Whipped Cream
Whipped cream can be made in five minutes with this easy homemade recipe! Only 3 ingredients are needed here: heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. I’ve included tips to make sure you are successful. This recipe takes any dessert to the next level.
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WHIPPED CREAM RECIPE
I know a whipped cream recipe isn’t rocket science, but to some of us, ahem, it is. Growing up my mom would pick up my friends and I up from school and have a bowl of strawberries and cream in the car ready for us to eat. We loved it. Even in 100 degree weather with the cream melting.
I then tried making homemade whipped cream when I was older and I somehow screwed it up every single time. Either it just wouldn’t whip up or I overwhipped it. Using fresh cream in your desserts transforms them from good to unbelievable. I just made this Eclair Cake with this recipe and it added so much!
INGREDIENTS
- Heavy Cream – creates a sturdier result. Regular cream can be used but is not as good as heavy whipping cream.
- Powdered Sugar – tends to dissolve better and has starch in it which helps stabilize the cream so it lasts longer. Granulated sugar can be used in place in an equal ratio as a substitute.
- Vanilla – real vanilla is always best.
HOW TO MAKE WHIPPED CREAM
- Place cream and sugar in a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until soft peaks have formed. Don’t whip too much! Refrigerate until using.
TIPS
Here are a couple of tips to make sure you have perfect whipped cream:
- Chill your bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes or so. It really helps the cream whip up fast.
- Don’t overwhip your cream. There’s about 30 seconds there when your cream will go from soft peaks to thick and butter like. You have to watch closely so that you don’t get the curdly stuff.
- Some dishes need a firmer whipped cream such as layered desserts whereas when used for fresh fruit it can be more of a soft peak.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAVY CREAM AND WHIPPING CREAM?
Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are basically the same and contain at least 36% or more milk fat. Whipping cream, or light whipping cream, is lighter and contains 30% to 35% milk fat. Heavy cream will result in a more stable cream but both can be used in this recipe.
CAN WHIPPED CREAM REPLACE COOL WHIP?
CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM
RECIPES USING WHIPPED CREAM
- Chocolate Brownie Cream Pie
- Strawberry Puff Cake
- Pina Colada Poke Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Trifle
- Lemon Lush
- Watergate Salad
- Snickers Apple Salad
- Strawberry Cheesecake Dip
- Banana Cream Pie
- Banana Split Icebox Cake
Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place cream and sugar in a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes or until soft peaks have formed. Don't whip too much! Refrigerate until using.
Notes
Great addition to individual trifle desserts. Quick, easy and delicious.
Thanks Tami!
Well, this is my second time making this recipe, I’ve always used the Graham crackers, but wow! Wow,! Wow… great and easy recipe, also made cream puffs with the crust recipe,,, incredibly delicious…thanks, Wendy
You’re welcome!
I like this simple recipe but I’m wondering if it can be frozen for future use. I’m thinking not.I’m really looking for something like that but I will be saving this recipe also.
I’m not sure that would work well.
When making your four layer yummy I want to use strawberry pudding and the home made whip cream
somewhere within I would like to add fresh strawberries. how do I do this with out making it runny
I would add the strawberries to the cream cheese layer personally. Sounds delicious.
How far in advance can I make this for it still to be fresh and fluffy
I would suggest making it the same day for the best results.
Love making homemade whip cream
I love homade redid whip 🙂 my dad makes it a lot
I want to use the real whipped cream recipe in a trifle but my experience with home made whipped cream is that it flattens over time. I’m afraid if I use it in my trifle it will turn to soup. Is there a trick? Do I have to serve immediately because trifle has to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours….will it hold up?
I emailed you but yes, it will hold up for at least a day. Make sure you whip it a little longer than normal so it’s not as soft.
Woo hoo! I made the trifles and the cream was amazing! No more cool whip for this girl! Also i added coffee to one of the batches and it tasted sooooo delisth on the brownie trifle I ended up making single serve trifles so I left a few at home for my family, because I wanted to see how long the cream would stand up, it’s been 24 hours since I made them and it is still holding strong! Now I can take them from the “hiding spot” in the refrigerator and out them up front….they will be gone in minutes once I do that!!
Thank you Christy for emailing me yesterday…you gave me the courage to try it and it worked!!!!
I’m soooo glad Jane. You are really good to try the single servings at home. Great idea. Glad I could help.
Oops! My boyfriend and I just made this mistake. I thought he was making an egg-white based frosting/topping and told him just to put the mixer on high and walk away… 15 minutes later we have… uhm… sweetened curdled butter? Time to try for round 2!
Haha. Oops!
Hi it’s me anonymous again !!!i had a question about why u have to chill the mixing bowl in the process of making the whipped cream
It just helps to the cream to whip faster. It’s not necessary but speeds things up.
I have never attempted to make this before so I hope it turns out well !!!
I just wanted to say thank you for the whipped cream recipe. It was so easy to make and it tastes so good, I’m never buying cool whip ever again!
