This recipe for whipped icing is a versatile and delicious option for those looking for a lighter frosting. It involves three ingredients: heavy cream, icing sugar, and vanilla. The light, vanilla frosting is perfect for decorating cakes and cupcakes. To make the frosting, chill your cookware and use plastic if you don’t have a metal bowl.
The secret to this magical whipped cream is that it is light and airy with just the right amount of sweetness. Stabilized whipped cream can be spread or piped for a delicate frosting that pairs well with other desserts. Heavy whipping cream and a touch of almond extract are key ingredients in making this frosting.
If the whipped cream becomes chunky or split, it’s likely over-mixed. However, it’s still perfect for piping because it’s thick and sturdy. If the whipped cream becomes chunky, it’s likely over-mixed. Stabilized whipped cream frosting is a lightly sweetened, thick, and fluffy frosting that works on cakes or cupcakes. Stabilizing the whipped cream with pudding or piping gel can achieve a stable decorating consistency.
It’s important not to try very fine work with whipped cream; it won’t hold its shape for fancy decorations like piping borders and flowers. Whipped cream frosting is like a stable whipped cream and pipes beautifully on cakes and cupcakes. Buttercream will hold its shape when used for decorations like piping borders and flowers, while whipped cream will wilt and sag. In general, whipped icing won’t hold the shape for fancy decorations, but a more rustic vibe may be just what you’re looking for.
📹 Buttercream vs. Whipped Cream | THE BEST ICING FOR YOUR CAKE!
Buttercream vs. Whipped Cream: THE BEST ICING FOR YOUR CAKE! In this video, I explore and compare buttercream icing and …
Is buttercream or whipped frosting better for decorating?
Whipped frosting is a lighter and airier texture, making it suitable for desserts like homemade birthday cakes, classic pound cakes, and butter cakes. It doesn’t hold the shape for fancy decorations but provides a rustic vibe. Whipped frosting is also suitable for cupcakes as it doesn’t need to add much to each bite. Strawberry shortcake is another light dessert that pairs well with whipped frosting. However, it’s important to note that whipped frosting lasts only a few days when stored in the fridge.
Can you decorate with whipped icing?
Whipped cream is a versatile and versatile ingredient used in cake decorating. It can be used as a topping for sundaes or pies, or as a delectable frosting for cakes. To create a light, fluffy icing, stabilize the whipped cream with the appropriate quantities of whipping cream and gelatin. Tropolite Whipping Cream is a great option for making whipped cream.
To create a whipped cream icing, mix 1 cup of whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of confectioner sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the icing, spread it evenly over the cake, and angle the spatula towards yourself to distribute it around the edge. Push the icing mound out and away from the center of the cake in circular motions, spreading it to the edges. Use a bench scraper to create a crisp, consistent coating for stacking piped patterns. For a rustic appearance, swirl the whipped cream icing to form waves.
Add piped decorations to the cake, pipe a border around the outside borders, and add flowers or dollops around the top. Buttercream is a popular choice for its flavor and flexibility, making it suitable for both filling and decorative purposes.
Is whipped frosting good for piping?
Whipping cream frosting is a quick and easy eggless alternative to buttercream and other frosting recipes like Swiss Meringue and Italian Buttercream. It requires only three ingredients: 250mL of thickening cream/heavy cream, 40 grams of icing sugar/powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla or lemon flavoring, and a few drops of gel or oil-based food coloring. This light and fluffy cream frosting is stable enough to pipe onto desserts and cakes. Watch the video tutorial for a step-by-step recipe.
Can you pipe store bought whipped frosting?
Store-bought frosting can be too thin for piping onto cakes, so thickening it is necessary. Mix 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar with a mixer, adding more sugar as needed until the desired consistency is reached. Add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. Store-bought frosting can be used over cakes, cupcakes, brownies, bars, cookies, graham crackers, or as a dip for fruit or cookies. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four weeks or freeze for up to three months. To use, let it come to room temperature and stir or whip to bring it back to the right consistency.
What type of frosting is best for decorating?
Royal icing is a popular choice for cake decorating, as it combines powdered sugar, egg whites, and meringue powder or liquid. It provides a consistency similar to pancake batter, making it easy to pour into pastry bags. Royal icing sets quickly, making it ideal for creating designs and flowers. Professional bakers can make decisions on the types of frosting to use, including ganache, glazes, syrups, and paste. Taking it one step at a time will ensure a cake that is proud of its creation.
Which frosting is better for piping?
Simple buttercreams are thick, stable frostings made by mixing ingredients easily. They form a crust for intricate piped decorations and are popular in the American category. True buttercreams require creating an emulsion, requiring more steps and time, to achieve a smooth, creamy texture with no graininess due to dissolved sugars. These buttercreams offer melt-in-your-mouth textures and professional decorating results. To choose a good buttercream, consider their sweetness levels and rank them accordingly. This helps in selecting the right type of frosting for your needs.
Is whipped icing the same as frosting?
Frosting and icing are two types of frosting used in cake decorating. Frosting is thick and fluffy, used to coat the cake’s outer and inner layers, while icing is thinner and glossier, used as a glaze or for detailed decoration. Popular types include American buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, and Italian meringue buttercream frosting. American Buttercream Frosting, a classic birthday cake frosting, is made with creamed butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk, and flavorings like vanilla, coffee, or raspberry.
What frosting do professionals use for cakes?
Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream are popular buttercreams made by whipping granulated sugar and egg whites into a meringue and then whipping butter into that meringue. Swiss meringue is slightly more popular due to its stability and lower sugar requirement compared to American Buttercream. The meringue is made by heating egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until 160°F degrees (71°C), then whipped on a stand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Italian meringue requires making a sugar syrup by heating sugar and water to 240°F degrees (115°C), then whipped into egg whites, cooking them as they are added. Both buttercreams are made by combining the two methods.
