Whip fats and flavor: whip butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until fluffy (about 2 minutes on medium-high using a hand-mixer).
Add powdered sugar in batches: add sifted powdered sugar in 2 batches, beating for 30 seconds on medium-high after each addition until well combined.
Add milk and whip: add in milk and beat an additional 1-2 minutes on medium-high until frosting is smooth, light and very, very fluffy (almost bordering on a whipped cream texture).
Frost or chill: frost cake or cupcakes immediately if desired, or store covered in the fridge (see notes). If using to fill a cake, or pipe a rosette or design, you will want to chill your frosting for 20-30 minutes in the fridge first to allow it to stiffen up a bit. If storing for several hours or overnight, allow frosting to come to room temperature (2-4 hours on the counter at room temperature), and briefly remix right before use.
Notes
Very, very fluffy: this frosting is very light and fluffy, almost whipped-cream-like in texture. So if you find it’s a little too soft to fill and frost your cake, place it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes so if can stiffen up a bit, briefly remix it, and then continue to frost your cake. This is helpful to get lines from a star-tip rosette or other piped design to hold it's shape better as well.
What will this frost? This isn't a huge batch of frosting and it's perfect for a thin coating of a 3-layer 6” cake, a two layer 8” cake or a small batch of cupcakes (12-18 depending on how generous you are with your frosting!). If your cake has extra layers or is bigger in diameter, feel free to double this recipe for a full 5 cups of frosting.
1.5X batch: if you'd like a little extra frosting to work with for the items listed above, but don't need a full double batch, use these amounts for a 1.5X batch (about 3 ½ cups of frosting):
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow