Learn how to make whipped cream from heavy cream (also called whipping cream) with this easy recipe, as well as how to stabilize it and what to do if you overwhip it.
Whipped cream makes a great topping for baked goods, like this fallen chocolate cake or this Earl Grey chocolate tart. You can even use it to make layer cakes, like this Black Forest cake. You can also use it as a garnish for beverages like hot chocolate and hot cocoa.
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Ingredients
The beauty of whipped cream is that it takes just a few ingredients to make and yet it is so versatile! Here's what you need to make homemade whipped cream:
- cream—use cream with a higher fat content, around 35–40 % fat.
- sugar—you can technically use either granulated sugar or icing sugar. Granulated sugar will give the whipped cream a slightly grainy texture.
- vanilla—both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste will work here. Use the same amount of either. Alternatively, you can scrape a vanilla bean and add the seeds, but the flavour may be more subtle without extracting it.
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
Whipped cream is a blank canvas for flavour:
- Vanilla - use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste interchangeably
- Coffee - add a shot of cold espresso
- Chocolate - fold in cooled melted chocolate
- Lemon - fold in lemon curd
- Tea - add finely chopped Earl Grey tea leaves (the taste will be subtle but the look is very pretty like on this Earl Grey chocolate tart!)
- Booze - add a liqueur like Kahluà or Amaretto, or even brandy or cognac. I made bourbon whipped cream to garnish this maple bourbon sweet potato pie!
Instructions
You can use a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer, or just a balloon whisk to whip the cream by hand. If using an electric mixer, be careful because it's very easy to overwhip the cream. It can happen in seconds!
Step 1: Place the cold whipping cream in a cold bowl (image 1) and whip it until soft peaks form (image 2). Soft peaks means that the cream will not hold its shape at this point and will be very supple and soft.
Tip: Make sure you start the process with cold whipping cream, taken directly from the fridge. If the cream is warm or has sat out for a period, it will not do a good job of trapping air and you will have a difficult time trying to incorporate air into the foam, which will be less stable. Use cold cream to make whipped cream!
Step 2: Add the vanilla and the icing sugar to the soft whipped cream (image 3) then continue to whip the cream until it is firm but still supple (image 4).
Hint: if you are making mousse, it's actually better to leave the whipped cream quite soft to make incorporating the other ingredients easier. If the cream is too firm, it will take more effort to incorporate mousse ingredients together and you will deflate it.
Top tip
Stop whipping the cream sooner than you think! It's easier to continue whipping if you find your whipped cream is too soft, but if it's too firm and butter is starting to form, it's difficult to undo this mistake. Better safe than sorry.
Recipes with Whipped Cream
Mousse is a light dessert or filling made from whipped cream. To make mousse, the unsweetened cream is whipped until soft and supple, and then folded with chocolate, fruit purée, or a fruit curd. Some recipes may include Italian meringue (which is a cost-saving technique used in pastry for mousse fillings).
Chocolate mousse is just whipped cream folded with melted, cooled chocolate and divided into cups to chill for a few hours before serving. Lemon mousse is just whipped cream folded with lemon curd.
When making mousse, whip the cream until soft and supple, not too thick, before folding in the fruit purée, curd, or chocolate. You will have trouble incorporating the two components if it's too thick.
Note that for mousse desserts and fillings, the whipped cream is generally unsweetened because the other ingredients provide enough sweetness. If you are filling a cake with mousse (like for this matcha Swiss roll), the sweetened whipped cream filling is stabilized with a little gelatin to ensure it holds up to refrigeration.
As a filling or topping, use sweetened whipped cream to fill:
- cream puffs
- pavlova or chocolate pavlova
- shortcake with fresh berries, like these raspberry shortcakes.
- chestnut cake (for this topping, whipped cream is folded with crème de marron)
- fallen chocolate cake
- pies, like this sweet potato pie
Whipped Cream FAQs
Using a cream with a lower fat content (like half-and-half or coffee cream with 10 % fat) will make it harder to whip the cream, and the resulting whipped cream will be less stable.