Does whipped frosting need to be refrigerated?
Whipped cream frosting, a creamy, lightly sweet, and stabilized frosting, has a shelf life of up to two days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The consistency of this frosting is such that it is ideal for piping onto cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts. As a result, it is a popular choice for those seeking a suitable frosting recipe.
What frosting do professionals use?
Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream are popular buttercreams made by whipping granulated sugar and egg whites into a meringue and then whipping butter into that meringue. Swiss meringue is slightly more popular due to its stability and lower sugar requirement compared to American Buttercream. Swiss meringue is made by heating egg white and sugar over a double boiler until 160°F degrees (71°C), then whipped on a stand mixer until stiff peaks form, then adding butter.
Does whipped frosting melt?
Whipped cream is a popular cake frosting but can be challenging to work with due to issues like melting, leaking, or inability to hold heavier layers. Stabilizers are added to thicken the finished whipped cream, making it last longer and less prone to melting. These stabilizers support the fat or liquid in heavy cream, allowing it to hold on to air bubbles better, creating a more stable frosting for smoothing, supporting large layer cakes, and piping. Six stabilizers have been tested for their effectiveness in cakes and piping, providing a comprehensive guide to choosing the best frosting for your cake.
📹 Stabilized Whipped Cream: Literally Everything You Need to Know
There are SO many methods out there for making Stabilized Whipped Cream, but which one is actually the best? Find out how to …
Hello here 🙂 I am a food engineer and just wanted to give a bit more background about the instant pudding. Modified starch in this case is a native starch, modified with addition of chemicals making it more resistant to process and shelf life and then precooked to give an instant viscosity. The pudding also contains xanthane gum (an hydrocolloid) which support as well the texture. And it contains also some emulsifiers (mono and diglycerides) that support the emulsion you have created. You could also use this technique by using only instant corn starch or only xanthane gum to see the differences you could get. Great article !
You’ll probably never see this. But I used to work at a supermarket where you get those “whipped icing” birthday cakes that you can ask us to put names on. And I’ll give you our biggest tip. Use sifted powdered sugar instead of granulated (about 2 tablespoons per cup of cream). And here’s the magic tip. Buy Clear Piping Gel. It comes in little 10 oz. jars. Just add 2 tablespoons of that per every cup of cream as well, and whip to stiff peaks. It holds for multiple weeks, and doesn’t turn stiff like gelatin. If you’ve ever wondered why supermarket whipped icing is so good. It’s the Clear Piping Gel. Stuff is magic, lol. If you’re curious to exactly how we did it. We pre-chilled the bowl. Then whipped the cream, and sugar together till soft peaks with the electric mixer. Then add your flavorings, coloring, and the pipping gel at this stage. Before beating by hand to stiff peaks. Hope this helps.
This is the type of content I need! I have tried a method where you put mini marshmallows in the cream and let them dissolve in the fridge over night before whipping. It is a safer way to add gelatin and a little cornstarch but it also adds the sugar and the vanilla all at once. It was a tip from a man who’s mother made pies for a diner. It was pretty sturdy and let the cream shine.
i work at a bakery and we make our whipped frosting with instant pudding, and we use all different flavors. our recipe is 2 cups of heavy whip, completley whip it plain until soft peaks, add pudding, and whip until firm peaks form. its amazing. give it about 20 mins in the fridge for the pudding to lose the grainy texture and create a thicker yet still light and airy taste. its soooooooo yummy, my favorite is the white chocolate
As a pastry chef, I suggest to everyone to use sheet gelatine when it comes to stabilizing whip cream. It’s the industry standard and by far the most reliable method I have ever used. You get the stability without having to deal with the lumping complications of powder gelatine. Edit: Sorry to the vegetarians about this one tho. It’s also a good reason to bring up any dietary or allergy limits when buying food that doesn’t label ingredients.
Well done! this is the best presentation I have seen on stabilizing whipped cream and the fact that you critiqued the taste of each and tested each sample in controlled temperatures over a fair amount of time is next level. This is exactly the presentation I’ve been wanting to see … I love your style.
The Frugal Gourmet (old TV cooking show) said that, after you whip your cream, to store it in the fridge in a strainer, over a bowl (use a fine strainer that hooks onto the edge of the bowl so it’s suspended. Cover the whole shebang with saran.) This allows you to make the whipped cream the day or so before you need it. A couple of teaspoons of whey will gradually leak out into the bowl below. It’s this whey which will make your whipped cream deflate over time. I’ve done this for decades (I only make whipped cream a couple of times a year; and I use powdered sugar), and it always works. Maybe this will work for whatever you’re going to use it for, and just make the whipped cream ahead of time.
THANK YOU! My sister treats me like an uncouth peasant for only using our grandmother’s Jello recipe. Whipped cream and instant pudding is where it’s at— especially for our big family cookouts in the summer. You proved our Big Mama right. You vindicated me. I ain’t no ignorant peasant, I’m a good grandson following in the footsteps of a genius thank👏🏾you👏🏾very👏🏾much👏🏾.
I like using a stiff whipped cream on my pies and cheesecakes. Over the years, my fool proof method was using 1TBS of sugar free instant vanilla pudding mix for every 1CUP of whipping cream then add some powdered sugar and vanilla extract to taste. Never had any complaints and doesnt have a gritty taste nor texture.
Yesterday (Easter Sunday), we made stabilized whip cream with pudding and added a splash of rich vanilla to the recipe. It was perfect to top our Easter Southern Strawberry pie – it was great! We are not sure about the longevity of the cream – the pie was gone in less than two hours! I wish I had made two pies! Excellent article! Thank you!
