There’s nothing like a fresh dollop of homemade whipped cream with your dessert of a bowl of fruit. Whipped cream is a light and fluffy delight made from heavy cream or whipping cream and powdered sugar or superfine sugar. Of course, you can always purchase whipped cream in a tub or a can, but you can’t vouch for the quality, or the freshness of the ingredients used. Many of them include hydrogenated oils and other additives that aren’t necessary when you’re comfortable making your own. You don’t even need to be an excellent cook or even all that kitchen savvy to make homemade whipped cream.
The Simplest Method to Make Whipped Cream
One of the simplest ways of making whipped cream is to whip out your stick blender. It’s a breeze to clean and won’t take more than a few minutes to prepare. Simply add your cream, sugar, and any flavoring you like to a deep bowl. The deeper the bowl, the less splashing you’ll experience. Simply start your immersion blender and be sure to take up and down motions to get the most air into your whipped cream more efficiently.
Other Methods for Making Whipped Cream
There are many ways of making whipped cream. Perhaps the oldest method is to use a deep bowl, a whisk, and pure muscle power. Furiously and quickly whisking heavy cream and sugar for several minutes will incorporate enough air to make the cream semi-solid and light. You can also add your ingredients to a mason jar, screw the lid on tightly and shake it furiously until you’ve got the thickness you prefer. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip your cream. If you want to be a bit more high-tech, you can use a whipped cream dispenser. These gadgets use nitrous oxide to pressurize and combine the ingredients and allow you to squirt the whipped cream out of a nozzle. As you can see, there are many ways of making whipped cream, including using your food processor and even a cocktail shaker.
Ways to Use Whipped Cream
Many people have a favorite way to eat whipped cream. Some prefer to eat it with a spoon, while others like to plop some on top of fresh peaches or strawberries. Others like to layer it in a trifle or ice cake with it. It pairs nicely on French toast and pancakes as easily as it does with strawberry shortcake. No matter how you like to eat whipped cream, it’s no big deal to keep a bowl on hand when you’re looking for a not-too-sweet treat. How you choose to consume whipped cream is totally up to you. And the best thing about whipped cream is that there’s no wrong way to eat it or make it. You can add whatever flavorings or colors fit your liking or your menu.
Whipped cream is a highly customizable food item that can be used at any meal. It can be as sweet or not as you choose to make it. You can flavor it with almond, fruit, vanilla, or rum. There’s so much that can depend on a fluffy dollop of whipped cream set atop something as simple as a mug of hot cocoa or as ornate as an apricot compote. Bon Appetit!
