Sugar Free Whipped Strawberry Frosting
May 28, 2019 by Nicole Collins
Sometimes, you've just gotta pat yourself on the back and tell yourself that you're a genius.
Today is one of those days for me.
Actually, it was last Saturday that I walked all over my house telling myself how brilliant I was. I'm pretty sure I texted a few friends to tell them that they are friends with a genius, too.
Gotta bask in all that genius glory, after all.
A friend of mine had a first birthday party for his daughter last weekend, and he usually enlists me to supply the dessert for his events. This year, he threw me a curveball by asking for a sugar free dessert. Cupcakes, specifically.
My first thought was “no problemo”, because I knew I had these Sugar Free Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes in my arsenal. But, then he told me the theme: One in a Melon (how cute!). And, he showed me pics of the type of cupcake they were looking for to match the theme: green cake, bright pink frosting. So, we settled on a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting. Easy breezy...except for the sugar free frosting part.
Basic frosting recipes are generally very simple: 2 sticks butter, 1 pound powdered sugar, and a splash of cream and vanilla. Humble ingredients. Very simple. But, ALLLLLLLL sugar. So, how do you make a creamy, decadent, and delicious frosting with no sugar?
Well, your genius host for today is going to tell you. Because today, we're making Sugar Free Whipped Strawberry Frosting!
First of all, don't turn your nose up at the “sugar free” part. Most people equate sugar free foods with a funky aftertaste. But, that's not the case with this frosting, since we're not loading this up with unnatural sweeteners. We're letting the fruit do the talking (and most of the sweetening)!
We start simply by whipping some heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. There are generally two stages of whipping cream: soft peaks and stiff peaks. Soft peaks means that the cream can kind of stand up on it's own when you remove the beater from the mix, but the little peak that creates will kind of fold over itself. This is the point where we'd add stabilizers and sweeteners. Whipping to stiff peaks means you can take your beater out of the cream and it stands up straight and firm. But, don't whip too far past that, or you'll be making butter!
Now, there are two secret ingredients to this frosting: freeze dried strawberries and sugar free instant vanilla pudding. Freeze dried strawberries are basically strawberries that have had the water removed from them. But keep in mind, dried fruits and freeze dried fruits are NOT the same. Dried fruits still have a chewy texture to them, like a gummy treat. Freeze dried fruits are crispy and completely liquid free. That makes freeze dried fruits the perfect ingredient to grind into a powder in a small blender, which then acts as a stabilizer to our cream.
Since freeze dried strawberries are 100% fruit, you're getting that fresh, sweet, slightly acidic flavor that you'd get from a fresh strawberry off the vine without the liquid content that would curdle our cream under normal circumstances. Then, we add in just a tablespoon and a half of sugar free instant pudding mix to add a little extra sweetness and to really help thicken our frosting. Since I was making this for a themed bday party, I also added a little neon food coloring to really deepen the pink color of the frosting. But, that's totally optional.
After we add our secret ingredients and finish whipping the cream to stiff peaks, we're all done! And, the end result is a light, fluffy, creamy, sweet, fresh, INCREDIBLE strawberry frosting that will pretty much change your life.
Not even exaggerating!
If I ever need a strawberry frosting in the future, this is definitely the way I'll go. No one had the slightest idea that this frosting was sugar free until I told them, which made most of the party goers feel validated enough to go back for seconds and thirds! And, that's the mark of a home run recipe, right there.
Alrighty, everyone! I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but “TOOT TOOT!” Because, Friday's recipe is equally as genius as today's. Where's my MENSA application?
'Til then...let's eat!
Sugar Free Whipped Strawberry Frosting
Serves: about 3 cups Print
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 pack (1.2oz) freeze dried strawberries
1 ½ tbsp sugar free vanilla instant pudding mix (I use Jello brand)
neon pink food coloring, optional (I use McCormick liquid food color and dye)
Directions:
In a personal rocket blender or small food processor, grind the freeze dried strawberries into a powder. Set aside.
Pour heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat cream on medium high until soft peaks form, about 1-2 minutes. Add strawberry powder, pudding mix, and food coloring (if desired); and beat until mix is fully combined and is a thickened frosting consistency, about 20 seconds more. Decorate pastry as desired. Store leftover frosting covered in the refrigerator.
Recipe notes:
*This is the rocket blender I use for grinding all kinds of things, including black peppercorns.
*I put my whisk attachment in the freezer for about 15 mins before whipping cream to help it whip faster.
*If you don't have a stand mixer, you can beat the cream with a hand mixer. It will just take a little longer to whip.
*Soft peaks means the cream doesn't stand up firm and straight when you remove the whisk. It'll fold over itself.
*Freeze dried strawberries and dried strawberries are NOT the same thing. Dried fruit are like chewy gummies. Freeze dried fruits are crisp (like space food!) You can buy freeze dried strawberries in most grocery stores where you'd find the nuts, banana chips, etc. I usually get mine at Aldi or Target. You can also order them online.
*I used Ateco tip 828 to decorate my cupcakes. This is a thick tip, and I got about 18 cupcakes done using that much frosting. This recipe doubles easily, though.
*To achieve the color pink in the recipe pics, I used 18 drops of neon pink liquid food coloring. Without the food coloring, the icing is a nice light pink color.
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