How to Decorate With Stabilized Whipped Cream Icing

Professionals have a wide range of toppings at their disposal for decorating a cake. Buttercream comes in a variety of textures for different purposes, fondant can be used to make a perfectly flat, smooth surface, and royal icing makes hard, almost indestructible decorations. One of the simplest cake toppings for cake is whipped cream, stabilized by the addition of ingredients such as confectioner's sugar, cream of tartar or gelatin. Stabilized whipped cream has the consistency of a meringue-type buttercream, but is quicker to make and easier to work with. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Pipe a decorative perimeter of stabilized whipped cream around the top of a cake that will be decorated with fresh or preserved fruit. This will help prevent fruit or fruit juice from leaking down the sides of the cake.

Fashion a small pillow of stabilized whipped cream on each slice of a cake and use it as a base for fresh fruit garnishes such as strawberries. The sweetened whipped cream complements the berry flavor and absorbs any juices before they can discolor the cake's icing.

Use soft, easily-piped whipped cream to make decorations or borders around your cake. It is easier to work with than buttercream and easier to scoop from the cake if you make a mistake.

Fill between layers of a cake with stabilized whipped cream, to add richness and moisture with less fat than a buttercream. The whipped cream can also be used as a border to keep pastry cream or fruit filling from sliding out of the cake.

Ice an entire cake with stabilized whipped cream, in the same way you'd use boiled icing or a similar meringue-based buttercream. The whipped cream can easily be smoothed to a professional-looking surface or left in rustic, homestyle tufts and swirls.

Tips

- Cakes iced with whipped cream must be kept refrigerated until they are served, to prevent loss of quality. They should be eaten on the day they are made.

- Whipped cream icing is not suitable for use on very hot, humid days, as it will break down quickly once it is taken from the refrigerator.