This whipped cream frosting is light and fluffy and everything you could want in a frosting! It is easy to make, great for cupcakes, and is a firm frosting that holds its shape!
Who doesn’t love a good whipped cream frosting?! One of the frustrating things with making whipped cream frosting is that it doesn’t hold its shape very well and has to stay cold. That is UNLESS you make stabilized whipped cream frosting! With the addition of a little gelatin you can have whipped cream frosting that lasts for hours unrefrigerated and days if refrigerated! YAY!
Homemade Whipped Cream Frosting!
How to make whipped cream frosting?
- Whip your heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar until soft peaks form
- Dissolve gelatin in water by microwaving for 10 seconds, stirring; repeat two more times until fully dissolved.
- Add gelatin to whipped cream once it's cooled slightly and whip until stiff peaks form.
- Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
- Pipe onto any cupcake or cake!
Help my whipped cream turned into a watery mess!
This most likely due to the gelatin mixture being too warm when you poured it in or the whipped cream not being whipped into soft peaks when you added it.
Tips for making stabilized whipped cream:
- Refrigerate the mixing bowl before using so it's nice and cold.
- Allow your gelatin mixture to cool slightly before adding it to your whipped cream. If left to cool too long it will solidify and not be usable.
- While gelatin is cooling (for maybe a minute or two) stick your whipped cream in the fridge.
- After mixing up your stabilized whipped cream, refrigerate it for a half hour to let it set up fully.
Stabilized whipping cream frosting is great for decorating!
Can you add food coloring to whipped cream?
Yes! Add the food coloring in at the beginning, when you are whipping the cream and sugar the first time.
Can you use cornstarch to stabilize whipped cream?
Yes! And with this recipe you already are. Cornstarch is an ingredient in most store bought powdered sugars! Weird right!? But that corn starch in addition to the gelatin help this whipped cream frosting stay firm!
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Where do you buy gelatin in the grocery store?
Unflavored gelatin can be found in the baking isle near all the jello boxes. I typically use the Knorr brand.
How long does whipped cream frosting keep? How to store whipped cream frosting?
Use this frosting within 2-3 days of making it. Store unused frosting in an airtight container to keep it tasting the freshest!
What do you like to decorate with whipped cream frosting? Let me know in the comments below!
Use this frosting to frost my easy white cupcakes or chocolate cupcakes! I used this recipe to frost my 4th of July cupcakes it was perfect!
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Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 tbs gelatin
- 6 tbs water
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract* optional
Instructions
- Make sure to read my tips in the post above before starting!
- In a large cold bowl, add whipping cream, clear vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Using a whisk attachment with an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer whisk the whipped cream and powdered sugar on medium high speed until soft peaks form.3 cups heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract*, 1 cup powdered sugar
- Soft peaks mean the whisk when taken out of the cream will leave a peak that will fold over on itself. Another indication of soft peaks is when the whisks leave a trail in the cream when it’s whipping it. This process will take 3-5 minutes to attain.
- When cream is making soft peaks, set aside (or refrigerate if your kitchen is hot) for the moment and in a microwave safe bowl stir together the gelatin and water.1 tbs gelatin, 6 tbs water
- Place the dissolved gelatin in the microwave and heat up in 10 second intervals, stirring after every 10 seconds. Do this for a total of 30 seconds.
- Allow the gelatin to cool slightly but NOT solidify- if that happens you will have to start over with it (try reheating or using new gelatin).
- Turn your mixer on and start whipping the cream on low. Pour the mildly warm, still liquid gelatin mixture into the whipped cream.
- Whisk the whipped cream and gelatin on high for another 3-5 minutes until stiff peaks form. This means when a whisk or spoon is taken out of the whipped cream it leaves a peak that doesn’t fold over on itself.
- Refrigerate the frosting for 20-30 minutes to help it really set up.
Sharai Hefty says
Can you use other flavorings??
Lisa says
Yeah other alcohol based extracts should work fine 🙂
Becky says
What do you use to color the frosting?
Lisa says
I recommend using a little gel food color- Americolor is a good brand.
Dayle Rounds says
In recipe instructions, you refer to "whipped cream" in #'s 2 and 4. As the cream is not already whipped but is in process, shouldn't it say "whipping cream?" Not to be critical, but it was a little confusing for me. I'm excited about this recipe -- can hardly wait to try it!!!!
