Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Stage

Let the cream cheese and butter soften if they're hard from the fridge. (In a pinch? Try these tips to soften butter in a snap.) While they sit on the counter, measure out the rest of the ingredients. It's important to have the ingredients ready to go for this recipe since they all have to come together so quickly. Test Kitchen Tip: If you need a pure white frosting, use clear vanilla extract rather than a standard vanilla extract. (Ever tried homemade vanilla extract? It's so good.)

2. Stage

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Keep beating until the mix is light and fluffy. It'll already look a little bit like frosting, but will be thicker and glossier. Test Kitchen Tip: If your confectioners' sugar is clumpy, sift it with a fine-mesh sieve before adding it to the cream cheese mixture to prevent a lumpy frosting.

3. Stage

Gradually beat the confectioners' sugar into the mix. We usually add one cup at a time—you don't want all that sugar to fly up into your face. Once you've added three cups, slow down a bit. Taste the frosting. Is it sweet enough? Is the texture firm but workable? If it's not sweet enough or if it's too thin, add more sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it tastes good and the texture's just right. If you add too much sugar and the frosting gets stiff, you can thin it out with a dash of milk. Test Kitchen Tip: While making the frosting, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula frequently, to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated evenly.