Strawberry Frosting help

[Sadie1]

Hi..I've been working on a good strawberry frosting and am having trouble. I started out with a cream cheese frosting that I've had success with and added crushed strawberries. Apparently too much liquid was still in the strawberries, as the frosting never set up. I added melted white chocolate..didn't help much. Started over and pressed the strawberries through a fine sieve and just added the "paste"..still problems with setting up. Added more butter..still problems. The only thing that seems to help is refrigerating the frosting overnight, but with that, when it sets out at room temp for 30 minutes or so, it softens enough to be a problem (not holding shape, sliding off cakes, etc.) And it's winter now, I hate to think what will happen in the summer in the south, even indoors!! I've used both fresh and frozen berries, nothing seems to make a difference. Any suggestions? I would prefer to use frozen if possible, due to availability and cost, and I also need a frosting that doesn't have to be made up a day or more in advance.

[cookie*]

Have you tried boiling the strawberry puree with sugar down to a syrup? That would remove a lot of the liquid. I think adding white chocolate sounds nice in principal, but it will turn out to be a waste, since the delicate flavor of the white chocolate will be overpowered by the strawberry. (Do white chocolate curls on top as decoration, or white chocolate mousse filling instead--that will get you more white chocolate effect.) You could also try draining the cream cheese to remove any excess liquid from that, by letting it sit in a colander lined with a cheese cloth overnight in the fridge.

[pgr555]

I have not tried this, but I wonder if you made a regular confec sugar & butter frosting and used mashed strawberrries in place of the liquid.
Just a thought

[siduri]

I made a raspberry reduction according to the directions in the Cake Bible (rose beranbaum) which i then used both to flavor a ganache filling and to flavor a cream cheese frosting. It was a load of work, but i was able to keep the leftovers in the freezer and have used them over the year or so afterwards too. It was also suitable for strawberries i think.
I remember that it called for frozen raspberries, you thawed them for hours in a sieve, then put that liquid, i believe with sugar, not sure, and boiled it down in the microwave till it reduced way down. The raspberries were pressed through a fine sieve with a spoon and then added to the liquid. It gave a very concentrated flavor, completely fresh (unlike bought syrups) and could be frozen probably indefinitely. Strawberries and raspberries are just to watery to add to any frosting, i think, and don;t have enough flavor if you just put a little.
Another easier option, almost as good (though less fresh strawberry taste) would be to use jam rather than actual strawberries. You could then put fresh strawberries on top.

[Sadie1]

Siduri..thanks..actually that is exactly what I am doing this morning. I am making the same cake, except changing the strawberries to raspberries (I was out of strawberry filling...) and started draining the raspberries last night. I've done the whole strawberry thing out of her book for the strawberry moussilini (probably didn't spell that right!!) and it worked out well, so I thought I would give the reduction thing a shot with the cream cheese frosting. I'll let you know if it works!! It is kind of a pain but you can make a large amount and freeze and refreeze it for quite some time...Sadie1