🙋🏼♀️Hello, Actually, I live in the desert so I really needed a good way to stabilize whipped cream on my cakes. I have found that combining methods not only helps with stability but also the flavor. I like to use a combination of gelatin and white chocolate ganache. Sometimes I will even add a little cream cheese to get that cheese cake flavor. There is one thing I didn’t see you use that I will use sometimes and that’s sweetened condensed milk. I’ve also tried using arrow root before because it doesn’t have the same funny mouth feel as the cornstarch does. I found that even agar agar can be used. I’ve also made flavored whipped creams by adding powdered freeze dried fruit. I like combining the gelatin and chocolate ganache because I can also add a dark chocolate ganache to make a yummy chocolate whipped cream. Maybe you’d like to go for a round 2 article by try to combine a couple of the ingredients and also try the other items I suggested. If you do I will defiantly be perusal.to see the outcome. Great article, Take care, Dee😊
In my family’s bakery, we used 1 packet of instant pudding mix with 1qt of whipping cream to make an instant mousse! We would also mix the gel-like fruit filling in to make fruit mousses (e.g. the raspberry puree filling mixed with instant vanilla mouse made raspberry mousse). It makes for a very sweet but very delicious cake filling
❤️❤️❤️ My Mom always used instant pudding with whipped cream for our cakes growing up because no one in our family liked the “Sicky Sweet” traditional frosting🤪!!! My favorite to this day is Pistachio Instant Pudding with Whipped Cream, it’s so delicious and not super sweet. Plus my birthday is in October so the greenish hue always looked Creepy Cool🎃💀😈!
This article is soooo helpful! Thank you!! I’ve been experimenting with different stabilization methods for frosting a layered cake without it collapsing. So far, I’ve been able to find only one that worked pretty well for a two layered cake. Try cream of tartar as the stabilizer.. it’s been the best one I’ve found so far, but I definitely want to find one that can possibly top that for cakes with more layers😄
Thank you….i love to make sponge cake fresh strawberry shortcake with wedding cake pipings and have used King Arthur stabilizer for whipped cream piping. I found that unless it was fully mixed into the sugar I got random hard lumps in the cream….i figured this to be gelatin? While I have had very good results I wanted to find an easier way to stabilize the cream not relying to always make sure I had enough stabilizer on hand at all times so I would not have to mail order for more in a hurry. Having instant pudding on hand makes it less stressful. I can make my own fresh cream cheese easily and will cut down on all but the slightest bit of salt. This was very enlightening and I appreciate it greatly.
In France we use this stuff called Chantifix (chantilly fixer), it uses modified starch (like in the instant pudding) and carrageenan (which is similar to agar agar). It works pretty well. And it’s definitely needed because while fresh cream at about 31% milk fat does exist here, most cream even for whipping is shelf stable ultra pasteurized, that stuff doesn’t hold anything unless there is a stabilizer 😂😂😂😂
I dont know if this is the case for you, but almost all whipping creams I can find contain something called carrageenan. Its produced by some red algae and it serves as a emuslifier and a stabiliser in cream and other foods. It would certainly affect the longevity of your whipped cream depending on if it was added and how much. You can easily find it on ingredient list
Thanks for making this whipped cream test so entertaining as well as informative! Thanks also for ranking the results by weighing all the important factors. I also love the humor! “Welcome to my lab”; ” …pudding in the corner, barely breaking a sweat. “…love the mix of interesting info and playfulness! I was just searching for a quick bit on how to avoid over whipping the cream, and thought no way would I watch this whole thing, but it was fabulous AND I also got what I needed… a great tip on avoiding over whipping, and what to do if it happens. Thank you!!
Great article! In Germany we have something called “Sahnesteif” which is designed for this purpose. The most important ingredient is usually a binder that is effective without heating, such as cold-binding gelatine or modified starch. I personally don´t like using it though because due to the starch – eventhough it is modified- it gives a weird sweetness. Usually over here we do not use sugar in whipped cream which might make that sweetness that the starch has even more present.
With the pudding mix, I think the reason you find it to be kind of “thick and heavy feeling” is because you use too much. Instead of 2 tbsp of the pudding to 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, you should use 1 tbsp of pudding for every 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. This way it’s not “heavy” or too thick. It turns out perfect. Nice and light and holds wonderfully when stored in the fridge.
I don’t know if you saw that but actually instead of putting the melted white chocolat right into the whipped cream, you should maybe do a ganache, the stability is soooo much better: add some really hot cream (~100 g not whipped) to a bowl with your chocolate (~120 g work with any type of chocolate), and stir until it homogenous. Then put a plastic wrap right ON (when I say on it’s literally on the surface touching the liquid so you don’t have any clumps), and put it in your refrigerator over night! When the mixture is cold whip it like regular whipped cream. I’m French and actually live in France and We use a lot this method, the little clumps are gone and the stability is on poiiiiint.:) (Your article was so good I really enjoyed it !!!!!)
Glad I found this article. I always bought Whip it to stabilize whipped cream but it is not readily available and only sold in a couple of stores in Texas. I have tried gelatin and it is always hit or miss with getting lumps. I was thinking of doing a combination of mascarpone and instant pudding mix this weekend.
Glad to have found this article! My family and I only eat cakes frosted with whipped cream, definitely a difficult task to make at home depending on the method of creating the whipped cream. This article confirmed the 2 methods I use most frequently (pudding mix and cream cheese) seem to be the best. I also use the stabilizing powder from Dr. Oetker when I need it stiff, but I don’t have vanilla pudding mix.
