This creamy mascarpone frosting recipe is light, fluffy, and just sweet enough—perfect for frosting cupcakes, cakes, or layering into trifles. Made with just 3 simple ingredients, it holds its shape beautifully and whips up in minutes. Try it in my Strawberry Mascarpone Cake for a fresh and elegant dessert!
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This mascarpone frosting is a light, creamy alternative to classic American buttercream. It’s not too sweet, super smooth, and ready in just a few minutes. Perfect if you want something less heavy but still rich and pipeable.
You only need mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and powdered sugar—that’s it! This fluffy, stabilized whipped cream is super easy to flavor with vanilla, cocoa, or citrus zest—like in my lemon mascarpone frosting.
It’s perfect for cupcake swirls, cake fillings, or simply spread over loaf cakes and brownies. Smooth, pipeable, and less less sweet than most frostings or icings —it’s a great choice when you want something light, creamy, and elegant.
Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients You Need
You only need these ingredients to make this vanilla mascarpone frosting:
- Heavy cream – Use full-fat heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, very cold.
- Mascarpone cheese – Full-fat and cold for best texture.
- Powdered sugar – Also called icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Avoid granulated sugar.
- Vanilla – Use vanilla extract, paste, or real vanilla bean. You can also try almond, rose, or citrus flavors.
How To Make Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting
Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full recipe instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Place all ingredients in a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, the cold cream, cold mascarpone cheese, sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
Step 2: Beat on medium-low speed for about 2-3 minutes until you have a thick mascarpone mixture, soft peaks form, and a stable whipped cream.
Enjoy! Your mascarpone frosting is ready to be used immediately to eat fresh strawberries or to fill and decorate your desserts.
Ways to use this frosting
- Layer cakes – Perfect for filling or frost cakes. Try it in this Raspberry Mascarpone Cake or in my Blueberry mascarpone cake.
- Cupcakes – Pipe it on top of your favorite cupcakes for a light, creamy swirl like these strawberry cream cupcakes or these tiramisu cupcakes.
- Fruit tarts – Fill tart shells with this frosting and top with fresh berries.
- Pavlova or charlotte – Makes a great creamy layer in pavlovas or fruit charlottes.
- Breakfast treats – Use it as a topping for pancakes, waffles, or crepes for a sweet twist.
Best Tips For This Recipe
Storage instructions
- Refrigeration: Because it’s made with dairy, this frosting should be kept in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container or cover it tightly with plastic wrap after use.
- Freezing: Freezing isn’t ideal. The texture tends to become grainy or separate once thawed, so it’s best enjoyed fresh.
Variations & Substitutions
Recipe Questions
Is mascarpone the same as whipping cream?
No, mascarpone and whipping cream are not the same. Whipping cream is a liquid dairy product that can be whipped into soft peaks, while mascarpone is a soft Italian cheese. Mascarpone frosting combines both to create a rich, stable whipped cream with more body and flavor.
Why does my mascarpone frosting is grainy?
Grainy texture usually means you’ve overwhipped the cream, causing the fat to separate. To fix it, try adding a tablespoon of cold heavy cream and mix on low speed until the frosting becomes smooth again.
Why doesn't my mascarpone frosting rise?
If your mascarpone frosting isn’t rising or staying fluffy, it’s often because the ingredients weren’t cold enough. For best results, chill the bowl and beaters for 20–30 minutes and make sure both the mascarpone and cream are straight from the fridge.
More Frosting Recipes
I hope you love this whipped mascarpone frosting. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!
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Mascarpone Frosting
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
Description
Light and creamy mascarpone frosting, perfect for piping on 10–12 cupcakes or filling a 6-inch layer cake with two layers. Not too sweet and easy to whip up in minutes!
Ingredients
- 250 ml (1 cup) Heavy cream- full fat and cold
- 125 g (4,5 oz) Mascarpone cheese - cold
- 65 g (½ cup) Confectioner's sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract or ½ vanilla pod
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, the heavy cream, cold mascarpone cheese, sifted confectioner's sugar and vanilla.
- Beat at high speed for about 5 minutes until you have a thick, firm cream.
- Be careful not to overbeat the cream or it will be grainy. If it is, add very cold heavy cream in very small amounts while letting the mixer run to smooth the frosting.
- Use the frosting immediately in your desserts.
Notes
Storage: Store your mascarpone frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Do not freeze it, as the texture may turn grainy when thawed.
Tips:
- More stable texture: Use equal parts of mascarpone and heavy cream.
- Better whipping: Chill the mixing bowl and whisk for 20 minutes beforehand.
- Less sweet: Simply reduce the amount of powdered sugar.
- Savory version: Skip the sugar, add a pinch of salt, lemon juice, and fresh herbs like dill.
- For best results: Always use a digital kitchen scale instead of measuring cups for precise and consistent results.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dessert, frosting
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 portion
- Calories: 104
- Sugar: 5.7 g
- Sodium: 8.9 mg
- Fat: 8.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.9 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 25.3 mg
these cupcakes are beautiful and this cream is so good too!
Thank you ❤️ yes it's really delicious and so light!
Good evening,
Another very tasty and delicious recipe. Tasty and light, I love it.
I would like to adapt it slightly, to cover a 10 cm high naked cake, without filling. And that's where my fear of it collapsing comes from.
I'm thinking of using :
250 gr. 40% fat fresh cream
250g mascarpone (for a firmer cream)
65 gr. sugar
125g butter
Do you think this makes sense? My naked cake has 4 layers and won't be eaten until the next day. Hence my concern. It will spend the night in a cold room.
Thank you for your help.
Francisca
Hi Francisca, I'd advise you to try a little mascarpone chantilly with the addition of butter to see if the texture suits you. The basic recipe, which already contains so much cream and so much mascarpone, is quite thick and stable, so you'll have to see if adding the butter doesn't make it too greasy.
Hello,
I love baking and often make them for my family and I stumbled across your site and I love it. Thank you for all your valuable advice ❤️
Thank you very much ❤️
Very tasty, but they soften very quickly so the flowers don't hold together with a cookie cutter. Good recipe but just spread, don't try shapes as they collapse quickly.
Thanks for your feedback, mascarpone chantilly is still a fragile cream. (I think you mean making flowers with a piping tip, rather than a cookie cutter), piping decorations with this icing won't give the same finish as with buttercream.
Hello, I have a 25 cm diameter layer cake and a 20 cm diameter one to make. But I'm having trouble calculating the quantities for the chantilly. Could you please help me?
Thank you ☺️
Thank you for your reply.
Dominique
Hello,
I came across your recipes and want to try them out.
I have 2 cakes to prepare and cupcakes and I'd like to use the mascarpone chantilly recipe to decorate them.
How long can I cover the cakes before eating them?
If I prepare this on Friday for Saturday and Sunday, will it still be good?
Thank you for your reply.
Hello, no worries about making your cakes and cupcakes on Friday and keeping them in the fridge for Saturday and Sunday.
A light, flavorful and very good whipped cream!
Made this version, and it was amazing! Thank you for posting.
Excellent and easy recipe. I didn’t use too much icing sugar as it didn’t need it as I was serving it with chestnut spread.