I had this happen to me I bought a $2.50 Sunnyside farms ultra pasteurized heavy whipping cream and tried hand whipping it with a whisk and even my strong husband tried to help me whip it. We were at it for an hour and it just barely thickened. I did everything right:ice bath,gradual sugar and fast whipping. I gave up, and threw it in the fridge hoping I could salvage it. Next day, the top strangely grew thicker but bottom half was all liquid. I tried this time to use my electric hand mixer and mixed 1 tbsp of cornstarch to 1tbsp of hot water to dissolve and poured it in my whipping cream and started whipping on low then high speed and wow it worked and reached stiff peaks in about 1-3min !

I wouldn't add whipping cream to lighten up the pastry cream. The filling supports the top layer. The weight of the top layer of the cake will cause the filling to ooze out of cake. This is my favourite recipe for Boston Cream Pie. The filling is delicious. Boston Cream Pie ================ 1/3 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffly. Add the egg and beat until creamy. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add alternately with the combined milk and vanilla. Turn the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pan. Bake in a 350� oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool completely; Place the cake on a serving plate and split horizontally into two layers with a serrated knife. Carefully remove the top layer. Fill with the chilled Cream Filling. Replace the top half and pour the warm Chocolate Icing over the top, spreading only to the edges. Chill. (When allowed to stand for several hours, the filling seeps into the cake, making the cake and filling seem almost as one.) Cream Filling 1/2 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 3 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups milk Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring for 1 minute. Beat the egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir in about half the thickened sauce. Return to the heat and cook. stirring 2 or 3 minutes longer to take away the flour taste. Remove from the heat and blend in the butter. Strain into a bowl. Cool for a few minutes, then blend in the vanilla. Cover and cool, then chill. Chocolate Icing 2 squares of chocolate 1 cup sifted icing sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoons hot water 1 teaspoon vanilla Melt the chocolate and butter the microwave on medium low power. Stir until smooth, and blend in the icing sugar and hot water. Stir until smooth and slightly thickened (do not beat). Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately.

You might be able to adapt these recipes to use it. Cappuccino Mousse 2 T instant coffee crystals 1/4 c water 1 tsp unflavored gelatin 6 egg yolks 1/2 c sugar 2 c whipping cream Chocolate curls for garnish In small bowl, dissolve coffee powder in water. Stir in gelatin and set aside. In large metal bowl, or top of a double boiler, beat egg yolks and sugar with wire whisk until blended. Place over a pot of gently boiling water (make sure the bottom of bowl does not touch water). Cook, stirring rapidly with whisk about 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Add coffee/gelatin mixture to egg mixture, whisk until combined. Beat egg/coffee mixture with electric mixer on medium speed about 5 minutes, or until mixture is cool. Thoroughly wash beaters. In chilled bowl, beat cream with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into egg/coffee mixture one-third at a time. Divide mixture evenly among 8 chilled dessert glasses. Cover and let chill for at least 4 hours. Garnish with chocolate curls. Makes 8 servings From Midwest Living magazine 12/2007 Blackberry Buttermilk Panna Cottas with Blackberry Compote For panna cottas 3/4 lb blackberries (about 3 cups) 1 1/4 cups well\-shaken buttermilk 2 3/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from two 1/4\-oz envelopes) 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 2/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons blackberry syrup, store\-bought or homemade (see cooks' note, below) For compote 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup crème de cassis 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 lb blackberries (about 2 cups) Special equipment: 6 (6\-oz) molds (preferably nonreactive) Make panna cottas: Purée blackberries with buttermilk in a blender until very smooth, then pour through a fine\-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. While gelatin softens, heat cream and sugar in a saucepan over moderate heat until hot, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved. Stir cream mixture and syrup into blackberry purée, then pour through cleaned sieve into a bowl. Pour mixture into molds and chill, covered, until firm, at least 8 hours. Make compote while panna cottas finish chilling: Boil water, crème de cassis, and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, then pour syrup over blackberries and gently stir to combine. To serve panna cottas, run a thin knife along edge of molds to loosen if necessary and dip molds in a small bowl of warm water 3 to 5 seconds, then invert panna cottas onto plates and gently lift off molds. Spoon berries and syrup over and around each panna cotta. Cooks' notes: To make blackberry syrup, heat 1/4 cup blackberry jam with 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until jam is dissolved. Pour mixture through a fine\-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Panna cottas can be chilled in molds up to 1 day. Compote can be made 2 hours ahead and kept at room temperature. Linda

I actually have a file on this, originally dated 2004, and updated whenever I find out more info. Maybe this will help you...the info is from a variety of sources--apologies if a source is another poster and I neglected to give that info! Smiles, Sooz Recipe for stabilizing whipped cream from the Wilton year book 1tsp Unflavored gelatin 4tsp Cold water 1cup Heavy whipping cream 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 C powdered sugar Combine gelatin and cold water in a saucepan. Let stand until thick. Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. DO NOT LET IT SET. Whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until slightly thickened. While beating slowly, gradually add the gelatin to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff. Remember: Cakes iced with whipped cream must be stored in the refrigerator. ** ** TIP: To stabilize Whipped Cream Frosting, in cup, sprinkle 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin over 2 tablespoons cold water. Place cup over simmering water until gelatin is dissolved, stirring occasionally; cool to lukewarm. Gradually beat into cream before adding sugar. ***** from woodny (woody?) on Sat, Jul 20, 02 at 23:43 I do catering and these are the teqniques that have worked for me. You can purchase Whipped cream frosting in vanilla and chocolate flavors at most cake supply stores. The ones that specialize in cake decorating/supplies not just someone who carries supplies(like Michaels or Joanns). They usually come in quart, 1/2 gallon and gallon sizes. These are the whipped cream frosting that are used on most bakery cakes. If you are going to eat the cake with in 1-2 hours after frosting it the powdered sugar will be enough to keep it stable. *** Here are two ways that I stabalize whipping cream: 1. There is a product you can buy in the grocery store called WHIP IT. (It is NOT the same thing as dream whip. Do NOT use dream whip as a substitute.) You can usually find it in the foreign/ethnic food section. It is made by OETKER. It works great. It comes in packets about the size of Kool-aid packets. There are two that are stuck together side by side. The package is light blue with dark blue lettering. It says "Oetker, WHIP IT, stabalizer for whipping cream." (This is a long explaination but everytime I send some one to find it they can't so I have learned to give detailed descriptions.) Anyway . . . I will frost a wedding cake with it and it will last 2 or three days. This is MY preferred method. It is the easiest and cheapest way for me.