My favorite version of whipped cream has a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche added. I worked in a bakery in south louisiana for several years and we used this to ice cakes (which were kept in the fridge, clearly). It gives a similar result to the mascarpone and i really like the less-sweet nature, especially paired with fresh and somewhat acidic fruit like strawberries
I LOVE this article, thank you so much! It’s probably super difficult to get some ingredients, but I’d be super curious to see the performance of different commercial stabilizer products like xanthan gum, gellan gum, pure modified starch, guar gum, pectin, gum Arabic, agar type ingredients (only if they’re convenient to get, of course).
I use gelatin/whippcream myself at home for short cakes and other desserts. But is stead of blooming the gelatin, my recipe is 1 qt cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 packet of Knox Gelatin Powder, and vanilla. I mix the gelatin powder with the sugar and add them both in all in the beginning and whip like normal. By the time the cream is at stiff peaks the suagar and gelatin are fully disolved and i never have issues with lumps! Its super easy that way! But i don’t know if it would beat the pudding still.
I worked for a famous pastry chef who used gelatin in her whipped cream for pies. The key is to find gelatin sheets; you soften them in ice cold water, then squeeze them out and melt them in a small amount of scalded cream. Whisk until smooth and then cool before adding back to the rest of the cold heavy cream. Whip and every is smooth and stable.
As a side-note, for anyone wanting to make smaller batches of whipped cream (e.g., just enough to top a single hot chocolate or coffee), I’ve had luck with a cheap milk frothing wand from Amazon. It’s basically a small electric whisk with a high speed but low torque, so it easily reaches the soft peaks, takes a bit of work to get to stiff peaks, but then runs out of torque before it can manage to really over whip. I’ll use about a 1/4 a cup of cream, maybe less, a tablespoon of sugar, and then just tilt the measuring cup I’m using so I can submerge the wand tip without scraping the sides.
I am originally from Germany and we have instant gelatin powder that is used for stabilizing whip cream, especially for Black Forest cake. I have not seen it here in the United States where I live and have had to use the gelatin method you used. I find pushing it through a sieve before use will get rid of any lumps and make it nice and smooth for piping.
Thanks for going through all that trouble to test the different methods 😆 my favourite in terms of taste and stabilization had been mascarpone and cream cheese. But mascarpone is pricy as you’ve said and cream cheese is a bit or miss depending if the people eating it will like the flavour. So I’ve been sticking to the gelatin method more lately 😅
You can also mix cornstarch and milk, boil, then cool, and use that as a stabilizer, same way you use the cream cheese. Whip it is imo still the easiest solution. It’s what I use when I make bienenstich (bee sting) or other whip cream heavy cakes. Surprised to see the sugar added at the start. Was always taught to add it later, once you have soft peaks. Just crazy that whip it wasn’t included though
You can make mascarpone at home. Just heat 500g of cream to 82-85°C (do not go over 85) stirring constantly, let it cool down to 55-60°C stirring constantly, make it go again to 82-85°C stirring constantly, add 7.5g of lemon juice, let it cool down to 55-60°C stirring constantly. Wait for it to go to room temperature. Drain it in a cloth 24h in the fridge. You should get mascarpone.
The gelatin issue is why I chose a recipe that called for cream of tartar. I didn’t want to take a chance on having to toss my whole batch. After seeing this article, though, I’ll probably go to the instant pudding method. I will, however, say that if anyone is allergic to tartrazine (yellow 5), like myself, to find a dye free instant pudding (such as Aldi’s).
Awesome 4-1-1 on stabilizing whip cream! I just recently made some with the instant vanilla pudding (2 cups of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding, and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract) and it was creamy and tasted so good. I had seen other articles about stabilizing using gelatin and I’m so glad to see the results of your test to know that I”m on the right track. I recently found out that I get headaches whenever I consume anything made with palm oil or palm kernel oil. I get a headache right away. I have had to start making things from scratch. Cool whip has palm kernel oil in it, and so do so many other food items. Thank you! I wish instant pudding came in a flavorless option. I think maybe I’ll skip the vanilla extract next time because it had more of a vanilla flavor. It worked great in my recipe for chocolate delight so I could enjoy it without a headache.
This is such a great article!! – I’ve analyzed so many of these for whipped egg whites etc and I always go back to instant pudding so glad you agree!! Runner up for me is those whip it packets for stabilizing whip cream they also will do the job if you don’t want to add flavor and super budget friendly too
Oh, this was a lovely article to watch and I had a good time with my partner perusal this. Thank you for the breakdown, and I was really happy to see Instant Pudding (one of my two preferred stabilizing techniques for whipped cream icing) be the top selected choice. I was surprised that marshmallow fluff (another common choice) was not part of the roster, and if you ever consider making a part two, I highly recommend it as an option. Subbed to your website, looking forward to more chef-y goodness and hope you make it into the top ranks of Youtube cooking websites, dude!
America’s Test Kitchen has a recipe that cooks the cornstarch, so you get the stability without the raw starch taste. I’ve used it multiple times and it comes out great. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small saucepan, whisk in 1/2 cup cream, and bring to a boil and cook until thickened. Transfer to a bowl, then whisk in 2.5 cups cold cream and 1.5 teaspoons vanilla and whisk to desired consistency.
Great article! I love the time and effort you put in to try many different stabilizers. Also, the two different temp test. I would’ve like to see how they all did at room temp, like a banquet hall with air conditioning but I’m pretty sure pudding would’ve won again. I liked how you rated the top mixes to get the winner as well. Very nice job!
Awesome food lab— thanks! For a better flavor using instant pudding, I might experiment with organic instant vanilla. Should still be relatively inexpensive and convenient to use. The jello vanilla is a bit cloying— I agree with you. Sad that artificial vanilla is even ‘a thing! 😂 but instant pudding does the job!!!❤
Tried this the other day to make a filling for a cake! I did use the 2 tablespoons:1 cup ratio, but I was also able to gradually add in quite a bit of orange juice (and triple sec) to make an orange/vanilla flavored cream filling. Held its form quite well, even when slicing the cake, and SO DECADENT.
