Need Whip Cream Icing Advice For Wedding Cake
Decorating By joaaaann Updated 17 Jan 2010 , 12:34am by joaaaann
I don't work with whipped cream icings usually. I do butter cream icings mostly and some fondant. Recently, I had a request for a 3 tier wedding cake that is to be blue and black. I tried to persuade the person to consider butter cream as I am much more comfortable in working with it in general and not so comfortable with using those colors in whipped cream.
She is adamant about the whipped cream frosting tho. I'm afraid my whip won't be as stable as I'd like it to be, to hold borders and deco solid-like. I'm afraid it will fade, bleed and simply lose fluff. I have to do 8 hrs at my other job ea day before I can come home and take care of my daughter's needs and other responsibilities too, so I can't wait till the last day and last minute to complete it and assume it will be perfect my first shot.
I don't mean to whine..so if it sounds like it, I'm sorry. I expect I will need 3 days honestly. I need advice for the best whipped frosting I can get. I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as black whipped frosting and will have to use minimal black detail-butter cream, teeny tiny scroll work...but afraid if I do the detail the day before, it will bleed into the black.
I'm really feeling like I should reconsider taking this request. Any feedback is very appreciated.
I think you're right...whipped cream frosting is not going to do what she wants and she will end up with a Cakewreck, not because of your abilities but because she doesn't understand that what she's asking for can't be done with what she wants.
I don't think you can pipe buttercream on top of whipped cream frosting, I think it will fall off the sides and sink in the top. Also, even stabilized whipped cream will not hold up forever.
If she was wanting the whipped frosting that grocery store bakeries use, I think you could get the bold colors with that and it would hold up for a couple days...that stuff has to be purchased somewhere and then you whip it in your mixer.
What do you think about Bettercreme or Pastry Pride? That's often the "whipped" icing people are referring to. It's stable and can sit out for quite a while without drooping.
However, I think the only way to color it any darker than a pastel would be to frost it, then airbrush it with black or blue. I haven't ever colored Bettercreme, so I don't have experience, but that's what I've heard.
If she's wanting a light blue, you could do that with Bettercreme, but the black would have to be royal or buttercream. And even if you used that for only the black, it could bleed easily.
Conundrum.
One of those orders I wouldn't touch with a ten foot, no, 50 foot pole. It would be fondant or nuttin. Yuch....blue and black BC??? What a mess...everyone's mouths will look like they were just feasting on a Smurf and breaking open ink pens.
I wouldn't recomend whipped icing for a wedding cake.I guess you can use bettercream if you have too.
This is soooooo totally off topic.... I just noticed your location and B-day.... My sister's name is Joann, she lives in OKC by Lake Hefner, and her birthday is in Oct.! It just made me chuckle.... the only way she gets near a cake is with a fork! LOL
I work as a grocery store cake decorator and I try to talk people out of ordering whipped icing for ANY decorated cake. I does not hold color well and I always tell them when they order that if they want their cake to look like the picture they've chosen they better go with butter cream. NO WAY would I ever attempt a wedding cake using a whipped icing. It just will not work. In my opinion it shouldn't even be called "icing".
I wouldn't do it. (I would run far, far away ) It will bleed, badly.... It won't hold up--whipped cream has to be refrigerated up until the last minute or you'll end up with a soupy mess. It will be very rough looking--particularly any piping work (including borders.) It would also probably have to be iced that day.
I have used it for fillings, and I've iced very basic cakes with it, but its not really meant for decorative work.
I think you'd even have trouble with the detail work with the whipped toppings, they hold up better and are typically smoother, but still very light and its hard to pipe details cleanly on top of it.
HTH and good luck
Well I feel so much better now that I've read everybody's feedback. I was really losing faith in my abilities since I was panicked at the thought of attempting this. Now I see that most would feel the same as me. That helps booster my confidence level. Thanks guys . I am just going to tell her to change her mind or continue looking ( "in the nicest possible way of course"). It's my reputation on the line. Not that my name is well known really, but it may never be heard of again if I go further with that idea. People would ask my name just so they would know who 'not' to go to for a cake in the future, haha. Not taking that chance.
AND btw, to Lorieann55 .... I actually live in that area myself. I travel Lake Hefner parkway to work every day.
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If it's the sweetness that bothers her what about IMBC? It's not sweet, just buttery. If you have a bit of time to practice. The only problem is you have to have fridge space for a bit, which I don't have. Lots of people here use it though.
Well I haven't tried this technique before. I've skimmed over it in previous posts but never really considered it. If this is as stable as butter cream, but with a smoother 'whip' texture (?) and less sugary taste, maybe I will consider a 'practice' cake with this. I'd like to know tho, after reading teh recipe,...it mentions that the heat isn't enough to kill salmonella and may consider using egg beaters optionally..how does it compare by taste? Is there a reason a person wouldn't want to use egg beaters?
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