Whipping heavy cream is not a very complicated technique. Nevertheless, it often raises questions in the comments of recipes.
To clear up this issue once and for all, I decided to write this article. In it you will find answers to the most popular questions about whipping cream. I hope it will help you improve your pastry skills and have even more fun cooking.
WHICH CREAM IS GOOD FOR WHIPPING?
There are different types of cream in the supermarket – from 9 to 38% fat content. Not all of them are suitable for whipping.
- 9-15% – half and half. Add it to coffee, beverages, milk shakes, cocktails. This type of cream is also suitable for making panna cotta and custards.
- 18-25% – cream for sauces. It is thicker and has a higher fat content than half and half, but is still not suitable for whipping.
- 30-38% – heavy cream. This is the type of cream used for whipping. It has enough fat to stabilize. And this is the kind of cream you need to make ganache.
WHICH TOOL SHOULD I USE TO WHIP CREAM?
Remember once and for all: a blender will not work for whipping cream. You need a mixer – either a hand mixer or a stand mixer. At the very least, you need a whisk attachment for an immersion blender.
You can whip cream by hand with a whisk, but it’s physically too hard.
HOW DO I WHIP CREAM?
The first and foremost rule for successful whipping is that the cream must be well chilled.
This does not mean half an hour or an hour in the refrigerator, but at least 4-5 hours. It is best to leave the cream in the refrigerator overnight. The larger the package, the longer the cooling time.
WHIPPING CREAM STEP BY STEP
- Chill the cream for at least 4-5 hours.
- Remove the package from the refrigerator and shake well. During storage, heavy cream separates into a thicker part and a more liquid part. Our job is to reunite these parts and achieve a more or less uniform thickness.
- Pour the cream into a clean, dry bowl in which you will be whipping.
- Whip the cream to soft or stiff peaks, depending on the purpose of the whipping.
NOTE:
✅ The same amount of cream will whip faster in a narrow, tall container than in a wide one. For this reason, it makes sense to whip in a measuring cup instead of a bowl.
✅ If the cream needs to be sweetened, add powdered sugar about halfway through the whipping.
Sugar does not always dissolve well.
✅ If you are making a frosting with heavy cream and cream cheese, you can combine them and then whip them together.
WHY DOES WHIPPED CREAM SEPARATE?
There could be a few fairly obvious reasons:
- The cream is not chilled properly or at all.
- The cream has been whipped too long.
- The cream is cooled, but the room in which it was whipped was too warm. This happens when whipping a small amount of cream in hot summer weather.
HOW TO STABILIZE WHIPPED CREAM?
Gelatin
Use in a ratio of 1 to 100, i.e. for 100 ml of cream you need 1 g of gelatin.
1. Soak gelatin in water in the ratio 1 to 6 (for 1 g of gelatin – 6 ml of water), leave to bloom.
2. Melt on the stove or in the microwave.
3. Allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Begin to whip the cream. As soon as the cream begins to thicken, gradually add the cooled gelatin in a thin stream without stopping the beating.
Cornstarch
For 250 ml of heavy cream, you will need 1 teaspoon of cornstarch.
1. Mix a quarter of the cream with the cornstarch and powdered sugar.
2. Place over medium heat and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat, transfer to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature.
4. Whip the remaining heavy cream to soft peaks (the whisk marks will be fairly firm, but the mixture will still be soft and fall off the spoon), add the starch mixture and whip all together to stiff peaks.
Special Cream Stabilizers
There are several types of cream stabilizers available today. Most are based on modified cornstarch.
Such a thickener does not need to be diluted or prepared in any way – you can add it directly to the whipped cream. The required amount is indicated on the package and may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
