Taste and Texture

• Whipped cream icing is creamy, delicate and airy. It has a velvety, smooth consistency that easily spreads on cakes and cupcakes. Fluffy white or boiled icing can vary in taste, but is similar to a marshmallow. Fluffy white frosting is very fluffy -- much like marshmallow cream -- and sets quickly.

Use and Capabilities

• Fluffy white frosting is used as a filling between cake layers and as a topping to cakes and cupcakes. It has a pure white color once it’s made and it tints to pastel and deep colors. When used to ice cakes and cupcakes it offers a smooth finish. Since it sets up as it cools, you can also use it for piping decorations without adding more stabilizers. Whipped cream frosting is delicate, but still stiff enough to frost the top of a cake. While you can use whipped cream in between cake layers, it often deflates with the weight of the cake. Stabilized whipped cream frosting is used to pipe borders and intricate decorations. Whipped cream frosting can only be tinted to a pastel color shade.

Ingredients and Mixing

• Preparation of fluffy white frosting is much different than whipped cream. Fluffy white frosting is made by boiling ingredients over medium heat until they become foamy and fluffy. Fluffy white frosting contains egg whites, sugar, water, and typically a pudding or gelatin mix. Whipped cream frosting is made while cold and doesn’t require cooking; instead, you beat heavy whipping cream until light and fluffy, and add confectioner’s sugar to stabilize. Extracts are added for flavor to both types of frosting.

Storage

• Whipped cream frosting and fluffy white frosting are used immediately after they’re made. Whipped cream frosting cannot sit at room temperature; a frosted cake or leftover frosting must be stored in the refrigerator, keeping for one to two days. Fluffy white frosting sets quickly, so it must be placed on a cake right after it’s mixed. You can store cakes iced with fluffy white frosting at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the frosting deflates. Neither frosting types can be stored in the freezer.