[1] This cream cheese frosting adds sour cream for a nuance of flavor and more spreadability (photo and recipe © American Heritage Chocolate).

[2] Whether you like the name brand, store brand, or organic cream cheese, you need a block of it (photo © Bay Business Help).

[3] A bit of sour cream creates a variation of the classic recipe (photo © Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board).

October 18th is National Chocolate Cupcake Day.

We’ve been using this classic cream cheese icing recipe on our chocolate cupcakes for years.

But we recently received this recipe to try from American Heritage Chocolate.

It adds sour cream to the cream cheese, which cuts the sweetness and adds a barely-discernible hint of tartness.

We prefer cream cheese icing to buttercream, and always use it on cupcakes, carrot cakes and other loaf cakes.

So is this recipe frosting or icing?

The difference between frosting and icing is that:

 
But the two words are used interchangeably by those not aware of this nuance.
 
 
RECIPE: CREAM CHEESE ICING (FROSTING)

Prep time is 10 minutes.

We used it on our dark chocolate cupcakes recipe.
 
Ingredients For 3 Cups

 
Preparation

1. CREAM together the cream cheese, butter, sour cream and a pinch of salt on medium speed of an electric mixer, until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes).

2. ADD the confectioners’ sugar. ½ cup at a time, stopping the mixer and scraping down the bowl before each addition. Gradually increase the speed to medium after each addition of sugar. That’s it!

3. STORE in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days, if not using immediately. Bring to room temperature before using.
 
 
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