I don't think you can whip milk, even whole milk, but I was remembering that you can whip evaporated milk. I looked it up & here is what I found: 1 teaspoon plain gelatin 1 cup Evaporated Milk 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Sprinkle 1 teaspoon gelatin over 2 tablespoons water in microwave-safe bowl; let stand for 2 minutes. Microwave on HIGH power for 40 seconds; stir. Let stand for additional 2 minutes or until dissolved. Pour 1 cup Evaporated Milk or Evaporated Fat Free Milk and dissolved gelatin into small mixer bowl; follow recipe for Whipped Topping.Pour evaporated milk into small mixer bowl; place beaters into mixture. Freeze for about 30 minutes or until ice crystals form around edge of bowl. Beat on high until very frothy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla ; continue beating until mixture is stiff. If you will be using the whipped cream immediately you can skip using the gelatin. Just make sure the evaporated milk & beaters are very cold. Makes 4 cups.

Ok. I've decide some of the problem is the change in trans fat. The recipes I'm finding are US ones. I haven't tried the one I posted above yet. Besides, I want to use butter and not shortening. I finally flat out asked Cupcake Lady for the recipe or some hints. We laughed over how I didn't really expect to get the recipe from her, but she did offer that she lets it beat for about 10 minutes to get it fluffy. When I beat the frosting that long, it seems to get too warm. So, off I went to search for more recipes. I've managed to come up with a frosting that I can work with for now. I have combined several recipes together and put this together. I've adjusted flavorings to what seems to be my family's preferences. I'll keep tweaking, but for now: A Buttercream I Can Work With!!  2 cups butter (or 1 c butter 1 c shortening)  2 lbs powdered sugar (8 cups)  1/4 teaspoon salt  1 ½ tablespoon meringue powder (optional)  1 ½ teaspoon vanilla  1 teaspoon almond extract  4-6 ounces heavy whipping cream Directions 1. Cream butter until fluffy. 2. Add sugar, meringue powder and half the whipping cream. Cream until well blended. 3. Add salt, flavorings and enough whipping cream to make the desired consistency. 4. Beat at medium speed until icing is fluffy. Notes: 1. I used all sweet cream, unsalted butter. I did NOT use clear vanilla. The frosting was nearly white. 2. I saw some recipes said to add clear butter flavoring. I didnÂt have any, so I havenÂt tried adding it. 3. I did use meringue powder. In fact, I increased the meringue powder above what most recipes called for. I tried 1/2, 1, and 1 1/2 Tbsp, and determined 1 1/2 Tbsp held up the best for me. The frosting was not crusty. 4. Most recipes I found called for 1/2 tsp of salt. It tasted too salty to me, so I halved the salt. 5. I found that adding heavy whipping cream did seem to lighten up the texture...just not quite to where I want it. I'll keep adjusting measurements. Other Notes: Everyone who has tried my cupcakes with this frosting recipe seems to love this recipe hands down. I like the taste. ItÂs not too sweet. The texture isnÂt quite as fluffy as IÂm trying to achieve, but it produces a frosting that stays on the cupcake (I pipe it with huge pastry tips) and holds its shape. I'm not completely there yet, but I think I'm finally on the right path. Thanks for following my journey. Let me know if you try it out and have any thoughts/comments. Thank you to everyone who responded to my original plea. And Jan, thank you! Your comments have been particularly helpful to me.

I am a Marzipan addict and I LOVE the following recipe for Almond Gelato: Almond Gelato Makes about 1 quart (can be doubled for half-gallon machines) 2 3/4 cups whole milk 1/4 cup heavy cream One 7 ounce tube almond paste (found in the baking aisle--should be soft and moist) 2/3 cup sugar 5 large egg yolks, at room temperature 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (real extract, not imitation) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1. Heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until tiny bubbles fizz around the pan's inner rim. Adjust the heat so the mixture stays this hot but does not come to a boil. 2. Place the almond paste and sugar in a large food processor fitted with the chopping blade; process until the texture of find sand, about 1 minute. Stop the machine, add the yolks all at once, and process until light and thick, about 2 minutes. (note: if you don't process enough, the end result will taste grainy from the almond paste--still delicious, but a weird texture.) 3. With the machine running, dribble in about half of the hot milk mixture through the feed tube; process until smooth. Then whisk this mixture back into the pan with the remaining hot milk mixture. Instantly reduce the heat to very low--if you have electric burners, place the pan on a second burner just now set on low. Cook slowly, stirring all the while, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of wet but smooth pancake batter and can coat the back of a wooden spoon, a little less than 2 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl to get rid of any extraneous bits of scrambled egg (and almond paste debris that makes the finished product a bit gritty); stir in the almond extract and salt. Refrigerate until cold, for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 4. Just before making the gelato, place the almond custard in the freezer for about 10 minutes. (we're trying this on our second batch which is being made tonight and tomorrow--it took a long time for this gelato to set up the first time.) 5. Freeze the custard in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve at once--or transfer to a large container or several smaller containers, seal tightly and store in the freezer for up to one 1 month. (if this gelato lasts a month at your house, you're a better person than I. ) Soften at room temperature for up to 10 minutes before serving.

I get my pasteurized cream from W H O L E F O O D S and from T R A D E R J O E. Our local markets occasionally have organic heavy cream but when it is in stock all of the local cooking bloggers post about it and zippppp it's gone!! You still must look at the label because both WF and TJ sell heavy cream with additives AND they also sell ultrapasteurized heavy cream. Thanks for the tip about gelatin - when next I need the cream to 'stay put' longer I will try gelatin. DL