Imagine whipped cream frosting on the top of your gooey chocolate cake! Bliss? Admittedly, whipped cream just makes all the difference; be it toppings on fruits, desserts, or even drinks. Ever tried making your own whipped cream? Once you succeed in making the whipped cream, there is no looking back. You can confidently bid goodbye to those artificial, canned ones that you find in grocery stores. Home-made whipped cream has more flavor, better texture, and is invariably much more natural than the ones sold outside. By following these simple steps given below, you can add the extra touch to your dessert in a jiffy.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time required: 10 â 15 minutes
Resources required:
- Heavy or whipping cream
- Wire whisk
- Electric hand-held beater or a free standing mixer
- One medium and one large bowl for mixing
- Sugar
- Essence of your choice to add flavor
- Ice cubes
- Rubber spatula
Instructions:
1. Refrigerate the heavy cream
It is important that you chill the heavy cream before whipping it. Refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. The colder the cream, the easier and faster it is to whip. If you want it sooner than 1 hour, refrigerate it for at least 15 minutes, preferably more.
2. Cool the bowls
About 15 minutes before whipping the cream, place the medium size mixing bowl and wire whisk in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. This ensures that the heavy cream will remain cold when poured into the bowl. Fill the larger bowl with ice cubes. After this, try and place the chilled mixing bowl (medium) strategically over the bowl filled with the ice cubes (large) and keep it ready to pour the cream.
3. Start whipping the cream
Pour the heavy cold cream into the chilled bowl and use the electric beater to whisk the cream for about 30 seconds at the lowest speed. Continue till you see bubbles forming, and then increase the speed to medium, and continue for another 30 seconds or so, or till the cream falls in ribbons. Increase the speed and then using the whisk rotate it around and along the sides repeatedly with medium fast strokes. Stop in between to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and then continue whisking.
4. Add sugar and the essence for flavor
When you notice the soft peaks forming, it is time to add the sugar and the essence. Continue the beater on the medium speed, while adding the sugar and the essence, and whisk it well with the cream. Lower the speed and continue whipping the cream till it turns creamy and billowy. Check if you can form soft peaks with the cream; you can also whip it further to form stiffer peaks. You now have a bowl full of creamy goodness ready to adorn your dessert.
Frequently asked questions:
1. How is the home made whipped cream different from the one bought in stores?
Home made whipped cream tastes much more fresh and the texture is any day better compared to the canned ones from the store, which is packed with air and tends to liquify much faster. It is also an extremely cost effective approach to consume whipped cream.
2. Is there any particular cream that is used specifically for whipping?
The butter-fat content in the cream makes all the difference. The higher the content, the better the cream after whipping. Cream with a fat content of about 36 to 40 percent is ideal. It is available in the super markets under the label ‘heavy cream’.
3. Which is the easiest method to whip cream?
The easiest method would be to make use of a free standing mixer where you need not use your hands extensively in whisking. But since it can easily over whip the cream, you must carefully monitor it all the time.The more easy option would be to use a hand blender so you can control it more effectively, but obviously the most economical way would be to use a wire whisk and carry on the entire process by hand.
Quick tips:
- If you are short on time, use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. It dissolves faster, saving you time.
- Add the essence in the cream as per the taste but also take into consideration the main item on which the whipped cream is served with. Ensure to match the essence flavor with this item, be it fruits or dessert.
- Whipped cream tastes its best when served immediately, after it is prepared. If this is not possible, then cover the bowl and refrigerate it but not more than 24 hours.
- While in storage, if the cream separates, just whisk it again to bring it back together.
Things to watch out for:
1. It is always best to add sugar and other essence flavors to the whipped cream just a few minutes before you end the process.
2. Do not over whip the cream as it would turn into butter and there is no way to bring it back to its original form.
3 .Do not leave the whipped cream out at room temperature for too long. It gets spoiled. Even if you are using it in a dessert or on a cake, ensure to put it into the refrigerator and that it is consumed within 2 days.