You’re welcome. Me either!!
Hello – I see in the comments that this cannot be made ahead of time, but I am curious as to how far ahead I can make it. If I am serving it at 8p, can I make this at around noon and it will last?
Thank you for posting this. I have tried to make fresh whipped cream before but only managed to make butter. So this time I had a rough idea of what not to do. One of those things was that my previous attempts had not been sweet enough. So this time I knew I wanted it sweeter than 1TBLSP could make it. I also needed a rough time frame of when to add the sugar. You proffered up answers to both my questions and this time my homemade whipped cream was sensational! Thanks to you I now feel confident enough to make my own and a high likelihood that it will work well. I also wanted to tell you that I found a way to keep my cream cold even while whipping it in a warm kitchen. First chill you bowl then fill a slightly larger bowl one third to one half way with ice and cold water. Place your bowl with your cream inside the bowl with the ice water creating an ice bath to keep your cream consistently cold the whole time your whipping it into lovely softly whipped and yummy sweet treat. Thank You again for posting this. You provide a service I very much appreciated.
Maybe a silly question – can this recipe be halved? I already have a 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and I don’t think I’ll need more than a cup of whipped cream. Thanks.
Yes it can be halved. Not a silly question at all.
If you add 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin to the whipped cream, it can be made ahead. This especially helps when using the whipped cream to frost a cake.
Yes I’ve heard that. Great tip!
I made your whipped cream for your Boston Cream Pie recipe last weekend, and making it again today (my husband hasn’t stopped talking about it all week)! Question for you, my husband would like for me to try the French Vanilla pudding mix, but I just can’t bring myself to purchase Cool Whip. Have you ever added pudding mix to your whipped cream to give it a more authentic vanilla taste? I added vanilla extract to mine last week, and don’t get me wrong, it was divine, the cake was gone in 24 hours! But he is wanting more of that french vanilla flavoring.
Question 2, if you haven’t tried vanilla pudding in your whipped cream, would you consider using Reddi Whip instead of Cool Whip? Like I said, I just can’t bring myself to feed my family all the junk that’s in Cool Whip. I’m just not sure how the consistency would hold up.
Any thoughts?
Ashley,
Are you talking about the filling for the Boston Cream Pie? I definitely think the French Vanilla Pudding would be great. Reddi Whip inflates immediately so it wouldn’t work so I would stick with the homemade.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!!!! It helped me so much because I’m in a science fair at school I’m in 5 th grade so thanks
Love everything I’ve made and eaten from you blog! I made the punkin cheesecake ahead of time for Thanksgiving. Can I make the whip cream ahead of time as well or will it mess the consistency up/get runny?
Happy holidays 🙂
It will get runny if you make it ahead of time. If you want a make ahead whipped cream my friend has a great one here. I just use vanilla extract though. http://pimpmydinner.blogspot.com/2011/10/perfect-whipped-cream.html
Goodmorning !!! Is there any way to print your great recipes? Thank you and have a joyful day….dee
@Dee,
Yes. The bottom of each post has a bunch of icons and one of them is to print.
Kk. Thanks. 🙁 I tried it…ur right. Lol
@Marla,
No, evaporated milk will not work here. It needs to be heavy whipping cream.
Can i use evaporated milk?
Im new to baking, etc.
Evaporated milk whips well, I use it to make whipped cream often. Be sure your beaters, mixing bowl (preferably stainless steel) and milk are chilled well and then you are good to go…..
1 cup Evaporated Milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar (depending on your taste for sweetness)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
POUR evaporated milk into small mixer bowl; place beaters into mixture. Freeze for about 30 minutes or until ice crystals form around edge of bowl.
BEAT on high speed for 1 minute or until very frothy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla extract; continue beating for 2 minutes or until mixture is stiff.
Serve immediately spooned over fresh fruit or your favorite dessert.
No, must be heavy cream
@Anonymous,
Sorry but you need to use heavy cream here. Milk won’t whip up like the cream will.
Can I use whole milk or does it have to be heav cream?
Love this recipe! Linking back to this in an upcoming whipped cream post 🙂
Also great using brown sugar and ginger – try that on peaches!
Add a touch of vanilla and it will be that much better!
🙂
ButterYum
The best part about making your own whipped cream is that you can throw things in there to make flavored whipped cream. Via (the instant coffee from Starbucks) for coffee, hot chocolate mix for chocolate, matcha powder for green tea, etc.
When making red velvet cupcake from the box, I reserve a bit of the mix to make red velvet whipped cream to go on top. Sooo good!
My mom taught me to freeze the beaters and bowl and it really does work. I also throw the carton of cream in there for a few minutes. Love vanilla but sometimes lose the sugar depending on how sweet the dessert is.
Ever tried whipped creme fraiche? A little more sour but delicious with the right sweet:) Great post!
Thanks! I am 53 and terrible about making whipped cream. I’m going to give it another try!