Lisa says
Good catch! Fixed it 🙂
Stephanie Anderson says
I’m so excited to try this! I’m curious if you have to add the food coloring in the beginning? I need to make a rainbow cake so I have to use a punch of colors but don’t want to make that many batches of whipped cream frosting. Any suggestions?
Lisa says
I'd try folding it in at the end after you refrigerate it, or if it doesn't need to set up if the fridge you can fold it in after whisking. Also- make sure to fold not stir so you keep the air in the frosting that you just whipped 🙂
Amanda says
I have made this icing twice now for decorating cakes, and it has turned out great both times! Its a huge hit with my in-laws, however I find it a bit too sweet myself. My grandma used to use Nutra whip for her cakes which wasn't as sweet. If I cut back on some of the powdered sugar will I need to substitute something else in it to keep constancy? Thanks!
Lisa says
So glad you've enjoyed the recipe! I have never tried any powdered sugar substitutions so I really don't know. But if you do try please let me know how it goes!
Cindy says
This was disappointing. Year after year I see other moms bake wonderful cakes for their kid's birthdays and I finally thought that this would be the year I had success. I used a wonderful French sponge cake recipe and was planning on using the whipped cream topping that I had already experimented with two weeks ago, until I discovered the night before the big day that a stabilizer is needed if you want to pipe icing (which I did, for a Harry Potter cake). I had such high hopes but like many others, the frosting (and I attempted different batches of different colors) was a complete and total flop. It may well be that the gelatin was too warm but the notes are so clear that it doesn't take long to cool and warns against hardening that I probably erred on it being still too warm. I'm reluctant to put the cake topper on now for fear what might happen, it's turning into a real liquidy mess....
Lisa says
A lot of people will freeze their whipped cream topping decorations - like pipe flowers on wax paper then freeze- to help them stay their shape. Temperature is a big deal when it comes to frosting- both with this one and buttercreams. Too hot or too cold and you can break the mixture- and with this recipe in particular adding warm liquid to cold makes it a little more tricky. When you dyed it different colors did you continue to beat it with the whisk attachment to keep the air in it? I'm sorry it didn't work out well for you. Perfecting decorating cakes just takes lots of time and practice. I'd suggest trying a good buttercream recipe and working on decorating with that- they are much easier to color and decorate with. That's what I did with this harry potter cake.
Nataley Perez says
Maybe next time put the insructoins on top that would be very helpful!!
Lisa says
At the beginning of the post? There is a Jump To Recipe button at the top. Check that out next time- thanks!
Lena says
Works great. But I pour the gelatin into the soft whipped cream through a tea strainer in case of a few cooled lumps. This helps with the problem that if too hot it destabilizes the whip cream but if too cool it gets a lump or two! I prefer to err on the side of maybe too cool.... I also have the mixer running when I pour the gelatin in. But this needs a stand mixer, as one hand pours, the other holds the tea strainer. Hard to pipe if there are lumps. Clogs nozzle. A half a recipe does a small cake nicely. Do put in fridge a while before piping.
Lisa says
Thank you! And those are great tips!! I am so glad you like this recipe!
Nataley Perez says
I agree!
Rose Martine says
I so enjoy your site and your recipes. Would you please consider adding a print option so we can enjoy your recipes a little more easily. Thank you.
Lisa says
Oh I love hearing that! And there is a Print Recipe Button and the top of every page and in the recipe card of every recipe 🙂
D. Morgan says
I used the ingredients and added to the sugar and vanilla to compensated for using a quart of heavy whipping cream. I stabilized it with a tablespoon of Wilton clear piping gel. If you do a lot of this kind of icing, purchasing the gel will be worth it. No need to cool because it is premade and it blends with the whipped cream with no lumps.
Lisa says
What a great idea to add the clear piping gel!
Staci says
Quick question...How does it only make 2 cups when recipe calls for 3 cups cream and one cup pow sugar?
Lisa says
Great question- I think I was being conservative in the quantity. It probably makes closer to 3 or 4 cups. The sugar and cream combine together to form the whipped cream and it isn't necessarily equal to the amounts you add to make the frosting. The powdered sugar absorbs the liquid but doesn't double or triple in volume. I'm making this frosting again soon and I'll double check the volume!
Jamie McFadden says
I had what seemed like small chunks of gelatin with in the whip cream. Did I not whip it long enough?
Lisa says
It sounds like the gelatin set up a little too much/cooled before mixing it in.