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Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

"This foolproof frosting keeps it simple. While very sweet, it's just the thing to balance the natural flavor of a homestyle scratch cake recipe. I used it the first time to lighten up a cake made with a heavy whole grain white flour. Uh-mazing!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,746 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep15 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Let the butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature until very soft, then beat them together in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth.

  2. Reduce the speed to low and add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time, mixing until fully incorporated.

  3. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

  4. Add the strawberry jam and vanilla extract and beat on low for about 30 seconds, then on medium for 30 seconds more until the jam is evenly blended and the frosting is pink.

  5. Use the frosting right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 hour so it firms slightly, then bring it back to a spreadable texture before using.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Butter + cream cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Strawberry jam + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together98 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Cream cheese + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,934 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  5. Butter + vanillatop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together19,983 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream cheese, sugar, strawberry jam):

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Strawberryabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream cheese, sugar, strawberry jam. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).