this frosting is the strawberry flavor, and to get that I start with a pint of berries, rinsed, hulled, and halved. Puree the berries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Cook the puree down on the stove in a medium saucepan with a little lemon juice until it reduces to 1/4 cup and becomes very thick. This step takes that strawberry flavor and concentrates it, and eliminates excess moisture. Chill.
- Cream butter, cream cheese, and chilled puree together until smooth.
- Beat in powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until incorporated and the frosting is smooth and creamy.
TIP: my personal favorite non-traditional method for making frosting is right in my food processor. It makes the quickest, creamiest results.
ways to use this strawberry frosting
- This recipe yields a thick pipe-able frosting that can of course be used to be used to frost cakes and cupcakes.
- But also consider it as a way to top thick bakery style sugar cookies or fill sandwich cookies.
- You could even use it as a dessert “dip” to serve with an assortment of fresh fruit and cookies.
strawberry frosting FAQS
I don’t recommend using strawberry jam because the flavor is not as strong as the puree, and it is sweetened. If you use jam you’ll want to add a bit of lemon juice to counteract the sweetness.
Yes, you can make it up to 2 days ahead, just keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You may want to give it an extra beating just before frosting to loosen it up.
This strawberry frosting contains cream cheese so it does need to be refrigerated after 2 hours at room temperature.
Yes, it would be great with just about any berry you can think of. Just be sure to cook down your puree so it’s nice and thick. If your berries have seeds, like blackberries, you may need to strain your puree. I make a wonderful cranberry buttercream this way.
more strawberry recipes
Fresh Strawberry Frosting
Equipment
- blender or food processor
- medium sized heavy saucepan
- stand mixer or electric beaters
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled (this is about a pint)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (that's 1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 5 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
Instructions
make the puree
- Cut the berries in half and blend to a smooth puree in a blender or food processor. You should have about 1 cup of puree.
- Put the puree and lemon juice in a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring often with a silicone spoonula or spatula to keep the mixture from scorching on the bottom of the pan. Cook the mixture down until it is thick like tomato paste or fruit butter. You want to end up with about 1/4 cup. This will take somewhere around 15 minuteds, give or take. Scrape the thickened puree into a cup and chill. Note: the puree can be made up to a few days ahead if you like.
- Cream the soft butter, cream cheese, and cooled strawberry puree (use 1/4 cup) together until smooth and lump free. Note: you can use a stand mixer, or electric beaters. See my method for making frosting in my food processor in the notes below ~ it's genius!
- Start adding the sifted sugar, one cup at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. You should end up with a creamy thick frosting. If it seems too thin, beat in a little more sugar. If it seems too thick, add a bit of lemon juice or milk.
- Yeilds enough to frost one layer cake or 24 cupcakes.
Can the strawberry lemon ixture be reduced via microwave/. I don’t have a heavy bottomed pan.
Used this strawberry frosting with the dreamy chocolate cake in your chocolate cake with cranberry buttercream recipe . So delicious- my friends were impressed and went for seconds. Decided top center w fresh strawberries and chocolate curls. Yum
I can just imagine!
This cake frosting is so delicious! Thank you!
Hi! I am trying to make a frosting with plain greek yogurt for my baby’s first birthday! Would love to sweeten it with fruit. Do you think it would work? Thank you!
You can take fresh fruit like strawberries, puree it and then cook it down like I do for this strawberry frosting. The only issue is that yogurt is very wet, so your frosting would be more of a glaze, if that makes sense. You might try whipping cream cheese with the thickened fruit puree.
Excellent! I did cut back on the sugar to let the berries sing for my chocolate cake; glad I found this over those recipes with just raw ground berries
Do you strain out the strawberry seeds prior to mixing the frosting? Seems like it might be A LOT of seeds, otherwise. Thanks!
Hi Julie – I don’t strain the puree here, and you’ll see a few seeds in the final frosting but they get spread out over the whole batch. If they bother you, you can definitely strain you puree, but you might want to make a little extra to make up for any volume lost through straining.
Beautiful holiday dessert cupcakes?? Truly strawberrylicous! It is a bit sweet but delightful. I adapted your recipe slightly for a Memorial Day BBQ. I made mini funfetti cupcakes topped in red, white and blue. I also scooped out a tiny bit of each center and added a 1/4 teaspoon of my strawberry purée-I took the remaining purée and added 1/4 cup of sample syrup. I boiled it down until thick, about 10 mins. I cooled the berry purée and added that plus one small diced berry to the scooped cupcake middle. I brushed the cupcakes with simple syrup, as I always do, and frosted them. A top each is a sliced fully dried strawberry, blueberry and a pinch of Pearl Sugar. Beautiful plate and WOW what a hit. Wish I could’ve shared a photo?
I have been searching for a good strawberry frosting. OMG this is the one! Taste great and is not thin….actually frosts the cake!
Hi Sue. Question: Other than the resulting amount of frosting, is there any difference between this frosting recipe and the frosting you feature in “Birthday Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting”? They look the same to me, except for the resulting amount of frosting.
The same, I just pulled out the recipe to feature on its own, because it’s so good 🙂
this is good!