Chinese Bakery-Style Whipped Cream Frosting

This style is used by Chinese bakeries to frost their cakes. It is much lighter and much less sweet than Western style frostings. As a result, it's often a favorite in my family, and it took quite a bit of research before I finally found this recipe - but it was totally worth it! My mother in particular was ecstatic with the results when I made her birthday cake using this.

• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 tsp unflavored gelatin - can be found in the supermarket in the Jello section.
• 2 cups (1 pint) of chilled heavy cream
• 2.5 tbsp of confectioner’s sugar

​​Flavor options:

• Plain: 1 tsp vanilla
• Strawberry: 4 oz pureed strawberries + 1 tbsp strawberry powder or extract
  

---

1. Place your mixing bowl and wire whisk(s) into the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes before using them to prepare the whipped cream. This will ensure that the cream stays as cold as possible. 
2. Add the unflavored gelatin to a small bowl with the 2 tbsp of cold water. Let it soak for about 5 minutes and then dissolve the gelatin into the water by holding the bowl (carefully) over a pot of simmering water to slowly heat it while continuously stirring. Once dissolved, the gelatin and water should be almost clear. Set aside and let cool to a luke warm temp, but do not let the gelatin cool or sit too long or it will harden.
3. Take your chilled mixing bowl and wire whisks out of the freezer and add the 1-pint of chilled heavy cream to the mixing bowl. Beat the cream in your mixer or with your hand mixer in the following manner:
4. Beat the cream slowly until it just starts to form bubbles (30 sec.).
5. Increase the mixing speed to medium until the wire whisk leaves some trails in the cream (30 sec.).
6. Increase the mixing speed to high and mix the cream until it becomes billowy. Add the sugar and your flavor option of choice carefully while continuing to mix until the cream becomes just stiff. The cream will begin to stiffen within a minute of adding the sugar. As soon as the cream is just becoming stiff, add the dissolved gelatin while continuing to mix. Once the gelatin is added, the cream will further stiffen and dry out. After adding the gelatin, continue beating the cream for about 30 more seconds or until you are satisfied that it is stiff enough, but not too dry or clumpy.
7. Once you are finished with beating the whipped cream, use it immediately for frosting the cake, or refrigerate it for later use. If refrigerating the cream for later use, be mindful of the fact that the cream may stiffen slightly when refrigerated, but it will loosen up again once you start working with it.