Stabilized Whipped Frosting--Improved! Now in flavors!

I'm never happy just leaving a recipe alone. 

Why do what's expected, when you can modify it for improvement? My first thought when I saw this recipe for a chocolate cupcake topped with pudding and filled with a strawberry was that it could be much better with a couple of improvements :)

Mostly, the only change I did to her recipe, (or I should say assembly guide, as she just uses box cake and pudding, and doesn't make a single thing from scratch) is to replace the chocolate cake mix with brownie mix (with modifications to make it even more chocolate rich, and more cake like) and to replace basic pudding with this wonderful frosting, which I will now share with you all.

STABILIZED WHIPPED CREAM with PUDDING 

Use this recipe to make stabilized whipped cream in your favorite pudding flavors.

Makes an excellent frosting replacement as it uses far less sugar!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
• 2 tbsp ice cold water
• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream (one pint)
• 2 tbsp confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• 1 box of your favorite pudding mix (I used jello chocolate pudding. It should be standard pudding, not a cook and serve type, not a sugar-free type)

INSTUCTIONS:

1. Sprinkle gelatin powder over ice cold water to "soften." Do this first as you get ready prep the rest of the ingredients
2. Scald 2 tbsp of the cream. I used my toaster oven set at 200F to do this, but you can also scald it on a stove top. Be sure to remove any skin. Pour the scalded cream over the gelatin and whisk until fully dissolved
3. Refridgerate mix for 10-15 minutes. The gelatin mixture should now have the consistency of egg whites. If you over chill, do not worry, the next steps will still work.  Using a whisk whip until smooth, or as smooth as you can make it.
4. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, take 1 cup of the cream and all of the sugar  and whisk until soft peaks form. Add in the gelatin mix, and whisk until fully blended.
5. Add half of the pudding mix to the gelatin/cream mix. Whisk until blended, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining pudding mix and the last of the cream and whisk until fully blended, another 10-20 seconds. It'll be fairly stiff and hard to work with, but delicious and very stable.

When using this in cupcakes, you don't need to refridgerate this first before using it and transporting the cake. Just a bit of refrigeration will make the frosting fairly stiff. It takes a bit of work to push it through a pretty frosting top, but it isn't impossible to work with, even when cold. With so much less sugar than frosting, I don't mind feeding this to my daughter. I think I'll use some version of this for her next birthday cake.

This whipped cream frosting will stay fresh in the fridge for up to one week. 

And yes, I did make the cupcakes with the strawberries inside :

Enjoy!