Wow this article was extremely helpful. I already have the instant pudding in house and I will pick up some mascarpone. I like my whipped cream to last at least a few days in the fridge so this should really help. We like it on deserts but also the next day for pancakes or waffles. This is how I will make it from now on! bravo!! clap clap I see that this article took a lot of time and effort and I for one really appreciate you doing this. TYVM
So helpful!! I love how analytical you were in the approach that you even scored the methods in different aspects! I’ve always done mascarpone (yes it’s so expensive but tastes amazing) and found that it kinda messes up the definition of the piping. To second some of the other comments, yes please try cream of tartar too and I’d love to see how that performs. Thank you!!
Yes! I guessed at the very beginning that it would be the pudding to take the win! It’s the method I’ve always used. My instant pudding whipped frosting has never gotten any negative feedback, and has always been a HUGE hit with every cake I’ve put out. It’s what I exclusively use for all my cakes (unless specifically asked otherwise by a customer). It’s SO easy, it’s creamy and delicious, and there are tons of flavors to use. Highly recommend! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Love your article!! So detailed! I was wondering if u have tried using a higher percentage of milk fat for whipping? does it make much of a difference? I read from other country’s their whipping creams are 35% or higher but in Vancouver 33% is the most accessible and only Avalon is the only one above 35 (that I know of) :))
I couldn’t disagree more about the appeal/taste of the instant pudding added to the whipping cream. I don’t mind a thick or heavy frosting. In fact I prefer it. And when you use instant pudding with whipping cream you are only limited by the number of flavors that the pudding is available in (example, cheesecake flavored pudding in the whipping cream on top of red velvet cake). One of my favorites is using several cups of whipping cream along with a box of instant chocolate fudge pudding. It’s one of the most heavenly toppings for a cake I’ve ever had.
Very interesting article. Thanks for all your work on this. I have been using gelatin to stabilize my whipped cream for years. The trick for using it and not getting lumps is to whip the cream to soft peaks and while the beaters are still whipping pour the bloomed and melted gelatin in very slowly. Yes, the gelatin is still hot but by pouring slowly it doesn’t matter. Never fails for me.
Great article. I worked in a pastry lab some decade ago, but I remember they used to mix whip cream with vegetable fat in order to maintain it in the fridge for days. I don’t know what the ratio is, but also it would impact the final taste. If we’re talking about maintaining the form for longest, I would definitely reccomend a try.
I’ve been using the pudding method for at least a decade or so. I find a small box of pudding is more than enough for an entire quart of cream and can cover about 24 cupcakes. Tip: white chocolate pudding keeps the whipped cream white (vanilla pudding can be yellow-ish) and doesn’t taste like much. Then you can add good vanilla to taste.
This was so helpful. Im making a banana pudding cake for a wedding reception (they had a wedding cake already, this is the party months later) and was needing a good option for holding up the whipped cream other than using a buttercream or something else. The instant pudding will be a winner and im going to use vanilla bean paste with it. So excited.
I used to spend $2 on whipped cream stabilizer. One day I got to thinking that white chocolate instant pudding might be a good and inexpensive additive. I add 2 teaspoons (not tablespoons – not necessary to add 2 TBSP) to one cup of heavy whipping cream. I also add 1/4 cup powdered or granulated sugar at the end with a tsp vanilla. I was extremely happy with the result, and that was 8 years ago. I have turned many people onto this. Nice to know that my experiment turns out to give the best result. (I got the idea from perusal my mother-in-law whip a packet of instant pistachio pudding into a carton of kool whip to frost a pistachio cake.) If I can’t find instant white chocolate pudding powder, I use vanilla pudding mix. Thanks so much for your testing of different additives and sharing the information. To store, I leave the bowl of whipped cream in the fridge uncovered for two hours till it comes to fridge temp, so no condensation forms. Then I can cover the bowl. This cream will hold up for a week in the fridge. This is such an easy, inexpensive way to do it, that I would not bother with others unless I absolutely had to.
This was great! I’ve been using a recipe for whipping heavy cream plus pistachio instant pudding mix for my yearly green pistachio pudding cake and green frosting – and had no clue it was to stabilize the whipped cream! Two weeks later, found the leftover container of frosting in the frig and is still stable! Don’t worry…not gonna eat it, lol. Thanks for doing this experiment!
This was very helpful, thank you! I’ve been using mascarpone since it’s not only delicious, but a lot more affordable where I live (it converts to around a dolar per cup of cream). But I’m curious to try out the pudding mix. There’s also a powdered whipped cream that exists, I wonder how a tablespoon of that would affect stability.
Hi 🙂 I am a home baker and I used instant pudding for stabilizing my whip cream and it worked wonders for me. Absolutely loved the result and the taste. I wanted to ask, how do we add flavors to the whip cream and still manage to keep it stable? Can I add chocolate flavored pudding mix to the whip cream instead of vanilla to get a chocolate whip cream? Please suggest! Also I add simple syrup between layers to keep my cake moist and juicy and it’s kinda making my cake extremely soft. Could you please suggest any tips to keep my cake stable as well? Thanks! Much appreciated.
Thanks for showing and evaluating all these methods! I haven’t ever tried the instant pudding/modified starch before! Will definitely be using that in the summer. I like the cream cheese one for most applications except for with cream cheese haters (boooo 👎🏼). My current go to is chilling overnight with gelatin bloomed and melted in some cream and then whipping after. If making orders and planning ahead, thats always my go to. I should do a test with that and the instant pudding 🤔 I have seen it get too soft though so seems like modified starch is the way to go. Thanks for this amazing article!
