Whether it’s a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or any other celebration, you can be sure that there will always be cake served!
If you’re making a cake from scratch then you will not only need to make the cake itself but will also need to ensure that it is decorated properly.
Decorating cakes can be very daunting as you will not only need to ensure that it looks good, but that you use ingredients that taste as good as they look.
The most important part of decorating any cake is getting the frosting right. Although other forms of decorations can be removed, anyone that eats the cake is going to eat the frosting so you need to ensure this is delicious!
However, many forms of frosting involve eggs and this means that many cannot eat it.
Luckily, you can make delicious frosting without the need for any eggs at all! In this article, we have a recipe to help you make the best and most delicious whipped cream frosting!
We will go through the method step-by-step and also answer any questions you may have about this frosting.
Let’s get started!
Whipped Cream Frosting Directions
Let’s begin by looking at how to make the best and most delicious whipped cream frosting. We will look at the ingredients, equipment needed, method, and also some hints and tips to ensure that you get the best frosting possible.
Ingredients
1 cup (250 ml) of thickened cream or heavy cream
4 tablespoons (40 grams) of confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring or another flavoring of your choice
Gel or oil-based food coloring
Equipment Needed
Bowl (metal, glass, or a stand mixer bowl)
Mixer (stand or handheld)
Whisk attachment
Silicone spatula
Method
Place your bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for a few hours before you begin making your whipped cream frosting.
They should be cold to the touch for the method to work as well as it can. After the bowl and whisk have chilled, remove them from the fridge and begin.
Take your thickened cream or heavy cream straight from the fridge and put it into your bowl. The cream should also be chilled so don’t leave it outside the fridge.
Add your confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar as well as the flavoring. You should also add a couple of drops of your food coloring to the bowl.
Mix the ingredients together. You can use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer for this. Mix together for about 30 seconds on a low-speed setting.
The mixer will have mixed some of the ingredients but some of the sugar will probably be stuck around the sides of the bowl.
Take your silicone spatula and use it to scrape the sides and get all of the ingredients back into the center so they can be mixed together again.
Whisk the ingredients together again. This time, set your whisk to low or medium for a few seconds to start the mix and then switch to maximum speed.
Mix for approximately one minute. During this minute, you should start to see the whipped cream change and thicken and there will be some bubbles forming in the mixture.
After the bubbles, you will hopefully begin to see ripples forming in the whipped cream. When you see these, stop mixing and check how stiff your mixture is.
It’s important that you don’t overmix the mixture so from this point onwards, only mix the mixture for around 10 seconds at a time at maximum speed.
After 10 seconds, the ripples should be bigger and thicker and you should check them to see if the frosting is mixed correctly.
When you’re happy with your whipped cream frosting, use it immediately to decorate your cake. After you’ve finished decorating your cake, keep it refrigerated until you are ready to serve.
The frosting should be consumed within one to two days and kept refrigerated at all times.
Hints And Tips For The Best Whipped Cream Frosting
Make sure that the thickened cream of heavy cream that you use for the frosting is cold and not at room temperature.
It’s also important that you chill your bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge before using them so don’t be tempted to skip these steps to save time!
When you mix your ingredients together to make the whipped cream frosting, it is very important that you keep a close eye on the consistency of the mixture.
Mixing it for too short a period of time will not give you the ripples you need to use the frosting correctly.
However, if you overmix it this will not be suitable for use either. Even a few seconds too many can result in the whipped cream moving past the stage you need to be in for frosting and into a state where it separates and curdles.
If this happens, you won’t be able to rescue it and will need to start the process again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now, let’s answer some questions about whipped cream frosting. Hopefully, this section will answer any lingering questions you may have.
Why Do The Thickened Cream (Or Heavy Cream) And Mixer Have To Be Chilled?
As we stated in the method and hints sections, you should use your thickened cream straight from the refrigerator so that it is still cold. There are two main reasons for this.
The first is for health and safety reasons. Both thickened cream and heavy cream are made from milk and these should always be kept refrigerated.
Although they are safe to keep at room temperature for short periods of time, too much heat will make them go sour and can cause illness.
The second reason for keeping the cream chilled is because it helps the whipping process. It will keep the frosting stable and make it easier to get the right thick consistency. Warmer cream can result in a frosting that isn’t as stable.
We recommended chilling the mixing bowl and whisk for similar reasons. If they’re warm, they may cause the cream to become warmer. By keeping the equipment chilled, you will help keep the cream cold.
Can I Add The Food Coloring At The End Of The Process?
We don’t recommend doing this. Food coloring needs to be thoroughly mixed into your ingredients to ensure a smooth and even color.
It’s very important that you don’t overmix your frosting and adding the coloring near the end of the process increases the risk of this happening.
Instead, add the food coloring at the beginning and as you mix the frosting the color will naturally spread as it should.
How Can You Store The Finished Whipped Cream?
We don’t recommend storing your finished whipped cream. Instead, you should use it to decorate your cake immediately after you have finished mixing it.
Whipped cream frosting will very quickly begin to soften and lose the consistency that you worked so hard to achieve.
This will make it much more difficult to work with when you decorate your cake. Firmer whipped cream frosting will allow you to more easily make defined shapes when you decorate.
If you’re not able to immediately decorate your cake for any reason, then you should immediately put it in the refrigerator and use it within one to two hours for the best results.
After 24 to 48 hours the frosting will no longer be safe to consume, even if it has been refrigerated.
What Can I Do If My Whipped Cream Frosting Becomes Lumpy And Separated?
Unfortunately, all you can do at this point is discard your frosting and start again. When the whipped cream becomes separated it is no longer salvageable.
This is why it is so important to not over-whisk your mixture. Make sure that you constantly stop whisking to check if the whipped cream is firm enough to use.
At most, it should only take around one to two minutes to make whipped cream frosting and each second is very important.
Stop whisking when you notice that the ripples in the cream have become more pronounced and thicker. If you keep whisking past this point, you will ruin the whipped cream.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we introduced a recipe for making the best and most delicious whipped cream frosting. We went through the process in great detail and listed all of the ingredients and equipment that are needed.
We gave some hints and tips to ensure that your whipped cream frosting is as perfect as possible, too!
We also answered some questions regarding whipped cream frosting and this recipe.
We hope that all of your questions were answered and you’re able to make delicious whipped cream frosting that you can continue to use for all of your decorating needs.
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