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This easy Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting is a thick, stabilized whipped cream made with only 4 ingredients. Sweetened with vanilla or a citrus zest, this is the perfect frosting for cupcakes, cakes, pies and more.
The best stabilize whipped cream
I can’t remember the first time I made mascarpone whipped cream, I just remember that I instantly fell in love with it. It’s subtle flavor and creamy texture really bring to life the other flavors in your dessert because it doesn’t over power the dessert.
Mascarpone whipped cream is often referred to as stabilized whipped cream because it’s thicker and well, just more stable than whipped cream meaning it holds it shape much better. While I love my traditional whipped cream recipe, this one is thicker like a mousse.
This makes a great frosting for cakes and cupcakes and is perfect for desserts like Tiramisu. But honestly, I’ve been known to just eat it with a spoon because it’s so dang good. My favorite way to enjoy it is with berries.
What is Mascarpone cheese?
Mascarpone is an Italian cream resembling a softer cream cheese. It has a light tangy flavor and is much less subtle tasting than a traditional cream cheese. Its creamier texture is due to the higher fat content than cream cheese.
In my humble opinion, not all brands of mascarpone are created equally. I’ve purchased a variety of brands, and some have had a waterier consistency than others. The ones that are more watery do not tend to produce as stiff a texture I am looking for with a whipped cream.
My preferred brands are BelGioioso and Vermont Creamery. You can find it in the deli section of your grocery stores, usually near the hummus and other fancy cheeses.
Ingredients needed
You only need 4 simple ingredients. The powdered sugar will definitely add sweetness to the whipped cream, which you may or may not like. Personally, I prefer it to be sweeter and it balances out the flavor of the mascarpone. It also acts as a stabilizer, so I don’t recommend skipping it all together.
- Mascarpone cheese: be sure it’s nice and cold
- Heavy whipping cream: this also needs to be super cold
- Powdered sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
Can I substitute cream cheese for Mascarpone?
Yes, my recommendation would be to substitute a regular full-fat cream cheese.
How to make mascarpone whipped cream
Chill the mixing bowl: Starting with a cold bowl helps to keep the cream cold as it’s whipped. Place both the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.
Slowly combine mascarpone with cream: Spoon the mascarpone whipped cream into your bowl and beat on a medium-low speed (speed 3 on your stand mixer). Slowly pour in the heavy cream, allowing the mascarpone cheese to turn to a liquid consistency.
Beat until soft peaks are reach: Continuing adding the remaining heavy cream, then increase the mixing speed to high (speed 8-10) and continue beating until soft peaks form.
Add the powdered sugar: Then add your powdered sugar and vanilla extract, beating on low until incorporated. Then continue beating at a high speed until stiff peaks form.
How to store whipped cream
It’s best if you can use this frosting right away. Add it to your cupcakes or cake and then refrigerate. If kept in the fridge in your bowl for too long, you may need to rewhip it, adding additional powdered sugar to re-thicken.
The best ways to use it
- Serve it with pancakes or waffles for breakfast
- It’s the perfect frosting for cakes or cupcakes. My favorite is my strawberry cake.
- Makes the best topping for pies and cheesecakes
- Use it in a tiramisu cheesecake
Flavor variations
- Are you making a pumpkin cake? Add a little cinnamon and honey for the perfect fall flavored frosting
- Add some fruit zest like lemon, lime or orange alongside of a little extract to give it a fruity flavor
- Turn this into chocolate whipped cream by swapping out some of the powdered sugar for cocoa powder
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups
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Pin RecipeDescription
Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting is a thick, stable whipped cream made with mascarpone cheese, heavy cream and powdered sugar.
Ingredients
For 12-18 cupcakes:
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, cold
- 1 1/4 cup (296 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract
For a 3 layer cakes (makes approximately 4 cups)
- 16 ounces mascarpone cheese, cold
- 2 ½ cup (592ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 ¼ cup (163g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to chill.
- Spoon the mascarpone cream into your bowl and beat on a medium-low speed (speed 3 on your stand mixer). Slowly pour in the heavy cream, about 1 cup, allowing the mascarpone cheese to turn to a liquid consistency.
- Add the remaining heavy cream then increase the mixing speed to high (speed 8-10) and beat it until soft peaks form.
- Next, add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, beating on low until sugar is incorporated. Continuing beating at a high speed until stiff peaks form.
Notes
- This is best prepared and used right away. I don’t recommend preparing in advance. If kept in the fridge in your bowl for too long, you may need to rewhip it, adding additional powdered sugar to re-thicken.
- If used right away to frost cupcakes or a cake, this will stay fresh for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: easy frosting recipe, whipped cream recipe,
I’m not a big fan of buttercream. I prefer whipped cream, but of course it doesn’t hold up well for cakes. I already had a Mother’s Day dessert, but I wanted to experiment with something different. I looked up stabilized whipped cream and came across this recipe. It looked way too simple and too good to be true but I thought, what the heck. Ran out to the grocery store for some mascarpone cheese (ya, it’s not cheap) and thought I’d give it a try. Wow! I’m sorry, did you miss that? Wow, wow, wow!!! Super easy. Like, I made it and still can’t believe how easy, and OMG delicious. Why, why did I not find/try this recipe before? My family loved the cake (chocolate with fresh strawberries) and this frosting held up perfectly. I will be making this again and again and again!!! Now I need to go through all the recipes and see what else I’ve been missing out. Thanks Julianne!!!
★★★★★
So so so glad you loved this! I am obsessed with this frosting!
Hi! I’m hoping to use this recipe for the filling of my yule log. You mentioned that we can add flavours to it, but do you have any suggestions for flavours that would work well with the marscapone and also go along with the chocolate sponge cake? Do you think egg nog would be tasty with the marscapone? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!
I think it would be difficult to flavor this with egg nog and keep the consistency, you would need to use too much eggnog to get the flavor profile. I would stick with extracts. Vanilla, almond, lemon, etc.
Hi, I am told using whipped cream frosting is better for Ice Cream cakes and my friend loves vanilla bean so will this freeze well?
Please respond I am new o Ice Cream cakes, thank you
Yes this can be used for ice cream cake
Is it very sweet? So much dugar..!
I don’t think so, but you can certainly use less sugar, it just might effect the thickness and stability.
The best! I make homemade marscapone and I’m always looking for recipes to use it in this icing is fabulous! Sometimes I use less cream for a studier icing. So far I’ve used almond, vanilla and orange flavoring. TY for posting it. Oh and I vary the amount of sugar too again depending on what I’m doing with it! I love the texture far better than a gelatin stabilized whipped cream! Being that I’m not a huge cream cheese person either this will easily substitute for any cream cheese icing! TY
★★★★★
Thank you so much Missy! I agree, I think it’s so much better than gelatin stabilized whipped cream. So happy you have tried different flavors as well!
Hi. I tried this recipe as is and it was wonderful! My question is , if I want to add lemon zest, how much would you recommend I add? I will make the larger batch and ice my whole cake!
★★★★★
Hey Saba, for the best lemon flavor, I would zest at least 1 whole lemon, so 1-2 tablespoons