My boss is celebrating her 50th birthday next week and I am making her cake for our office celebration. She wants a chocolate cake shaped like a hippo (a WHOLE nother issue unto itself) with raspberry cream filling and, as she discribes it 'white frosting'.

I asked if she meant buttercream. To which she stated, emphatically, NO. She does not like buttercream AT ALL. She likes 'white frosting like you get at the bakery'. I asked if it was okay to color the frosting with food coloring. She said that was no problem, but just not buttercream.

Does she mean frosting made with ALL shortning? Or something else? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Probably stabilized whipped-cream icing.

wow, I have idea*BUMP*

I think she means that super sweet frosting usually it's found on cupcakes. I work at a supermarket bakery and that frosting has been increasingly popular lately. If your not familiar with it, it is similar to canned frosting. HTH

I agree it's probably the stabilized whipped-cream icing.....

Keep on baking....

Cindy

She might mean rich's bettercreme like at sam's club and walmart.

Okay, I think we are onto something here! I have never made stabilized whipped cream before, but it looks easy enough. Question though. Is it stiff enough to put in a frosting bag or do I just have to frost the cake with a spatula and call it good?

A lot of bakeries use Bettercreme. I bought a large tub of it from the Sam's Club bakery.

Is Bettercreme shortning based? Any place I can get it besides Sam's Club? We don't have one in Oregon that I am aware of.

You can get Bettercream or Pastry Pride (same sort of thing) at Smart & Final as well. This is a non-dairy whipped topping that is used in many grocery store cakes.

...so whats the recipe for this stuff?

I would use Pastry Pride, I get mine at smart & final.
Good Luck!

Smart & Final must be a regional store. We don't have them here in Oregon. I will look for Pastry Pride and Bettercreme at some of our bigger chain stores. Perhaps the specialty cake store would have it as well. I am interested in seeing what it is made of and what its application/uses are.

Here's a pic of a cake I made with a whipped cream frosting. It's not the easiest to decorate with but it is possible. The top and sides also have white chocolate shavings on them.

Lazy_Susan

Susan- That looks FANTASTIC and I think I want a piece. Um, like now!

I don't know if whipped cream is going to work very well for my hippo though. Hmmmm.

Maybe the buttercream icing that bakeries use to make a long time ago? I have several people who won't have anything else. Its quite good. I use the recipe for Classic Buttercream. Silvia Weinstock published the recipe in her book: Sweet Celebrations The Art of Decorating Beautiful Cakes by Sylvia Weinstock with Kate Manchester. (Simon & Schuster) I am not sure which forum had the recipe posted? I tried it and most people prefer it over other decorator icings made with crisco.

Buttercream Icing
The author says: "All my cakes are done in buttercream icing. It's a finer finish and tastes better. Once you try this buttercream icing, you will never use a commercial icing again."
3-1/2 cups white sugar
13 large egg whites
3 pounds (12 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into half sticks
6 tablespoons clear vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 3/4 cup water, mixing with a wooden spoon until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Place the pan on the stove, and use a clean pastry brush to paint the area just above the water line with water. Turn the burner on to medium and heat, watching the sugar mixture to be sure it does not caramelize or burn. Lay a candy thermometer in the pan and simmer the sugar-water mixture without stirring until the thermometer reaches 240 degrees F (soft-ball state); this will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
As the sugar nears the required temperature, place the egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Using the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they turn from opaque to white and begin to hold soft peaks. They should be at least double in volume in about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not overbeat.
Turn the mixer on high and very carefully and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture in a very thin stream near the edge of the bowl and into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Beat for 20 to 35 minutes on medium to high speed. The egg whites will lose some of their volume and the mixture should resemble a very thick meringue. The outside of the bowl should be moderately warm to touch.
At this point, reduce the speed to medium or low and add the room temperature butter pieces, one at a time. The mixture will break and begin to look like cottage cheese, but don't worry. Keep the mixer running, continue adding butter, and let the mixer whip the buttercream until it begins to get smooth once again; this could take up to 10 minutes. Once the mixture is smooth, add the vanilla and beat for five minutes more. The buttercream is now ready to be colored or chilled. (If the buttercream is too soft, chill for 10 minutes and then whip again. If this doesn't work, cream 4 tablespoons of chilled butter, and then gently whip the creamed butter into the buttercream, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until the buttercream is smooth and there are no lumps.)
Makes about 12 cups, more than enough to ice and decorate most cakes; Leftover buttercream can be frozen for up to three months.

BE SURE YOU HAVE A LARGE MIXING BOWL BEFORE YOU START-THIS MAKES 12 CUPS

Do you have a costco? They are like Sams. Riches makes other products like bread dough and donuts besides bettercreme, by the way it also comes in chocolate. You might try a restaurant that makes their own cakes and pies, they might use it and you could order it from their supplier. I prefer Rich's, it holds up better and makes pretty good Roses. Pastry Pride is too Whip creamy and seems to get more air in it, thus making holes in the icing. On either one be careful not to over whip, or it will be real airy and will not smooth pretty. You cannot use your paper towel method to smooth, this icing does not crust. Your grocery stores will probably use it, if they will sell it to you.

Susan- I would love the recipe! Thanks for sharing.

cupcake- I never thought of just buying it from a commercial bakery. Silly me! That is a great idea! Also, we do have Costco here. I will call them tomorrow.

Hi,
I did a cake recently with Rich's Non-Dairy Topping, and it looks good, tastes ok, and it is possible to get a reasonably smooth surface with it. It is also possible to pipe larger decorations with it (after whipping a little longer)
All the best,
Karen

If I were you I'd make 2-3 different batches and take to her and let her decided which one she wants on her cake instead of guessing.That away you don't ruin her birthday cake because she doesn't like the icing. Just my thought.

You can use the whipped cream butter cream recipe on this site, there is no butter in it. I have been told it taste just like Publix frosting. Very light and not so sweet. Here two cakes that I decorated with this frosting.

When I have a customer that wants bettercream I buy it from the bakery at my local supermarket. Their very good about selling it to me. Call and ask them if they'll sell it to you. Worse they can say is no.

I would bet it's shortening frosting. Talk to Carol or somebody at Decorette Shop on foster. They can help you with just about anything. They have a great little sheet of recipes and you'll totally love the store. Nice folks.
http://www.thedecoretteshop.com/aboutus.cfm

no one mentioned seven min frosting...could that be what she was reffering to?

She may like the WBH house BC if she means not sweet and not BC.It is primarily shortening!! Many do not like the greasy texture but customers love it because it is not sweet and is fluffy and light like the bakery icing.

Gosh, I miss Smart & Final. That was one of the true luxuries of California a Smart & Final in every area.

I miss smart and final too, especially the pastry pride! We don't have any here in Southern Utah either!

Do you think she means whipped cream frosting? Isn't any crisco based frosting a buttercream or must there actually be butter in it? I know in America, we all call the Wilton frosting buttercream and there is no butter in it and true buttercream sometimes is the italian merringue but is more rich.