Light, airy, and just sweet enough, we think homemade whipped cream is right up there with the most wonderful things on earth, like puppies and rainbows. It takes so little time to whip up and tastes so much better than the stuff in the can that we make it from scratch as much as we can. And if you take that simple deliciousness and make it into a frosting… it just can’t get any better.

We love to use whipped cream frosting on cakes, cupcakes, and pretty much anything we can find in the kitchen, but it can be a little tricky since it is sensitive to temperature and will flatten out over time. The trick is to use a stabilizer to ensure that the cream stays nice and fluffy and whipped until you serve it. We like to use a little bit of powdered gelatin dissolved in water as a stabilizer. Many cooks have their own tried and true tricks, but we think our version makes the BEST whipped cream frosting around. Another bonus with stabilizing whipped cream is that you can make it ahead of time and it will stay fluffy in the fridge. That sure beats doing everything at the last minute!

If you’ve made whipped cream before, you know that pretty much the only key to it is to make sure that your cream is cold. It can help to chill the bowl and beaters too, but unless it’s like a sauna in your kitchen you shouldn’t run into any trouble if you skip that step. If you can work an electric mixer – or if you have really great arm muscles and can hold a whisk – you can make whipped cream frosting that will knock the socks off of just about anybody.