Name: Light Cream Cheese Frosting
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 12 ounces (340 grams) Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese , softened but still cool; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (6 ounces/170 grams)

Time

25 minutes

Yield

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

12 ounces (340 grams) Neufchatel (⅓ less fat) cream cheese, softened but still cool

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (6 ounces/170 grams)

Ingredients

12 ounces (340 grams) Neufchatel (⅓ less fat) cream cheese, softened but still cool

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (6 ounces/170 grams)

Ingredients

12 ounces (340 grams) Neufchatel (⅓ less fat) cream cheese, softened but still cool

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (6 ounces/170 grams)

Why This Recipe Works

We made four changes to our carrot cake recipe to meet our goal of creating a light carrot cake recipe that would taste good. We reduced the amount of oil from 1 1/2 cups to 1/2 cup and reduced the number of eggs from five to three. We whipped air into the eggs to keep the carrot cake recipe from getting too dense and leaden. Finally, we replaced the cream cheese and butter in the frosting with Neufchâtel reduced-fat cream cheese and mixed it by hand to prevent runniness.

Before You Begin

Be sure to mix the frosting by hand—an electric mixer or food processor will turn the frosting soupy.

Instructions

Mix the cream cheese and vanilla together in a large bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the confectioners’ sugar and stir until thoroughly combined and smooth.