Whipped Cream Recipe with Flavors - Crazy for Crust (2024)

Table of Contents

• Easy Whipped Cream Recipe
• 3 Ingredients Needed
• How to make whipped cream from scratch
• Making Stabilized Whipped Cream
• Expert Tips
• FAQ
• Perfect Whipped Cream Recipe Recipe
• Variations: Whipped Cream Flavors

3 Ingredients Needed

• Heavy whipping cream: make sure it’s COLD! Heavy whipping cream is not the same as whipping cream, so make sure check the fat content on the label before buying. Heavy whipping cream has more milk fat (at least 36%) which whips better and holds its shape better than plain old whipping cream.
• Sugar: you can use granulated sugar or powdered sugar (AKA confectioners’ sugar), but I like powdered best because it dissolves quicker.
• Vanilla extract: be sure to use PURE vanilla extract and if you can find vanilla bean paste, it tastes so good and adds flecks of vanilla bean to the whipped cream. You could also use an actual vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.

Types of Whipping Cream

• Heavy Cream vs Heavy Whipping Cream: These are the same thing! Sometimes recipes use one name vs the other and you’ll see them interchanged often. They have more milk fat (at least 36%) and hold up best when making freshly whipped cream.
• Whipping Cream: The kind without the “heavy” in front has less milk fat. It’s still great for whipped cream, however it will be looser and will melt/loose it’s volume quicker than the heavy version, which is why I recommend using heavy whipping cream.

How to make whipped cream from scratch

Step 1: Add your cold heavy cream to a cold mixing bowl and add your powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix slowly so you don’t splatter everywhere, then up the mixer to high speed. Starting slowly allows the air to start fluffing the whipped cream slower, which will make a more stable end product.

Step 2: Soft peaks is the first stage – when the whipped cream falls back into itself. It will look like this in the bowl. At this point you want to keep mixing.

Continue mixing on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Stiff peaks is when the whipped cream stands up on its own. Can you see the difference?

That right there is the perfect consistency for your whipped cream. You can whip it a little less fo soft peaks, best for topping ice cream or pavlova. But if you’re going to pipe your whipped cream at all, you want to make sure it can do this stand up on it’s own – if you pick up the whisk it will stay without dripping.

Don’t let it go too long or it will curdle and the cream will separate – whip cream for too long and you get butter!

Making Stabilized Whipped Cream

They sell whipped cream stabilizer but you can stabilize your whipped cream by using something you already have in your pantry:

To make stabilized whipped cream with cornstarch, you just add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch per 1 cup of heavy whipping cream.

To make stabilized whipped cream with cream of tartar, which is what I do most often, you just need 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar to 1 cup of heavy whipping cream.

You can also stabilize your whipped cream with gelatin by dissolving 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water and mixing it into your whipping cream.

If you want to add a bit of flavor, or if you’re out of vanilla extract, use 1 tablespoon of pudding mix to stabilize your whipped cream. Pudding Mix has cornstarch in it – and flavoring. Use any flavor!

You can also make whipped cream frosting using cream cheese. The cream cheese helps stabilize the whipped cream.

Expert Tips

• The most important thing about making my whipped cream recipe is to always start with COLD tools: a cold bowl and a cold whisk or beaters. Chill them for 30 minutes before starting. This helps the whipped cream set up faster.
• Make sure you use heavy whipping cream with at least 36% fat for best results.
• Always use pure extracts when possible. If you can find vanilla bean paste you can use that too.
• Tools: When making whipped cream you can do it by hand with a whisk, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. The different methods will take different amounts of time.
• Don’t walk away from whipped cream while it’s mixing, especially when using a strong stand mixer. A minute too long and your whipped cream will start to turn into butter.
• Is this whipped cream good for cake? I suggest checking out the stabilized section above for tips on stable whipped cream, or make my whipped cream frosting. Whipped cream as made can weep and isn’t stable enough for cake.

FAQ

Variations: Whipped Cream Flavors

• Peanut Butter Whipped Cream is easy with just a little peanut butter added to the cream. Make it Reese’s Whipped Cream by adding chopped peanut butter cups.
• Lemon Whipped Cream is made by adding lemon zest and extract or lemon curd. This can also be done with lime.
• Coffee Whipped Cream is made by just adding some cold brewed coffee.
• You can make chocolate whipped cream by adding cocoa powder!
• BONUS: make mocha whipped cream by mixing coffee and chocolate, perfect for frosting chocolate cupcakes!