Stabilized Whipped Cream for Icing

This was a lesson in humility.

This cake was for my husband's birthday, so you can imagine that I wanted to do a great job. Lemon is his favorite flavor, so I made a white cake (using the KAF recipe for Tender White Cake) with lemon curd filling and whipped cream icing. I modified the lemon curd recipe from BakeWise, and confidently documented it.

Well, it didn't thicken in time.

So I decided to go ahead with blogging about the stabilized whipped cream instead. Jim still loved the cake; I will serve a funny-looking cake, but not a bad one.

I modified this method from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

I cooked 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a small saucepan. I brought the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly with a silicone scraper.

I then transferred the "pudding" to a bowl and refrigerated it until cool. This didn't take very long, with only 1/2 cup liquid.

Before I was ready to serve the cake, I put the mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer. When they were cold, I whipped 1½ cups heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract on high speed to soft peaks.

The I switched the mixer to medium-low and spooned in the chilled "pudding", allowing each spoonful to incorporate before adding the next.

By the time I finished, the cream was at stiff peaks.

I frosted the cake, being just a little more gentle than usual. I served it immediately, but I could have held it for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Whipped cream should not be kept very long at room temperature, especially on a hot day, as will melt and drip.

If you want whipped cream that will hold at room temperature, you need to use gelatin. I couldn't find my gelatin—I really need to organize my baking supplies :-) The cornstarch is softer than gelatin, and I couldn't taste it.

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