Philadelphia Just Launched Its First-Ever Cream Cheese Frosting, and It Tastes (Almost) Better than Homemade

In the world of frosting, there’s ganaches, buttercreams, glazes, and then the holy grail: cream cheese frosting. I say holy grail with a hefty dose of bias because it’s the only one that my grandma will eat (her favorite dessert is cheesecake so it’s not too surprising) and what I grew up around the most. This frosting is made with the same technique as a simple buttercream frosting, with a block of cream cheese in addition to butter. It’s sweet, smooth, slightly tangy, and incredibly delicious. 

Time and time again, I’ve kept tubs of the store-bought stuff on hand for cake emergencies (you know, bad days, last-minute celebrations). So I was particularly excited to learn the O.G. cream cheese brand Philadelphia was launching a ready-made cream cheese frosting of its own — no hand mixer required. I, of course, had to get my hands on some to see how it tastes.  

The Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese Frosting hit the refrigerator section of grocers earlier this October and comes in 16-ounce tubs. It’s slowly rolling out across the country, and you can already expect to see it in stores, like Walmart for $4.48. The frosting is a new mainstay in Philadelphia’s catalog of flavored cream cheeses and appears to be the first of its kind for the brand. 

To get a feel for how much cream cheese it is, The Kitchn’s recipe for cream cheese frosting takes an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and one stick of butter to yield roughly three cups of frosting. This cream cheese frosting comes in a 16-ounce container (or two cups), and I personally found it the perfect size to ice an entire 10-inch cake. That being said, if you’re working with a layered cake, I’d maybe grab an extra tub just in case. 

To really test this new frosting, I treated it like I would any other cream cheese frosting — by sampling some directly off a spoon. To my delight it tasted like a freshly whipped homemade version — sweet, tangy, and totally creamy. 

To treat this like a typical batch of cream cheese frosting, I let it sit out for an hour to come to room temperature before using it (in lieu of my typical homemade version) in a layered vanilla cake with a blueberry compote in the center (it was for a friend’s birthday). I didn’t pipe it. Instead I glopped a large scoop right on my cake and then smoothed it with an offset spatula. It spread with a dream! 

I’ve tried other store-bought cream cheese frosting brands in the past, but going forward, I’m only going to be buying this one. I can’t wait to use it for more cakes, cinnamon rolls, and brownies … The possibilities are endless!

Buy: Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese Frosting, $4.48 for 16 ounces at Walmart 

Have you tried the new Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese Frosting? Tell us about it in the comments below.