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Mascarpone Frosting made with mascarpone, heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar, and almond and vanilla extracts is a lusciously smooth creamy frosting.
It is stable and holds its shape at room temperature and remains soft when refrigerated. It is a very delicate frosting, however, and works best as a cupcake topper as it will not provide structure to stacked cakes. Similar in look but very different in taste when compared to Cream Cheese Frosting or Italian Buttercream Frosting.
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Mascarpone frosting is my new favorite frosting. This heavenly frosting has changed me forever.
You see, this frosting is light and fluffy and smooth. It’s everything you want a frosting to be. This frosting can be shaped and spread however you like and will, too, hold it’s shape.
I thought it would harden or change when refrigerated. Nope! We had extra after frosting our lemon cupcakes so I stored the leftover frosting in the refrigerator. I ended up eating it on a graham cracker and it was downright heavenly. Don’t judge me! In fact, I might just make an ice box cake out of it this coming summer! It would also be a wonderful filling for my Carrot Cake Cookies.
This frosting would go perfectly with any cake or cupcake. I can’t wait to top my heavenly homemade chocolate cupcakes with it!
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What is mascarpone?
I have a friend who helps me cook. When I told her we were making mascarpone frosting, she asked “what’s that?”.
Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. This is definitely not to be mistaken by our American cream cheese. They are quite different.
Mascarpone cheese is made from cow’s milk. It is off-white in color and is spreadable. If you’ve ever enjoyed tiramisu, it was most likely made with it. I also use it in my cannoli filling with mascarpone. I love spreading it on raisin toast. It melts like a cross between whipped cream and butter, but isn’t exactly like either.
Mascarpone can be used in a wide variety of ways including desserts like cheesecake or adding richness to a risotto.
Now that I’ve used it in frosting, I swear it will be my favorite frosting recipe to make from here on out.
Is there a substitute?
In my opinion, no. Nothing is quite like rich and creamy mascarpone. If a recipe calls for mascarpone, I won’t try to substitute.
That’s not to say it’s not possible.
If you’re really in a pickle and are right in the middle of making a recipe that calls for mascarpone, and you just realized you either ran out or it went bad, there is a way to cheat.
The work around is to combine a brick, or eight ounces, of softened cream cheese with a quarter cup heavy cream and two tablespoons sour cream. The cream cheese and sour cream must be full fat. Actually, don’t break my heart and use low or nonfat anything. Gross.
Does it taste just like mascarpone? Not exactly, but it’s close enough if you need a quick substitute.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese chilled, I used Trader Joe's brand, results may vary with other brands
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- RECIPE TIP: For best results, chill the mixing bowl in the freezer prior to making the recipe. Also, ensure both mascarpone and heavy cream remain refrigerated right up until the time you start mixing.
- Place the 8 ounces mascarpone cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and start beating on medium speed. While beating, add the 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract followed by the 1 cup confectioners sugar. Scrape sides and continue beating until light and fluffy. DO NOT OVERMIX as it will cause the frosting to curdle.
- With the mixer running on high speed, slowly add the 1 cup heavy whipping cream until the frosting becomes light and fluffy, about 1-3 minutes. DO NOT OVERMIX as it will cause the frosting to curdle.
- Spread onto cake or cupcakes. This frosting also holds its shape incredibly well, so it’s easy to pipe on using a decorating set. Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes or two 9-inch rounds.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
can the almond extract be left out of this marscapone frosting recipe?
Absolutely. I love almond extract, but it is added purely for flavor. You can leave it out or replace it with a different extract, if you prefer.
I made this recipe as a chocolate version and it came out beautifully and delicious. I added 1/4 cup of Dutch processed cocoa sifted together with the powdered sugar. Followed everything else as written.
Next time I might add a little more cocoa to get a more chocolate flavor.
Although the frosting was absolutely delicious (I was eating it as I was using it), it definitely won’t crust.
I made a heavy (by weight) cake with a pretty soft filling and then used this frosting. The combination of all three caused the cake to weigh down on itself and settle too much, so in this particular situation, I think a crusting buttercream that gets hard when cold, would have been a better choice. Just keep it in mind.
I’ve never made a chocolate version so I very much appreciate you letting me know that it works!
It came out FABULOUS!!! Thanks for this base recipe. I’m about to use the original on 3 cakes I need to make.
Oh and by the way- I used Bel Gioioso mascarpone with no issues ( in case anyone is wondering)
Thanks for letting me know about the Bel Gioioso! I’m super loyal to Trader Joe’s mascarpone, so I appreciate you using a different brand and got great results!
For those wondering about liquid sweeteners, I did make this with maple syrup and it worked out just fine. That said, I haven’t made it as written, so I can’t compare it exactly to the original. But I added maybe 2 Tbsp of maple syrup, and I cut the amount of heavy cream in half. I used the 8oz of mascarpone, and the 1 Tbsp vanilla, but did just a drop of almond. My thoughts were I didn’t want to alter the total liquid amount too much. I slowly streamed the syrup into the cheese while whipping, and then did the same thing with the heavy cream so it wasn’t too much liquid at once to incorporate.
Could one use cream cheese in the place of the mascarpone?
You could, but it would be a completely different recipe. I would either stick to this recipe, as written, or make my Cream Cheese Frosting.
There are recipes for a mascarpone substitute recipe using cream cheese if you’re in a bind without it. I’m not sure how that would hold up in this recipe tho? I can tell u confidently it’s been used in restaurants in a pinch 😉
Hands down the best frosting ever! Not overly sweet. I put this on a white layer cake with a lot of cut up fresh berries. It is requested for every birthday and shower we have.
I think this is the best frosting I’ve ever tasted❤️
I had no problem with the recipe
Love hearing that! I never have an issue with the recipe either so I’m always caught off guard when other people struggle. Thanks for the comment!
love this recipe, used ita so many times. it is heavenly and so much lighter than an ABC
Unfortunately this recipe did not work for me at all. I ended up with a mascarpone soup. I managed to fix it by beating mascarpone on its own on low and adding spoonful after spoonful of half of my soup to make a consistency that could hold its shape.
I’m sorry to hear that. Were all of your ingredients really cold? Did you use Trader Joe’s mascarpone?
It is excellent and so easy. Just follow your directions precisely
can you add white chocolate ?
I’m not a white chocolate fan, personally, and this recipe is pretty delicate so I don’t like to alter it.