This is by far one of the best whipped cream recipe article’s out there. I have been using gelatin for awhile. but i thought i would give the instant pudding a try based on Sheldo’s review of the flaver and texture.. the pros to the instant pudding was the flavor was good. it was cheaper to get the hint of vanilla without buy a vanilla bean and soaking it in the cream. they con was it did not last anywhere near as long as the gelatin did only a few days while the gelatin could last a couple weeks. later this week, if i have the time, i am going to try putting a tbsp of pudding and then the gelatin as normal. see if i get the same flavor and stability from the pudding plus the longevity from the gelatin. will see how that turns out.
This article has helped a ton. Ive been trying to make a white chocolate, creamcheese, whipped cream mousse for a chocolate truffle tuxedo cake. Needs to be very stable as the filling is equal to the cake layers; bottom layer is a white cake, 2nd layer is white chocolate, creamcheese whip of equal thickness to cake, 3rd layer is a chocolate marble cake, 4th layer is a chocolate truffle mousse, 5th layer is a chocolate cake. Then cover the whole thing with a semisweet chocolate Gamache drizzled with melted white chocolate. With that many layers both the chocolate mousse and white mousse needs to hold consistency. Any tips?
Great article. I have used the cream cheese version, but when I add the vanilla extract, I add a pinch less that my recipe calls for and about 1/8 to a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. It pops it back to a more common whipcream taste. I’m interested in trying the instant pudding since I live in Texas and summer heat is extreme. Thanks for the presentation, and I hit subscribed to your website.
Thank you for these tips. I made some cream puffs last night. My pastry was spot on, hard on the outside and hallow on the inside. My cream just flopped. Using whip cream, sugar and vanilla, didn’t hold up. It wasn’t firm at all. And my piping are a challenge every time I try. It’s sloppy can’t seem to get all that cream while hold up the skinnier bag ever. I wish there was a simpler way to place the cream in the piping bag.
Hi, great article, thank you! I read in the article that it is even better to use white chocolate instant pudding instead of vanilla one. It stays white in color and the taste blends in, without adding to the taste. Have you tried it? Or would you check the difference and let us know. Really aporeciate that!!!
If modified corn starch is the key ingredient here, I wonder if you can make some sort of ermine frosting with the whip cream. Ermine is made with cooked flour, milk and sugar and beat with buttercream. But I know some use cornstarch instead of flour. And I think maybe cooking cornstarch with milk and sugar then whipping it with the cream might help? Or work the same way as the instant pudding?
I’m sorry to ask, looked trough the top comments but didn’t read about it. In Europe we mostly use carrageenan, either buying premixed cream or by adding it (really precise scale required). It keeps the whipped cream really firm and over time depending on quantity used, I saw cakes last hours out over tables at room temp. I’m wondering why you didn’t include it in your article, is it forbidden where you live?
When I first attempted to make whipped cream I failed many times. I bought 4 boxes of gelatine and still have 2 left since I gave up on that method. Tried more powder sugar, corn starch, a little flour one time don’t do that, but the best thing I have tried is Cream Of Tartar. I use cup of cream 1/3 cup powder sugar 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cream of tartar. I stopped using the counter mixer and use hand held I make it in a metal bowl that I put in the refrigerator with the beaters for the hand mixer for a hour. The most important part is mixing it into soft peaks then add sugar and vanilla and cream of tartar then second most important part is mixing it into stiff peaks if you over mix it turns into liquid cream, if under mix won’t stand up. For soft peaks I will put the mixer on the second or third setting but for still peaks only use the first setting. If you wear glasses wear them to see the cream getting stiff. It might still take a couple of batches before you get it right but once you do you will be so happy. If you want to add chocolate don’t melt semi sweet chips I did with a quick spray of olive oil spray since I thought butter wouldn’t work well that didn’t work either instead use cocoa powder I only use hershey’s so I don’t know if any kind would work.
My secret non-pudding pudding choice is the unsweetened custard powders. Dr. Oetkers is probably what you’d find in the USA, but I use Shan. It’s the starches and gums (and usually vanilla which i prefer) but no sugar. My mom also got this ‘collagen’ supplement that they did something to so that it dissolves in cold things easily, and that’s like mondo easy gelatine.
Wondra is a pre-cooked flour that can thicken without cooking and doesn’t have much taste. Cream cheese and mascarpone are also made fairly similarly, acid-curdled cheeses, so if you want to go overboard you could blend/tune a recipe specially for flavoring whipped cream. May be going a bit overboard, but that’s my speed…
When I went to culinary school many years ago, we learned how to make whipped cream to hold for hours outside and days in the fridge, without it melting/separating – and without any strange additives that will take away from the beautiful whipped cream. And I’d like to add that in Europe, it’s not super common to have sugar or flavourings in the whipped cream, of course depending on what you use it for. Anyway. The important steps to make restaurant whipped cream is: 1: always whisk by hand. DO NOT use hand mixers, especially the ones with two whisks that overlap each other like e.g. the one used in the article. This can cut the protein strings in the cream, and these are important for the hold. Instead use a very large bowl and a good whisk so you can, rather literally, whip the cream in the bowl with larger movements – holding the bowl kinda under your arm. 2. As said in the article: the cream needs to be cold! And to be kept cold during the process. This means you will have to whisk a bit and then put the bowl in the fridge for 10-30 min and whisk some more, reappearing this till it’s done. It’s not a lot of whisking overall, just a lot of waiting 😅. 3: if you don’t give a nickel about the cream holding up for several hours, then this method is also quicker than with a hand mixer. You just skip the interval cool downs. Pretty straight forward and you get the best whipped cream texture too. Side note: at school we didn’t even have mixers etc. this meant we also had to whisk egg whits by hand.
