healthy real whipped cream

whipped cream
by Jackie Patti

I love whipped cream. Not "whipped topping" full of unhealthy fats and unpronounceable chemicals, that stuff has always tasted gross to me. But real cream, full of all the same healthy fats found in butter, whipped to soft, fluffy, decadent peaks that melt sensuously on the tongue...

If you must buy it ready-made, please buy something that actually contains full-fat cream. It will still have lots of gunky stuff, but it is at least mostly real food.

For example, Reddi-wip regular whipped cream ingredients are: cream, water, sugar, corn syrup, nonfat milk, natural & artificial flavors, mono- & di-glycerides and carageenaan (the container also contains nitrous oxide, but none is left in the whipped cream). The sugar and corn syrup are likely GMO, dried milk contains the one type of cholesterol that's actually bad for you (the oxidized stuff), natural & artificial flavorings can include all sorts of nasty chemicals, and in all my years of cooking, I've never needed to add mono- & di-glycerides or carageenaan to ANY recipe. But it is mostly cream, which beats the heck out of "whipped topping", which is a nasty-tasting, inflammatory mess.

But really, it is so easy to make at home that there's rarely a need to buy it. It takes 5-10 minutes to make yourself, and you can use grass-fed cream, so as to add significant vitamins A, D3 and K2 to the even lovelier fatty acid profile pasturing brings.

Obviously, your homemade stuff won't have non-food chemicals added. And real whipped cream is naturally so rich that very little sweetener is needed; a very tiny bit of stevia sweetens it nicely (even my husband who claims to dislike stevia enjoys my whipped cream recipes).

So homemade whipped cream can really be a healthy, nutrient-dense food!

There's two basic methods, one using a whipped cream dispenser and nitrous oxide chargers, a setup that resembles the Reddi-wip can. Or you can just use a mixer, either a stand or hand mixer.

Though I've owned a whipped cream dispenser for almost 2 decades, I rarely seem to have the chargers on hand. I don't think of them as a staple and go years between buying them, so most often, I just use a hand mixer. I'm providing two mixer recipes plus a dispenser recipe with chocolate variations.

A word about the ads on the right of the page: you can buy dispensers and chargers from Amazon if you prefer to go that route. At this writing, the chargers and the first dispenser shown were the cheapest available with good reviews and free shipping.

However, most dispensers are made of aluminum and sometimes plastic. If you prefer to avoid those compounds in cooking implements, the second dispenser is stainless steel, though significantly more expensive.

You can buy these locally at a kitchen supply store and may find a better price going that route. But I want to emphasize that you don't need a dispenser and chargers at all, a $10 hand mixer will work just fine.

OK, on to the first recipe...

basic whipped cream with a mixer

ingredients

  • vinegar and salt (for cleaning)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp powdered stevia extract

method

  1. It's preferable to use a metal bowl if you have one as it holds the cold better, but a glass bowl will do. Put some salt in the bowl, dampen a paper towel with vinegar, and wipe out to make sure it's scrupulously clean. Then wipe your beaters down with the same paper towel. Put both in freezer for 5 minutes to chill.
  2. Place 1 cup heavy cream in bowl and beat to soft peaks.
  3. Add vanilla and stevia and beat to firm peaks. Stop early if you're uncertain; over-whipping produces butter.
  4. This will yield 2 cups whipped cream. If you believe the serving size on Reddi-wip (2 TB), then you have 16 servings. In my world, it is enough to frost a large pumpkin pie.

Basic whipped cream will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two before it begins breaking down and weeping. But sometimes rather than using it immediately, you might want to use it over the course of a week. Or you might just want to stiffen it some in order to frost a cake (the cake must be COMPLETELY cooled and refrigerated immediately after frosting). In that case, we use a recipe with gelatin to firm up and stabilize the whipped cream without risking accidental butter production.

stabilized whipped cream

ingredients

  • 1 TB water
  • 1/2 tsp gelatin
  • vinegar and salt (for cleaning)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp powdered stevia extract

method

  1. You will need to melt the gelatin. You can use a microwave for this if you use one, or you can fill a small saucepan about 1/3 with water and bring to a boil before beginning.
  2. Place the water in a ramekin or small bowl, then sprinkle the gelatin over it. Allow it to "bloom" for a few minutes while you clean the bowl and beaters as described above.
  3. While the bowl and beaters are chilling, heat the gelatin until it is just barely melted. Allow it cool to room temperature while you beat the cream to soft peaks.
  4. Add the gelatin, vanilla and stevia and beat to firm peaks.

This variation flavors the whipped cream with cocoa. The cocoa causes the whipped cream to lose some volume, making it thicker, nearly the same texture as a mousse (but much easier than making a real mousse). In short, you have a complete dessert rather than just a topping.

variation: chocolate whipped cream

Proceed with either recipe above until the cream has formed soft peaks. With the vanilla, add 3 TB cocoa and increase the stevia to 1/4 tsp before whipping to hard peaks.


The recipe using a dispenser is very similar to the stabilized whipped cream, but easier since you don't have to clean the bowl and beaters nor do any actual beating since the charger does it for you.

dispenser whipped cream

ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp gelatin
  • 1 TB water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp stevia

method

  1. Sprinkle gelatin over water and allow to sit to "bloom" for a few minutes.
  2. Heat gelatin until it's barely melted, then allow to cool to room temperature.
  3. Add gelatin, cream, vanilla and stevia to dispenser.
  4. Charge with one charger.

variation: chocolate whipped cream in dispenser

This won't come out quite as thick as the mixer version because the nitrous oxide keeps it light and fluffy.

Proceed as for dispenser whipped cream, but replace the vanilla with 2 TB cocoa and increase the stevia to 1/4 tsp.


Disclosure: Affiliate