This stabilized whipped cream is my all-time favorite, and it can be ready in 15 minutes! It’s light and airy – perfect to top cupcakes or ice cream, dip fruit in, or just eat by the spoonful.
When it comes to frosting or whipped cream, the first thing I always do is assess if my favorite mascarpone frosting would be a good fit. It’s my default, go-to recipe.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine something that it wouldn’t go well with, but I suppose I’m slightly biased. It’s light, airy, and super easy to pipe with any kind of decorating tip. You could also just use an icing spatula to frost a cake! But it’s not the kind of frosting that crusts, so don’t think of it as a substitute for a crusting buttercream.
What is mascarpone cream used for?
You’ll find mascarpone cream in savory meals like baked pasta dishes to add a rich and creamy element. As for sweet dishes, you probably know it best as an ingredient in tiramisu. In the case of this whipped cream, I’m using at as a stand in for cream cheese. I like the texture and flavor better, and it works out beautifully.
Does this recipe look familiar?
This recipe should ring a bell, because you’ve probably seen it a few times:
- Pavlova with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes
- Strawberry S’mores Icebox Cake
- Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Mascarpone Whipped Cream & Honey
- Strawberry Rhubars
There are even more posts where it’s been used but not mentioned by name, so if you feel like playing a game of “Where’s Waldo?”, start looking through the archives!
Why I’m so in love with this mascarpone frosting:
This isn’t the kind of whipped cream you get from an aerosol can. That kind of whipped cream loses its shape as it sits, and eventually gets melty and less than appetizing. But this whipped cream? It’s perfect.
- It won’t lose it shape (and I’ve had it on top of cupcakes for multiple days and it never budged) and it won’t melt at room temperature. Now, if you take it to a BBQ that’s outside on a 95 degree day… I can’t make any promises. I start melting at that point, so you can’t blame the whipped cream.
- It can support garnish, like fruit or sprinkles, without any trouble. Although, full disclaimer: if what you topped it with has color (like rainbow sprinkles or strawberries), it will eventually bleed into the whipped cream. So don’t top it until just before serving!
- Once you’ve made it, you don’t need to re-whip it to get back the right consistency – it stays exactly the way you made it (as long as you store it in the fridge).
- It can go on anything! Cupcakes, cake, ice cream, pie, brownies, hot chocolate, fruit, your face, macaroni and cheese… wait, not that last one.
How to make mascarpone whipped cream
There are a few key elements to this mascarpone whipped cream:
- My favorite mascarpone cheese to use is the classic BelGioioso in the white and green container, and I can usually find it in any grocery store. Make sure it’s fresh out of the fridge and cold – it makes a difference!
- The mixing bowl needs to be as cold as you can get it. Stick it in the freezer for an hour before you start prepping the recipe, it helps!
- I make my own using vanilla beans and vodka, but that requires a lot of planning ahead! So if you’re tight on time, I highly recommend this Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract (aff link). It’s on the pricier side, but I truly believe it’s worth it. If you need to keep things budget-friendly, Rodelle pure vanilla extract (aff link) is always a solid choice.
- Also, you definitely want a KitchenAid for this recipe, because your arm is going to get tired if you use a hand mixer (aff link).
- And if you’re fancy schmancy and you have one of those stainless steel whipped cream dispensers, load it up! I’m not fancy, so mine just goes into a sealed plastic container… if there’s any left to store, which isn’t often. Seriously. One time I made a half batch of this and just sat down on the couch and ate it with a large spoon, right out of the mixing bowl. Okay, fine – it was a full batch. And maybe it was more than once.
But once you make this, you will in no way judge me.
…okay, maybe you’ll still judge me a little bit.
Other recipes to pair with this mascarpone frosting:
- Salted Nutella Fudge Brownie Gelato
- Paleo Double Chocolate Brownies (it’ll kinda negate the paleo, but YOLO)
- Black Forest Sundae
- Fudgy Chocolate Banana Brownies
- Gingerbread Ice Cream
- No Churn Homemade Americone Dream Ice Cream
- Oreo Ice Cream
- Chocolate Avocado Pudding
After you’ve made this recipe, please leave a comment below with a rating – and if you came from Pinterest, add a photo of what you make to the pin to share your experience!
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Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: More than enough for 12 cupcakes
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This stabilized whipped cream is my all-time favorite, and it can be ready in 15 minutes! It’s light and airy – perfect to top cupcakes or ice cream, dip fruit in, or just eat by the spoonful.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces mascarpone cheese (I use Belgioioso)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Chill a large mixing bowl in the fridge (optional, but strongly encouraged).
- In your chilled bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and sugar on a high speed until completely combined.
- Add vanilla and heavy cream, and mix on a low setting until it is mostly combined. Now increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form – it may take a little while, so be patient!
- Once cupcakes have completely cooled, fit a piping bag with desired tip and go to town with frosting your cupcakes.
Equipment
Buy Now →Notes
- You can use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer (aff link) for this recipe, but a stand mixer will save your arm from getting sore!
- Don’t over-whip the mixture because you’ll end up with a weird butter! Mix on high speed just until stiff peaks form.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Whip
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: whipped cream, whipped cream frosting, easy whipped cream, easy frosting, stabilized whipped cream, mascarpone whipped cream
Hello! I have a few questions! Does this taste at all like cream cheese frosting or is it light like whipped cream just with more stability? Does the sugar make it gritty like some butter creams? Has this been tested with powdered sugar instead?
It doesn’t taste like cream cheese at all – definitely a whipped cream that has more stability. The sugar doesn’t make it gritty, and I don’t personally make it with powdered sugar but others have and like it even more!