Butter is made from cream that is whipped until the butterfat clumps together, forcing the water (whey) out. If you overwhip the cream, you may end up with flecks of butterfat that start to clump together. This will affect the texture and mouthfeel of your whipped cream. Once you go overwhip cream, it's hard to fix this. You can try adding a splash of cold whipping cream to the bowl and stirring it in gently. Avoid whipping more with the mixer now because you will make it worse and form butter!
You can add a few ingredients to stabilize whipped cream. Your best bet is to add gelatin, either powdered gelatin or gelatin sheets, which will trap the water, preventing it from separating out upon storage. To do this, for every cup of whipping cream, use ⅛ + ¼ teaspoon powdered gelatin or ½ sheet of leaf gelatin (~1.7 grams). For powdered gelatin, bloom it in cold milk, then heat it gently to melt the gelatin. For leaf gelatin, soften it in cold water, then squeeze the excess water and melt it in a small amount of cold milk (or cream) on low heat. Remember the melting temperature of gelatin is around 32 °C (90 °C). If you overheat the gelatin, you will damage the proteins, and it won't stabilize the cream properly.
You can also stabilize whipped cream by incorporating cream cheese or mascarpone (56 grams/2 ounces per 1 cup/250 mL of whipping cream). These will alter the flavour of the sweetened whipped cream slightly, but the whipped cream will pipe beautifully and withstand refrigeration for longer.
Recipes with Whipped Cream
Whipped cream is an essential base ingredient in many European and French pastry recipes, including:
- mousse fillings for cakes (fruit purées plus whipped cream, set with gelatin, and may include Italian meringue)
- crème bavaroise, a.k.a. Bavarian cream (made from a cooked crème anglaise plus whipped cream, set with gelatin)
- filling and frosting for black forest cake (lightly sweetened whipped cream)
- fruit gratins (made from pastry cream lightened with whipped cream)
These are my favourite desserts with whipped cream:
- raspberry shortcake made with biscuits, whipped cream, and fresh raspberries
- strawberry cream tart with a yogurt whipped cream
- Christmas trifle, a decadent dessert to serve a crowd, made with layers of eggnog pastry cream, whipped cream, sponge cake, and cranberries.
If you tried this recipe for whipped cream (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
- 25 grams icing sugar
- 5 mL vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- In a bowl, using either an electric hand mixer or a balloon whisk, whip the cream to soft peaks.
- Add the icing sugar and vanilla, and continue whipping until the whipping cream is thick, but supple. Use immediately. Do not overwhip.
Notes
- Temperature is key when you whip cream. Make sure your cream is fridge-cold because cold cream will do a better job of trapping air in a foam than warm cream.
- You can add a few ingredients to stabilize whipped cream. Your best bet is to add gelatin, either powdered gelatin or gelatin sheets, which will trap the water, preventing it from separating out upon storage. To do this, for ever cup of whipping cream, use ⅛ + ¼ teaspoon powdered gelatin or ½ sheet of leaf gelatin (~1.7 grams). For powdered gelatin, bloom it in cold milk, then heat it gently to melt the gelatin. For leaf gelatin, soften it in cold water, then squeeze the excess water and melt it in a small amount of cold milk (or cream) on low heat. Remember the melting temperature of gelatin is around 32 °C (90 °C). If you overheat the gelatin, you will damage the proteins, and it won't stabilize the cream properly. Let it cool slightly before incorporating with your whipped cream.
- Althernative stabilizers are cream cheese or mascarpone. These will alter the flavour of the whipped cream slightly but they stabilize quite well! Start with 56 grams (2 ounces) of cream cheese or mascarpone, whipping until smooth before adding the cream.
- To flavour whipped cream:
- Vanilla - use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste interchangeably
- Coffee - add a shot of cold espresso or use espresso powder
- Chocolate - fold in cooled melted chocolate (watch how thick it will become as it sets! This is chocolate mousse!)
- Lemon - fold in lemon curd
- Tea - add finely chopped Earl Grey tea leaves (the taste will be subtle but the look is very pretty like on this Earl Grey chocolate tart!)
- Alcohol - add a liqueur like Kahluà or Amaretto, or even brandy or cognac
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