Homemade Whipped Cream
May 12, 2008
Whipped cream, though not the luxury it was a couple centuries ago, is still placed on countless desserts, adding a light, but rich flavor. How does “simple physical agitation…transform a luscious but unmanageable liquid into an equally luscious but shapeable ’solid’?” Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking.
Whipped cream begins with a cream that is at least 30% fat, which produces a light whipped cream, or 38-40% fat for a heavy whipped cream. Higher fat content creams whip faster, but they produce a foam with less volume. Also, homogenized cream works fine and is harder to over-whip, but it will take longer to make.
In preparation, you want to leave your cream in the refrigerator for 12 hours so it will chill to 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. This accelerates the whipping process and stops the fat that remains a liquid in whipped cream from leaking out. A warm cream will deflate and become runny more quickly. Additionally, if possible it is best to refrigerate your whisk or mixer.
When whisking (or using a mixer with a motor, as most of us would do), tiny air bubbles are mixed into the cream. As you continue to whisk, the agitation removes the membrane from the fat molecules. This “naked fat,” as McGee calls it, is the force of stabilization for cream. The fat, repulsed by water, adheres itself either to the wall of an air bubble or to other molecules of fat.
Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking
In this way, the air bubbles are surrounded by a layer of fat, and these surrounding layers then connect to other bubbles and fat layers, creating a stabilized matrix of whipped cream. As these connect, liquid is also trapped between the bubbles and fat, which keep the cream from running.
The trick to whipping cream at home is to stop when this fluffy fat bubble matrix first forms. If you continue too long, the agitation breaks down the walls and the fat forms into larger clumps (the precursor to butter) and releases the air and liquid. Your cream will deflate and become greasy from the large fat globules.
I have never made fresh whipped cream before, but it sounds fun. Aerosol is actually very effective in creating whipped cream, so I don’t know if it is worth it to make it on your own all the time, but I’d like to try.
Has anyone made it on their own before? How was it?
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May 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Aerosol whipped cream is only useful in the bedroom. In the kitchen use real whipped cream all of the time. Use a totally dry bowl, I understand copper is best, but stainless or glass is fine, the bowl and the cream should be very cold.
I’ve seen somebody whip a quart of cream in under a minute useing a hand powered beater. The cream was just above freezing and the bowl was set in ice.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Ha! Thanks for the advice on using a dry bowl and setting it in ice. I’ll do it that way when I try it.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I’ve heard that whipped cream is finicky, but I’ve never had a problem with it, using a hand mixer in glass bowls, plastic bowls, whatever. I’ve never tried the bowl of ice, but it sounds interesting. It’s very quick and easy, and the really nice thing is that you can vary the amount of sugar. (The canned stuff is usually a little too sweet.)
May 13th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I make whipped cream all the time. I usually chill my bowl, but I do not chill the whisk. I have never had a problem with it, either. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I do homemade whipped cream only — you can control the texture so much better! The stuff in the can only comes in one consistency — but if you make it yourself, you can beat it less for a softer, spoonable whipped cream, or beat it to the whipped-cream version of “stiff peaks” and pipe it onto desserts!
That being said, after making my own whipped cream, the “fat free whipped cream” stuff freaks me out a little bit. First of all, what is fat free cream? Isn’t that milk? Second of all, how do you get cream to whip without fat? Chemicals. No thank you!
May 17th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Thanks for all the tips! I’m glad it isn’t as hard as I thought. I’ll try it next time I need some.