I made a strawberry shortcake tonight. This is my first strawberry shortcake so I used the light whipped cream in a can to place in the middle and on the top layer. I had to place the cake in the refrigerator ASAP b/c the whipped cream was starting to melt.

Should I have used the heavy whipped cream instead or should I have just waited until the cake is served to put the whipped cream on the cake?

The canned whipped cream won't hold up for very long. It deflates and gets runny. You can add it right before serving though. Whipped cream made from heavy whipping cream will hold up much better but still need to be kept refrigerated. I usually keep all of my ingredients separate and then assemble right before serving.

Thanks Lisa, my shortcakes look a mess right now but I'll just add more whipped cream when we serve them tomorrow.

It's a good thing these aren't paid orders or I would be making a batch of stablized whipped cream to save the cakes.

One more question, can I put the strawberry shortcake in the freezer until tomorrow morning or will that make the cake worst than it is?