Happy Friday My Dear Readers,
Won’t you agree that whipped cream makes everything better!?!
Whipped cream can add delight to: your morning cup of coffee, fresh berries, pancakes, pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, and even sex (but that’s a whole other post…).
I was raised to believe that ingesting Cool Whip or any other type of non-dairy whipped cream substitute, or whipped topping – of any sort was a clear misdemeanour against food in general.
When I came across the perfect recipe for making REAL whipped cream, I realized how easy it is and officially banned those other substitute products from our kitchen.
Here are my official instructions to making perfect whipped cream, every time – adapted from my Better Homes and Garden’s Cookbook:
Ingredients:
2 cups of whipping cream
4 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
- Chill a medium mixing bowl and the beaters of your electric mixer
- In your well chilled bowl, beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla with your electric mixer until soft peaks form.
It’s THAT EASY to make whipped cream.
To make flavoured whipped cream:
Prepare exactly as above except add one of the following:
- 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder plus 2 tablespoons of additional sugar OR
- 4 tablespoons of your favourite liqueur (for example: amaretto, coffee, hazelnut, orange etc) OR
- 1 teaspoons of instant coffee crystals OR
- 1 teaspoon of almond extract OR
- 1 teaspoon of finely shredded lemon, orange or lime peel
Flavoured whipped cream is nice to compliment a fancy dessert, but for me most of the time, nothing beats plain old whipped cream.
Kitchen Confessions
I’ve found that chilling your bowl and beaters really do make a vast difference, the whipping cream thickens so much faster.
If you’re using your KitchenAid Stand Mixer to prepare the whipped cream, gradually increase your machine’s speed from one to 8, this helps to prevent splashing (according to my instruction booklet 8 is the perfect speed to make whipped cream).
If you’re making a flavoured whipped cream to compliment fresh fruit, I highly recommend adding the shredded lemon peel, it adds such brightness to the whipped cream, only enhancing the flavours of the fruit.
No matter how old I get, the best part of this whole exercise is clearly licking the beaters!
What’s your favourite way to enjoy whipped cream?
I’m a self proclaimed recipe maven, wine enthusiast and above all a loving wife. To learn more about me please visit my about page or, follow me on twitter. If you have a question, comment or suggestions feel free to contact me. Thanks for stopping by.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: erinbrowne
March 5, 2010 at 7:51 AM
Great tip on chilling your bowls – I wouldn’t have thought of that!
Yes, homemade whipped cream beats the pants off of all of the store bought stuff. My favorite way to enjoy it is on top of a big ole hunk of pumpkin pie!
Twitter: Mrs_Shannon_O
March 5, 2010 at 9:20 AM
Pumpkin pie is in fact the BEST part about Thanksgiving dinner Erin.
I am with you on that one.
Yum! I adore whipped cream. I’ve never chilled the bowl and beaters either – I will have to start doing that!
I’ve recently been learning about how our bodies actually need animals fats like butter, cream and lard. This is awesome news, because it means I can feel good about eating whipped cream! Especially if I use organic. And I always sweeten it with honey now, which tastes great! Even better for you!! I will never buy a tub of that “edible oil product” whipped topping again!
Twitter: Mrs_Shannon_O
March 5, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Honey! Honey is so good for you, espcially if you have allergies… I’ve read so much about that. What ratio do you use?
I don’t have it down to a science. I just squeeze some in there, whip, taste, squeeze in some more, etc until it tastes right!
Twitter: girlluvnlife
March 5, 2010 at 2:11 PM
Amazing! I have the same recipe from a different cookbook, and WOW, it’s true about chilling the bowls. I usually run the stainless steel bowl under cold water, then put it in the freezer for a minute…it really chills fast!
I tried this whipped cream on fresh gingerbread the other day, but added a touch of rum liqueur to the cream…everyone really liked it!
I agree with you ladies…I can never go back to store bought again…
Twitter: Mrs_Shannon_O
March 5, 2010 at 2:14 PM
Stainless steel is the way to go Esther!
Fresh gingerbread – amazing.
Admittedly I’ve never actually tried adding a liqueur to my whipped cream but I think it would be a fabulously decadent way to top off hot chocolate.
YUM, this is making me soo hungry! I don’t think I have ever had flavored whipped cream, but it seems like something I must try! Thanks for sharing!
Twitter: Mrs_Shannon_O
March 7, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Thanks Sandy, I really recommend the lemon peel it is so refreshing with fresh or frozen fruit.
licking the beaters is definitely the best part!
i just had whip cream on my breakfast last weekend. a simple, but undeniable craving for it.
Twitter: Mrs_Shannon_O
March 7, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Kwil, Whipped cream IS undeniably good!