The One Type Of Frosting You Should Never Make Ahead Of Time

With every cake, there's an equally delicious frosting gently layered between. Buttercream frosting is perhaps one of the most popular frosting types, with about six different variations in itself including Swiss meringue buttercream, French buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream, German buttercream, Ermine buttercream, and regular buttercream (via WebstaurantStore). There's also cream cheese frosting, whipped cream frosting, fondant, ganache, fudge frosting, and seven-minute frosting. Each frosting type has certain applications for which they are better suited.

For example, Swiss meringue buttercream is traditionally used for wedding cakes, ganache is great on cheesecakes, cream cheese frosting is perfect for carrot cake, and French buttercream is ideal for fruit tarts and cupcakes. Although some of the various frosting types can be made ahead of time to save on preparation work, there is one frosting type in particular that can't really be made ahead of time due to the sensitive ingredients it's made with. However, there are a few fixes you can make to help the frosting hold its shape longer, and here's the breakdown.

The one type of frosting that doesn't handle being made ahead of time too well is one that's made primarily with whipped cream. What gives whipped cream frosting its thick yet airy composition is the amount of fat that's in the whipping cream, which is usually around 33 to 35% (via Blue Flame). The act of whipping the heavy cream helps incorporate the fat throughout the cream as well as add air, making it light and fluffy yet thick and somewhat stable. Typically, homemade whipped cream will only remain stable for about two hours because the fat in the cream eventually separates from the water, leaving a flat product.

Luckily, there are a few ingredient additions to homemade whipped cream that can help stabilize the product further, making it last longer and able to be made a little bit more ahead of time than before. To make stabilized whipped cream, a few additions include cornstarch, gelatin, cream of tartar, sour cream, Greek yogurt, and crème fraîche. Cornstarch and gelatin are popular thickeners, while the cream of tartar is a common stabilizer. Sour cream, Greek yogurt, and crème fraîche contain acid and fat, which are both extremely helpful in further stabilizing whipped cream. In addition to having all of the ingredients as cold as possible, it's also important to have all of the equipment you'll be using, such as bowls and whisks, cold, too.