This is awesome thank you for doing this experiment lol but it’s just 12 hours to late lol I already made my cake and I used heavy whipping cream icing sugar vanilla extract and Cream of tartar it looked amazing on YouTube and it tasted delicious but I noticed after about an hour of it sitting out while I was decorating it. It started to melt 😭😭😭 But I will definitely be giving the instant budding a shot
I’m not sure I completely agree with your method of jumping straight into the extreme stress test for the first round of elimination (which arguably shouldnt be done with food you ever intend to eat). I’d much rather have seen how each holds up refrigerated so i can know whats worthwhile to do if I just want to make whipped cream a day or two ahead. Then from there you can move the contestants on to stress tests.
I used instant pudding, and my whipped cream turned into a yellow shade of white. Also, there were some orange specs in the whipped cream front the instant pudding. I couldn’t find the Jell O brand of instant pudding, so I’ve been using the Essential Everyday and Great Value brand. I feel like that should not matter. What do you guys think?
So after doing a ton of research I’ve decided to try the instant pudding method today, I have banana cream instant pudding and strawberry flavor oil. My hope is that I can achieve a light strawberry banana flavor in my frosting but I have no idea if it’s going to work so I have the vanilla on standby 😅 Edit: my plan is to use 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 1 tbsp instant pudding to 1 cup of cream Edit 2: I have never made my own frosting before
I make whipped cream from goat milk. The main reason why is that I have some family that allows them to have whipped cream IF it is made from goat milk. Their diets are restrictive and cannot have some fermented or corn starch products. I think if you did anything again on this I would sure like to see processes that allow for the purest form of the product. In fact, my daughter loves the plain whipped cream though I would love to make a more full bodied whipped cream for her, but her diet wont allow for that. Still she says as restrictive a diet she has now, the fact that she can have the whipped cream I make for her she says is fantastic (goat cream and sugar only?) But she said she hasn’t had any ice cream in months, and tells me what a great treat the frozen whipped cream is for her. She and her hubby can now have “ice cream” together! Yeah I got to see if she can have the mascapone version next. Thanks, very good article.
I personally use gelatin. If Im using whipped cream, I want it to taste/feel EXACTLY like whipped cream. The gelatin one holds up really well under normal conditions given room temperature is 20C. I’ve personally never gotten lumps. I slowly pour in the gelatin into a blender at full speed right as the whipped cream finishes whipping. It gets incorporated before it has time to seize
Very well-researched test with a good methodology. I’ve conducted a few experiments of my own based on the information in the article, and I believe I’ve devised a solution which achieves consistent results without compromising on ingredient quality. Before doing anything with the cream, I prepared a zabaglione into which I slowly added two tablespoons of cornstarch—this ensures that the starch is cooked, albeit over low heat in a double boiler (but still better than nothing). The zabaglione gets set aside in the refrigerator to cool just until it reaches room temperature to prevent it from solidifying too much, then incorporated into two pints of cold heavy cream via a stand mixer. The final product holds its firmness considerably longer than with uncooked cornstarch or no stabilizers at all, although next time I intend to increase the amount of cornstarch to see if it yields better results.
You should do a part 2 of this article and test other things like modified cornstarch on its own and xanthan gum on its own also some of the other suggestions in the comments. I tried the pudding and the flavor is just not right. I didn’t make the gelatin my self but when I tried it, it’s kinda gummy and not light
Sheldo, please make more like this, for BROWNIES, with cake mix, or the regular, or any other alternative, for fried chicken, I test like 20 recipes and I still running after the real secret, and like that with everything, you are so explicit and exact, I’m dyslexic and my brain choose what to learn and what not, YOU ARE BY FAR THE BEST I KNOW IN COOKING, Blessings. 10,000 likes and a new subscriber. from Canada.
This is the best stabilized whipped cream article I’ve ever seen. I love the way you went about this, but also you seem very likeable. You’ve also introduced a couple methods I wasn’t familiar with. Totally subscribing. Thanks for choosing to do a YT website. I’m so excited to see what other content you produce.
So it sounds like if cost wasn’t a factor, the mascarpone would be the clear winner. I think if I did this the plain whipped cream and the mascarpone would be the winners and all the rest would be disqualified…and for good reason. When people want whipped cream, they want whipped cream, they don’t want white chocolate, they don’t want pudding, they want whipped cream. I love these elements on their own, pudding, jello, white chocolate but I find when people try to get fancy it ruins what I end up tasting and what I expect. Case in point, I ordered a white chocolate creme brulee once. Nothing about the taste or the texture made me feel I was eating a creme brulee, so they took it back and made a traditional one, which was fantastic. We run into a problem here with buttercream. Many of us are used to grandmothers old fashioned buttercream frosting which is literally butter and cream, a little salt and sugar. The taste is out of this world compared to that whipped lard crap that so many overpriced bakeries call buttercream but it is not buttercream. Real buttercream does not pipe as well but can be done if the baker isn’t a hack and because of the butter gets firmer in the fridge but it is so different. If whipped cream melting is an issue, then chill it or make those dishes in the colder months. Finally, I can see why masccarpone would be fantastic. Most of the tiramisu recipes are essentially some combo of whipped cream and mascarpone and it’s amazing. The real hidden takeaway here tho is to never ever ever use fondant.
