Agreed on all counts. Do you add extracts to your whipped cream? I usually do a few drops of both vanilla and almond extract, but cinnamon or strawberry or raspberry extract are also really good.
I find in most cake or quick bread recipes I can get away with cutting sugar by up to ~half, especially if I put it in a food processor first to make it finer. If you use brown or coconut sugar, that helps preserve the moisture retention and caramelization effects while making the flavor more complex.
Sometimes I add extracts, but usually not? I mostly like it the way it is.
If I did want it to be raspberry flavored I would use freeze dried raspberry powder; it is absolutely fantastic.
Ooh that's a great idea!
Depending on the brand of cream, I find if I don't add some sort of flavoring it ends up tasting like butter
I'm a huge fan of whipped cream. It's rich, smooth, and fluffy, which makes it a great contrast to a wide range of textures common in baked goods. And it's usually better without adding sugar.
Desserts are usually too sweet. I want them to have enough sugar that they feel like a dessert, but it's common to have way more than that. Some of this is functional: in most cakes the sugar performs a specific role in the structure, where if you cut the sugar the texture will be much worse. This means that the cake layers will often be sweeter than I want for the average mouthful, and adding a layer of unsweetened whipped cream brings this down into the range that is ideal. It's good in helping hit a target level of sweetness without compromising texture.
(This is a flourless chocolate cake with precision fermented (vegan) egg.)
I also really like how the range of sugar contents across each bite adds interesting contrast!
Cream isn't the only place you can do this. I like pureed fruit, ideally raspberries, to separate cake layers. Same idea: bring it closer to balanced while increasing contrast.