There is nothing better than making your own homemade whipped cream, and it’s EASY! We are here to help you perfect the best whipped cream recipe that will be sure to steal the show. You’ll get a sense of accomplishment when you make your own batch of homemade whipping cream to dollop on your hot cocoa or pipe onto pudding or cake! However, there is quite a bit that can go amuck while making the best whipped cream recipe for your dessert of choice. Below we share our findings from making our own homemade whipped cream with granulated sugar, powdered sugar, Rodelle vanilla paste, and much more!
To make all these varieties of homemade whipped cream, we used a metal bowl (cleaning between each batch of course) that’s been placed in the freezer for 15 minutes along with the beaters for our electric hand mixer. Getting your mixing bowl cold before beating heavy whipping cream will help the fat stay cool which helps trap the air bubbles in the whipped cream. When the fat warms up, it’s not able to maintain the air bubbles, will take longer to beat, and you won’t get as fluffy of a whipped cream.
Under Whipped – 3 minutes or less
This whipped cream tends to be runnier – almost like melted vanilla ice cream! You’ll know you’ve undermixed when you aren’t getting soft peaks, it will just run down the beaters. Piping will be harder too and it will look a bit more globby. But not to worry friends, there is an easy fix for this! All you need to do is continue beating for a few more minutes until stiff peaks appear at the end of your beaters or the whipped cream holds its shape when piping!
This version of whipped cream is honestly PERFECT for dipping fruit, chocolate graham crackers, or cookies (we recommend our brownie cookies). It’s also a great option to pour into your cup of coffee in the morning!
Powdered Sugar – 5 min
This is probably the best way of making whipped cream. Using powdered sugar to make whipped cream is the preferred method by a lot of folks as it does create a gorgeous fluffy whipped cream and is able to maintain that fluffy form because of its starchy quality to keep it stable! Some fun recipes to add this whipped cream to would be swiss roll cake with vanilla whipped cream, chocolate cream pie, or these fiori di sicilia cupcakes with whipped cream frosting!
Granulated Sugar – 5 min
If you’re out of powdered sugar – an easy substitute is a 1:1 ratio with granulated sugar! We suggest this as a last option as there’s a higher possibility of the granulated sugar not dissolving so you might be able to feel the grains of sugar when consuming. This whipped cream is still sweet and delicious and from our experience, will hold up its form. There is a possibility of the whipped cream deflating if you were to add too much granulated sugar when beating. This variation of whipped cream would be great to add to a molten lava cake or hot cocoa mug cake. Something warm to help melt the sugar granules!
Vanilla Paste or Bean – 5 min
You can elevate ANY homemade whipped cream with vanilla. A drop of vanilla extract like our Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract enhances the flavor of your whipped cream and whatever dessert you decide to add it to! To give a bit of texture and prettiness, add a few teaspoons of Rodelle Vanilla Paste or if you’re going all out, scrape out the vanilla flecks from a Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Bean. It just adds a bit of OOMPH visually to your desserts plus tastes yummy; like these softest fluffiest sugar cookies and mango coconut vanilla bean tart or Japanese whipped cream sandwiches.
Overbeating – 10 min
You’re making butter if you overbeat your whipped cream! Signs of overbeating are when the whipped cream starts to separate and look CHUNKY plus huge shift in color (more yellow-y). If you overbeat like to the extent of the top photo above, there’s no going back from this honestly and you’ll have to start over BUT if you catch it early on, like beginning of cream becoming overbeaten (bottom photo), you can splash in a bit of heavy whipping cream to thin it out. Continue adding cream until it gets to the consistency you were wanting. If it’s at the point of no return for whipped cream, it’s time to make sweet homemade butter and buttermilk! Pour off the buttermilk in an airtight container for use in another recipe, and rinse the remaining solids under some cold water, and fold until all liquid is released and store in the refrigerator. You can make an awesome homemade vanilla bean butter that will pair well on blueberry pancakes or French toast.
Other problems that can happen & how to troubleshoot when you’re making your own whipped cream
How long can I store whipped cream?
In the fridge it can be stored for up to week in an airtight container. You can also store homemade whipped cream in the freezer with a freezer bag or other airtight container for up to a month. It can last longer but will lose flavor and texture quality over time. We recommend thawing the frozen whipped cream overnight in the fridge for easy scooping out or if it’s in a bag, cut the end and pipe it onto your dessert!
Can I use a sugar substitute for whipped cream?
Yes! We’ve used swerve powdered sugar and monk fruit granulated sugar in our whipped cream. You might need less of each as they tend to be sweeter than regular sugar (just our opinion).
My whipped cream has deflated in the fridge!?
The easiest way to get that airy whipped cream back is to whip/beat it again for a few minutes! If it’s still not forming how you want it, add a bit more cream or sugar to give it more structure.
What’s the difference between soft and stiff peaks?
Whipped cream texture preferences vary from person to person but soft and stiff peaks are the standards for describing in a recipe. Soft peaks is when you remove the whisk, flip it upside down, and the peak or drip at the end begins to droop or sag. A stiff peak is when you remove the whisk, flip upside down, and the peak remains upright! Soft peaks are more for dipping into or adding to a beverage while stiff peaks hold their shape more so great for piping or for other dessert decors.
Can I give vanilla whipped cream or whipped cream with erythritol to my dog?
We want to make some things clear for our puppy friends and owners. Whipped cream with no other ingredients in it is safe for dogs in small quantities. You CANNOT give your dog whipped cream that has sugar substitutes or large quantities of vanilla extract. Dogs CANNOT consume vanilla extract due to the alcohol content. Erythritol in any dessert, including whipped cream is also toxic for your pup. Also, please give your dogs plain whipped cream in moderation as it can cause some tummy issues or pancreatitis in dogs that cannot consume a lot of fat like this miniature schnauzer named little miss Pepper.
If you think your pup has consumed a dessert with a lot of vanilla extract OR a dessert made with erythritol, call your vet immediately and have them checked out or animal poison control.
Any other preservation tips?
o Typically, whipped cream is only good for 2-3 hours before it needs to be consumed OR refrigerated in an airtight container.
o Adding gelatin to whipped cream can help stabilize and give more structure to the whipped cream plus can usually last for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can find out how to add gelatin to your whipped cream by looking at our earl grey olive oil cake with vanilla whipped cream recipe.
o Adding 2-3 teaspoons of a dry pudding mix (we recommend vanilla), can also give the whipped cream structure, and gives a similar consistency to CoolWhip, and in the fridge has a similar shelf life (4 days), but if put in the freezer can usually last up to a month-ish.
Different Flavored Homemade Whipped Creams
Sometimes you want to elevate your whipped cream or try something new! Did you know you could add Rodelle Organic Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa to your plain or vanilla whipped cream to make it chocolatey?! It’s rich but not bitter and has a wonderful airy texture that’s delicious in hot cocoa or on top of cupcakes!
Our raspberry vanilla shortcake recipe uses Rodelle Almond Extract in the whipped cream which gives this comforting subtly sweet with hint of almond flavor. It tastes amazing on these shortcakes, and we also like to spread a bit of this whipped cream with honey on these honey nut almond scones which we warm up for about 5-10 seconds in the microwave.
If you’re looking for something more citrusy – try using Rodelle Fiori Di Sicilia Flavor which has vanilla, floral, citrusy notes. Amazing on cupcakes like the Fiori di Sicilia cupcakes or dolloping on your waffles.
For any questions or comments on all things whipped cream related, you can contact us at rodelle-marketing@adm.com or fill out a contact form here!