Whipped Cream Frosting

stabalized whipped cream

Hello, I am new to this site.  I was just researching this topic because I too am having problems with my whipped cream frosted cakes.  I luckily don't get orders for them, but am worried about when I do.  I am trying to reproduce the consistency that Italian bakeries have on their cakes.  It is thick, stays white, holds shape, etc.  I made my frosting yesterday and found that :

a. it did not stay white, seemed to get a little brown in color

b. did not hold shape at all-what a mess (this is the one that really bothers me)

c. started weeping while piping the border

d. cracked

I have tried the gelatin stabilized whipped cream, but I didn't feel like it was good enough (maybe I did it wrong?). 

Any suggestions?

Hi Bunnycakes, 

It is best to use a cream with a 42-48% butterfat content when whipping cream.   

We use cream from our local dairy  with  48% butterfat content.

Our creme chantilly is:

80g of icing sugar per 1 litre cream and some vanilla.  This whips and holds up perfectly.

If I'm not mistaken though I read somewhere that using a cream with such high butter fat content makes your whipped cream come out with a bad consistency.  I'm not sure if they said it comes out like butter or just thick and not creamy.  In any event, I guess that when you whip up your butter, you have never had the problem of weeping?  Are you able to pipe any decorations with your whipped cream?

Bunnycakes

Hi  Bunnycakes,

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunnycakes 

 I read somewhere that using a cream with such high butter fat content makes your whipped cream come out with a bad consistency.  I'm not sure if they said it comes out like butter or just thick and not creamy.  In any event, I guess that you have never had the problem of weeping?  Are you able to pipe any decorations with your whipped cream?

 

Bunnycakes

Maybe the results differ from country to country/region because of the difference in cream but I haven't had a problem with the consistency or weeping and can pipe the cream perfectly. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunnycakes 

 I too am having problems with my whipped cream frosted cakes. 

 

  I am trying to reproduce the consistency that Italian bakeries have on their cakes.  It is thick, stays white, holds shape, etc.  I made my frosting yesterday and found that :

a. it did not stay white, seemed to get a little brown in color

b. did not hold shape at all-what a mess (this is the one that really bothers me)

c. started weeping while piping the border

d. cracked

I have tried the gelatin stabilized whipped cream, but I didn't feel like it was good enough (maybe I did it wrong?). 

 

Well I actually whipped my cream and then immediately applied it to my cooled cake.  I decorated the cake, then put it in the fridge for a party the next day.  So the next day when I took it out for the party, I noticed that it had cracked (could my layer of whip cream have been too thin?), then I had also noticed that the color did not seem crisp white.  The weeping occured while I was trying to apply a star tip border the previous night.  When I tried to touch up one of the cracks, the whipped cream that I touched just peeled right off.  I thought that was odd.  So I didn't know if this was normal, or if there was some secret trick to avoiding all these problems as the cakes that I see in the bakeries do not ever seem to look like this, and they are sitting in the fridge all day long, and still look fresh and smooth.

Not a professional, but I did just try to make whipped frosting using Knox gelatin.  I followed the recipe and the gelatin got stringy because the whipped cream was too cold, which is how it needs to be to whip.  So here I am looking to see if anyone has had the same issue and solved it somehow.  I won't be icing my cake with it, just using it as filling.

kthull,

I tried you piping gel suggestion and it worked awsome I kept trying the unflavored gelatin and it would never turn out right then I saw your post and figured I had nothing to lose by trying it. I have to deliver the cake tmmrrw so I'll let you know how it holds up after I frost it and deliver it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Just in case you want to forgo all the fuss, there is a great product I use found at Safeway called 'Bakers Cream'.  Its real cream but has stabilizers in it as well as being sweetened just right.  It taste made from scratch but holds up beautifully!  Find it next to the heavy cream in the dairy aisle.

O o the pipeing Jell didnt hold up so well for me after all. I spent til 3am trying to get it right. I finally gave up this morning and went to the local grocery store that makes cakes and purchased thier premade whipped icing they use. While it was more expensive than making my own or even buying the boxed stuff if I had just done this to begin with Id have saved alot of money and stress because it has everything in it I needed and spreads very nicely. I will do this from now on if I ever need to make another whipped cake tho I doubt I ever want to tackle another one. 

I suggest three things. 

I'm not a professional but it's very hot here and i do tons of baking and i've had success with these

One is to do an italian meringue and when it's VERY cool, fold in whipped cream.  That keeps it soft and fluffy and the meringue holds it from melting unless you really keep it in the sun. 

The other, which is still fluffy but a LITTLE less so, but extremely stable, is to whip some cream cheese first with the sugar and vanilla, and then add the cream and whip it all together.  this gives more stability and is good for decorating. 

A third would be to sweeten it with some white chocolate, which is not really chocolate flavored (nobody guesses there;'s chocolate in it) and so you're actually making a white chocolate ganache.  I tried to do this, but it's harder to work with the white chocolate than the regular chocolate, and when i tried it, it curdled (the recipe i used called for a food processor which i don;t have but you probably do).  The white chocolate hardens enough to maintain the whipped cream, much like a regular chocolate ganache.  And chocolate ganache doesn't need to go in the fridge and maintains its shape and is great in texture. 

I would steer clear of all those additives.  They add nothing in flavor and texture, while the above (meringue, cream cheese and white chocolate) are all good in themselves - i think that's a good principle, to use ingredients that are good in themselves rather than concoctions to make something hold its shape.  The end product will be better-tasting, i think. 

I have used clear Agar for years, It holds up quite well even in this Florida heat. (piping gel and Agar almost the same)  Almost anything you add, unless in small amounts changes overall texture.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kthull 

This time around, I used clear piping gel and powdered sugar to stabilized the whipped cream and so far it's been my best test. I think my last test will be with the gelatin (actually tried it, but messed it up by letting the gelatin nearly set).

But based on everyone's input, I'll steer away from the fake stuff (whew). And I think I'm also guilty of not so stiff of a whip as Jock suggests. It's such a fine line between perfect and over-beaten that I think I've been a bit too cautious.

Thanks everyone!

My baker just picked  up some piping gel.  The salesperson said to use about 4 Tbsp per quart of heavy cream.  Do you add the gel after the cream is mostly whipped when you add the sugar or before whipping? 
 

HELP!  I have someone who wants whipped icing, but they want it in ELECTRIC BLUE!  How in the world can I achieve this?

Piping Gel and Agar Agar are almost same thing. Experiment with the colors  a little at a time I would use a paste color  instead of a liquid.