Thank you for the quick reply! If I make it tonight, place it in the piping bag and store it in a sealed bag in the fridge to frost tomorrow, should that be okay? You said it won’t need additional whipping, correct? Hoping this will pair nicely with a rich chocolate cupcake. I don’t like super sweet frosting.
It would definitely go well with a chocolate cupcakes! I haven’t found the need to whip it again, but it may depend on how you store it and how much time goes by. If anything, it would only need a very quick whip.
Thank you so much for all the insight! Will post my thoughts tonight or tomorrow after making it!
Please do! Any questions, feel free to email me at leslie@stressbaking.com and I’ll be sure to see it 🙂
I love how you explained the rationale behind this whipped mascarpone cream and it looks so good!
I always stick to our traditional Italian recipe: less firm, but incredibly good, and most of all traditional!
I leave you the recipe, in case you wanna give it a try: https://thefoodellers.com/en/mascarpone-cream-recipe-italian
Hi Leslie, this looks delicious and exactly what I have been looking for. I plan on baking a 3 layer coconut cake for the holidays. For the past 10 years I have bought our coconut cake from a local bakery. The icing tastes like whipped cream but not, if that makes sense, I was beginning to give up hope on finding what I want until I found your recipe. Would this icing me sturdy enough to use as filling with coconut on top? I love icing, especially my hips, so I want to be lavish in my application..hehe. If I triple this, would it fill and ice 3 layers? I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you so much for this recipe and if you happen to have a to die for coconut cake recipe in your side pocket, i’ll take that too!
Thanks for stopping by to share, Kay! It’s a pretty light and fluffy recipe, so it’s not like a stiff buttercream that could support cake in layers. With that said, you could definitely still use it in between layers of cake, it just wouldn’t be as thick as you might be looker for in that application. If you do make it, please come back and let me know what you think and leave a rating.
I’m going to add making a coconut cake to my list of to dos, because that sounds amazing right now!
Hi Leslie,
can I use this recipe to pipe rosettes all around a 12 inch cake as a bottom tier for an anniversary cake. WiIl the rosettes hold their shape?
Sorry that I didn’t see your comment until now! They won’t hold their shape like a buttercream frosting would on the sides of the cake, it’s not that sturdy.
Hi there-
I have a client that wants a Chantilly cream, (thinks ABC is too sweet and was wary when i recommended SBC) but’s it’s for a two-tier cake with fondant decorations here and there.
Would this work? I’m assuming that the mascarpone would make it much sturdier but I’ve never tried to put fondant cut-outs on this type of frosting…
Thanks for your help!
Hi. I apologize if this question has already been asked. Can this yumminess be made chocolatey by using cocoa powder, or would that ruin the stability? Thank you ever so much!
Someone mentioned that she made it with what came out to be two tablespoons of cocoa per original ingredient amounts (she quadrupled the recipe, so she used a total of eight tablespoons). I also made it with cocoa. It was good, but a little grainy. I did not have Hershey’s cocoa on-hand, so I had to use Godiva hot cocoa powder. That may be why it turned out grainy.
When I first made this recipe, I accidentally used the entire 8 oz. container of mascarpone. It turned out more like frosting than stabilized whipped cream. So if you want a light-textured frosting, go with the stated amount of 4 oz. If you want it somewhat heavier (but still lighter than normal frosting), go with 8 oz. It’s just as delicious! I’m happy to use 8 oz. because if I use 4 oz., the remaining 4 oz. will probably go to waste since the container says do not freeze. Both were huge hits with my family!
Thank you so much for your response. Tonight I made it for my second time, out failed miserably. I don’t even really understand what I’m looking at. When I opened my brand new heavy whipping cream, it was spoiled to a disgusting level. I only had 1 and 1/4th cup of hwc that was good. I thought I’d give it a try, this was a mistake. At first it was grainy but on its way to fluffy goodness. I walked out of the room for 2 shakes of a lamb’s tail and it turned into something else. It looks like butter clumps in cloudy water. Can anyone help me understand what just happened?
I’m sad.
hi – made a silly mistake without thinking………..made the mascarpone & cream whipped cream with the sugar. i wanted to use it with tiramisu. i’m now realizing that i need to add the sugar to the eggs to make the saboayon. it’s already so sweet with the sugar in the whipped cream. can i make the egg mixture without sugar? or any suggestions?
sometimes i don’t think ahead ——
I’m sorry, I’m not familiar enough with manipulating tiramisu recipes to confidently answer that – but my inclination is that you wouldn’t be able to make the custard layer without sugar incorporated.
Where has this been all my life!? I’m in LOVE, thanks for sharing!!
It’s been right here, waiting for YOU! 🙂 <3
Just made the liquid & put it in the canister, I had to shake it before it would work… I needed to taste it yah knew! I’m disabled and unable to use a piping bag with one hand, I bought this canister in the hopes of being able to frost/decorate one handed, this Frosting works perfect, ty! Do you know of any other liquid base Frostings I could use??
Ty! I’m using just a funfeti cake mix to make cupcake! Everyone is getting here around 5.also do I put the whip cream in the dispenser after the liquid is mixed & before I whip it? Last question, promise! I know you said not to frost 12 hours before, but how long can it sit on the counter?
That sounds delicious! Since I’ve never used a whipped cream dispenser, I’m unfortunately not sure if it’s bad to put it in after everything has already been combined. Like any dairy product, I wouldn’t recommend letting it sit out on a counter for more than two hours.
So I clan put the liquid in in the dispenser before I whip it? I have just plain funfeti cupcakes, we’re meeting @ 6,so it’s OK to prep them before and pop em in the fridge?