What about mixing the Methods? You could try #CreamcheeseandGelatine, even put some Mascarpone in it?! I guess this could go with fresh Fruit (except Raspberries) such as: 🍇 Grapes, 🍓 Strawberries, 🫐 Blueberries or 🍒 Cherries and even 🍊 Oranges! #PuddingandCreamcheese I’d also give it a try, matching fresh or caned Fruit, such as 🍑 Apricots, 🍉🍈 Melons, Figs or fresh Dates, Raspberries, Cranberries, 🍌 Banana and 🍍 Pineapple! I am perusal from Austria, next to Germany in the Middle of Europe. Here we use sth called “Sahnesteif”, which is modified Starch with Sugar and sth to avoid Lumps. As I’ve read, “#LocustBeanGum” or “Carob” (Johannisbrotkernmehl) with Sugar can be an Alernative! This goes with 🥭 Mango, Pitahaya, 🍌 Banana, 🍊 Tangerine or Oranges, eventually Papaya also 🥝 Kiwi (all these Fruit also fit with the first Method). Also 🍎🍐🍏 cooked Apple is possible for a Combination. For me this sounds great cause it is veggie! 😘 👍
Hello Sheldo, Thank you for an amazing article. I love how you rank the taste! And I must agree with you that the easiest is to make it what instant vanilla pudding, even though the taste of the pudding with the artificial vanilla is not the best. I would say that for the future I’ll do it with mascarpone:)). Also, you can make mascarpone from whipping cream there are plenty of the articles on YouTube! It will save you some money😅 😊
Hi! A modified food starch is sold separately in the States called instant clear gel, online so not in stores. This will get you the benefits of instant pudding in the set but not all the other questionable ingredients. The powder is in ziploc bag or jar and is self stable. It is a helpful addition when using instant pudding successfully with almond milk and other alt-milks that need additional starch to set. It can be costly but you get a large bag that lasts! Make sure it says “instant” for this application, the non-instant version makes fruit and juices gel in a pie nicely clear rather than cloudy but wont work for this.
Here’s a fav I’ve found for a whipped topping using the mascarpone (this would work for the cream cheese too – not sure about the other cuz I haven’t tried them). For the best whipped topping flavoring (or if making frosting, use equal amounts mascarpone to cream) you’ve ever had, take one of those bags of freeze dried fruits and use a rolling pin on the closed bag to pulverize them to powder. Then add as much of as little to the whipped cream/ mascarpone after it’s been whipped (and sweetened). The flavor is amazing and it’s pretty colored too. Also, it freezes into a really good substitute for ice cream.
Awesome article, really. I am actually writing a post right now about stabilizing with Instant Clear Jel, which is 100% modified food starch. I’m linking to your article because of your rigorous testing of so many methods. I know my readers will appreciate it, and I definitely appreciated your article. One of my readers actually sent me the link so I could check it out. 🙂
Very interesting! One of my favorit cakes is a raspberry (haszelnut) pavlova, with the inbetween layers being whipped cream with some raspberry puree. I love making it because it tastes fabulous,.. but both the hazelnut merengue and also the whipped cream layers always go very flat.. so with this article I’ve got some methods to try for the filling, but how can I improve the hazelnut merengue? (and where is mascarpone so ridiculously pricey? I live in Switzerland and cream cheese costs about the same..)
What I wonder is the percentage of fat in the cream. I’m from the Netherlands and always work with 35% fat. Now I’m living in France and here I cannot even buy that to my amazement. 30/31 % is the max. So difficult to stiffen and you cannot over stir/mix it. What I saw in the ingredients list of the pudding was xantham gom. Which is what I always use to keep my cream firm. Works like a charm!
Thanks for this article! I’ve always wondered the same thing, and this article helped me so much! Just a quick question for you – Would it be possible to mix the two into one? Like, for example, I like the taste of mascarpone + whipping cream but want this to last longer so I add the instant pudding (or instant cleargel), would that work? 🙂 Thanks!
Fresh is best. I do a basic whipped cream with organic powdered sugar and vanilla. I actually make my own vanilla, in glass bottles, using organic vanilla pods (from Beanilla) and Tito’s vodka. Ina Garten makes her vanilla this way so I simply copied her. I chill a metal bowl in the freezer along with the mixing utensils (I use a Cuisinart hand mixer, the mixers are stainless steel). Once I make whipped cream I serve it immediately. I’m a home cook I’m not putting anything out on a shelf / cake / pie stand to sell. Happy cooking!
This was absolutely AMAZING!!!! 10/5 for the article 👏 Seriously though, thank you so much for doing all of this work it was so much fun to watch and so interesting! I also got my answer for which are the better choices when making whipped cream frosting!! I live in the states, Pennsylvania and found mascarpone for $4.14 for an 8oz container….. which is only $2 more than cream cheese so I am definitely going to try it!!! Thanks again! Great article ☮️💟
Just came across your website. Great article! Sorry if this has been mentioned in the comments, but I can’t read them all to check. First, mascarpone cheese can easily be made at home with two ingredients (see YouTube for a recipe). Secondly, the Stress Baking website has a fabulous recipe for Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting. (I think the title was originally “Stabilized Mascarpone…”.) I’ve made it with the stated 4 oz. of mascarpone, which resulted in a great stabilized whipped cream. I also mistakenly used the entire 8 oz. container of BelGioioso mascarpone, which resulted in a thicker texture more like frosting. Huge hit with the family! So, make it either way—for whipped cream (but also stabilized enough for frosting) or for a more traditional frosting texture. Oh, and the version using 8 oz. can be frozen; just thaw in fridge and stir or re-whip (but not for too long or it might lump up!).
If you scale up a little bit on your gelatin you’ll do fine. That’s not that hard. My grandfather owns a bakery well my uncle owns it now Pap is in heaven. It’s not that difficult once you get the hang of it. You were hitting a good middle ratio but you need to go up a little bit that’s it. My grandfather makes a strawberry white cake whipped cream icing wedding cake that is to die for so delicious. And she holds up at weddings. I can’t wait until they have their 100th anniversary too cool.