There's a bakeshop here that makes great cakes. I used to love their cakes but when I started baking and started frequenting this forum, I realized that their cakes are generally the same recipe with differently flavored frostings so you could distinguish one cake from the other.

I dissected (well, tasted it slowly, actually) their frosting and found out that it is quite light, not too sweet and doesn't have a buttery taste. i googled it and found a discussion about it being a cream-based frosting as opposed to buttercream being, well butter-based.

can anyone tell me what kind of frosting that is? is that like whipped cream frosting? how long does it last? they keep their cakes refrigerated until someone orders a slice.

here's a pic of one of their cakes

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/2092499205_2b5af52424.jpg

It sounds like the type of non-dairy whipped icing they use at our local Wal Mart. I don't care for it myself, but that's okay because it keeps me from eating cake when they have it at work. The only cake I eat at work anymore is my own. I can't handle that fluffy stuff.

It could be Rich's Bettercreme. One of the local grocery stores uses it here. Occasionally I get a client that asks for it. The only thing with this is you need to find a distributor to purchase it. I am having a hard time with that part. Some people say that they can get it at Sam's too.

CarolAnn, is that the kind of icing where you add milk and then whip it up and it becomes icing? their icing actually tastes good, very light and fluffy.

I should have liked to see a link to the info you found on the cream-based frosting.

When I googled, "what is cream based frosting" - this came up:
(A patent for synthetic, sugar-free icing that is shelf stable. Sounds pretty much like Rich's Bettercreme.)

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6616960-description.html

Everything you ever wanted to know about Rich's Bettercreme (or Pastry Pride):

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-1814171-.html

http://tinyurl.com/yv3dn8

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-50338-.html

http://tinyurl.com/23uau4

HTH

i actually would love to know more about it but it was just a message and i think it was like, "Red ribbon uses a cream-based frosting, i think" just like that.

Thanks for the links. I'll go through them after work

Found commercial recipes for cream based frosting and filling (neither of which contain cream).

White cake with cream icing and raspberry filling:

http://tinyurl.com/366d3g

Cream icing, cream filling and decorator's icing:

http://tinyurl.com/37of4q

It appears the term "cream" must apply to the either the texture or appearance and/or the technique of production.

Another example of something being misleadingly named: the New York egg cream which contains neither eggs nor cream... Usually made with Fox's U-bet chocolate syrup (in New York), milk, and seltzer (soda water).

I found the blog that had that entry:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-ribbon-bake-shop-los-angeles

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Red Ribbon Bakeshop:

http://tinyurl.com/ynnrod

The promo states that they only use premium ingredients, so I'd be thinking natural...

But it goes on to state their use of, "unique Red Ribbon cream"...?

Your Coffee Crunch cake is made with some type of whipped topping made with, "unique Red Ribbon cream."

Is this unique topping a combination of real whipping cream and a Rich's Bettercreme type product for increased stability?

Blog about RRB in Vallejo using less than premium ingredients, and the unimpressive butterless buttercream and artificial whipped topping:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/27123

Perhaps another CC member has had the Coffee Crunch cake and can render a more definitive answer to your question.

oh my thanks JanH! these links are fabulous! I didn't know they had Red Ribbon in the States too.

I do agree with the mango cake, I don't like it. But maybe because I'm not a fan of mangoes LOL

I've tasted the "cream based" frosting on the mango mousse cake. If you're still interested, it's the same as IMBC.