Easy Stabilized Whipped Cream
So simple, so delicious and so easy to make at home. The very cool thing about this whipped cream is that it stands up and can be used in place of cool whip or other nondairy whipped toppings. Why is that cool? Well, you’ll know exactly what you’re eating for one. And for another, now you can more easily use it for desserts and decorating. Plus personally, I think this whipped cream tastes better. Imagine the extra creamy whipped cream from the store.
Types of Whipped Cream
What you might not know is that there are actually different kinds of whipped cream. There’s plain and simple which is nothing more than cream that has been whipped into peaks. Sweetened that has sugar and typically vanilla added to it before being whipped into peaks. And finally, you have stabilized whipped cream. (We are going to ignore flavors for right now) There’s a couple ways to make this, but essentially it thickens the cream in order to stand up better. In other words, the peaks won’t fall as quickly.
Basic Ingredient Stabilized Whipped Cream
I love this version of stabilized whipped cream because I have all the ingredients readily available typically. It’s also very easy to vary the amount of the ingredients which reduces waste.
So what do you actually need? Heavy cream (aka whipping cream), powdered sugar (can use regular sugar in a pinch), powdered milk, and vanilla extract.
Powdered Milk
Powdered milk is the magic secret ingredient here. So why add powdered milk? Well in this particular case the powdered milk actually dries up some of the whipped cream making it a little thicker. Now you can achieve similar if not the same results with gelatin, or even Xanthan gum (try Pinterest or google for recipes using those).
I prefer powdered milk for 2 main reasons. 1. I almost always have it on hand now. 2. It’s so easy to just measure out what you need. Which for the record is 1-3T per cup of cream. I use 3 Tablespoons per cup and we have fantastic results, but you will see recipes using less.
To use gelatin is a pain (I think) because you have to open a package up, measure out a small amount, and then figure out what to do with the rest of the package without it going bad. I mean I suppose you could use sheet gelatin which would be easier to cut down, but that can be difficult to locate. So I end up sticking with the powdered milk. I also believe powdered milk is a little more user friendly because it tends to be less processed. Xanthan gum is interesting. I’ve used it in a few instances with good results. It does have a different texture in the finished product. BUT if you don’t know the difference you may not even notice it. True story.
Experiment
But overall person preference might come into play here more than anything. So play around with different ingredients and rations. Just because one thing works for us and we like it doesn’t mean that it will be a favorite for you. Who knows. Maybe you’re a whiz with sheet gelatin and have it readily available.
Uses for Stabilized Whipped Cream
Here’s an easy one for you. I mean it. You can use this anywhere you use whipped cream. Waffles, strawberry shortcake, ice cream, frosting, anything you can think of. So have fun with it. And tell us below. What would you use this for?
Course | Dessert |
Prep Time | 10 minutes |
Servings |
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- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar can use regular sugar if you need to
- 3 Tablespoons powdered milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Ingredients
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- Combine all the ingredients in a fairly decent sized bowl. It is recommended that you slowly try to mix the ingredients to minimize the powder that will fly when you start mixing.
- Whip ingredients together until the mixture starts to thicken and form peaks. Do NOT overmix as you will "break" the cream and get sweetened butter and buttermilk instead.
- I try to whip this until it forms stiff peaks because I am generally using this for decorating. Although this has become my standard whipped cream now even when just using for a topping.
- Scope or pipe out and enjoy.
If you've never made whipped cream before and are having trouble judging when the peaks are done forming, don't worry. Chances are you will break the whipped cream at least once in your life. It's just part of learning and that is okay. I promise. You will find that if you do this a bunch of times and pay attention you will get a feel for it. Then it will become second nature.