For those of us who are into baking, know one thing that a cake or a pie is incomplete without whipped cream. Whipped cream, figuratively speaking is the cherry on the cake. Not only does it enhances the beauty of the baked product but also adds to the taste. Those looking for quick-fix solutions, simply use store bought whipped cream but believe me, nothing can beat the taste of a bowl of freshly made whipped cream. Making it is also not that difficult as it sounds. Take the right amount of ingredients, follow the instructions well and viola – you have your own bowl of whipped cream. Make whipped cream at home and have your guests eating out of your hands.
Below are some methods by which you can create this yummylicious concoction at home.
Before getting down to the process, kindly note the ingredients required to make whipped cream.
Ingredients
- Milk
- Powdered sugar
- Some vanilla essence
- A deep heavy bowl to make whisking easier
- A hand held blender or an electric mixer
Now that we have our ingredients ready, we can start right away with the process of making whipped cream. You could follow two processes – either start from scratch by taking milk or use ready-to-use cream.
If you wish to make cream at home, right from scratch, then the process is a bit drawn-out one. In today’s busy life, we generally do not take the trouble of making fresh malai at home. Frankly, nobody has the time and the inclination of it. But this was a very common thing in our mothers and grandmothers kitchen. For those who wish to know how they used to do it here is the process.
- Boil milk in a container and then refrigerate it. After a few hours you will find a thick layer of malai on the top. Remove it and store it in a container.
- Keep continuing this process for a few days until you have collected a good amount of malai. Making cream out of this malai is fairly simple.
- Simply whisk the malai with a hand blender or an electric beater until the cream is smooth and light.
Now we move on to the process of making whipped cream out of this malai. If you are hard pressed for time, you can substitute the malai with regular cream.
How to Make a Yummy Whipped Cream
For making yummy whipped cream, follow the below mentioned recipe –
Instructions
- Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour cold cream in it. Remember to use cream directly off the refrigerator. If the cream is cold, it’s easier to whip. For better results, chill the bowl and the whisk in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Next add powdered sugar. Also add a few drops of vanilla essence. Add a pinch of salt to enhance the taste of the cream.
- Now begins the process of whisking. Begin gently and gradually build up the tempo. You need to have some amount of practice if you are using a hand whisk but if you use an electric blender the task becomes considerably easier.
- Then simply watch and wait for those lovely peaks to form. After about a couple of minutes you will gradually find peaks forming.
- A good indicator is when you can see the marks of the whisk on the cream. It gives you an idea that the liquid substance is now becoming solid.
- It is now entirely your decision whether you wish a soft whipped cream or are more biased towards stiff cream. If you wish to add cream to your cakes then soft whipped cream is ideal for it. It falls gracefully over the cake while if you wish to use it a topping for your desserts a stiffer version would be more suitable.
- Remember to be careful this point onwards as excessive whisking might turn the cream into butter and then you would start all over again.
Now the above recipe was for a classic homemade cream. You could also try some other variations with it for example you can make a flavored cream at home or cream cheese whipped cream. Actually there are many more examples, but for now we would concentrate on these two more popular variants.
How to Make Flavored Whipped Cream
Today, flavored whipped cream is ruling the market. It is, any day better and tastier than the boring plain whipped cream. A flavored whipped cream serves as a perfect accessory to the dish in question. Keeping the dish in mind, either you could go for a similar flavored cream or to shake things up a bit, you could opt for a contrasting flavor. You can use certain flavoring agents such as cocoa, liqueurs or lemon zest to up the taste quotient and make your guests go wow.
To add that extra richness to a chocolate cake, go for a chocolate flavored whipped cream instead of the plain one. Making chocolate whipped cream is fairly simple.
Simply add a tablespoon of cocoa powder before you begin the process of whisking. Whisk it to the required consistency and you have your delicious looking chocolate whipped cream. This serves as a good topping for most chocolate cakes.
To make vanilla bourbon whipped cream, add a teaspoon of both to the mixture and whip it well. This complements a pecan pie well. You can even serve this chilled cream with grilled peaches. The humble pumpkin pie goes up a few notches when served with this exquisite whipped cream.
The list is endless. Depending upon your imagination you could use any number of ingredients and make your own version of a flavored whipped cream. The process is the same in case of all the ingredients. Simply take a bowl of heavy cream and add to it the required amount of sugar. Don’t forget to add a pinch of salt. Next add the flavorings and start whisking. Follow the procedure for making whipped cream and wait for peaks to form – soft or stiff depending upon your requirement.
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
This is another great recipe which is sure to impress your guests, more so for the reason that you have created it at home. This recipe needs the following ingredients:
Ingredients
- A packet of cream cheese
- About 2 cups of heavy cream
- ½ cup of sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Chilled bowls
Instructions
- Take a chilled bowl and empty the contents of a cream cheese packet. Beat it till it attains a light consistency. Keep it aside.
- In another bowl take the chilled cream and add sugar, salt and vanilla essence to it. Now begin the process of whisking. Continue doing until you see soft peaks forming. Do not whisk up to stiff peaks. They will be required later on.
- Next combine the whipped cream and the cheese cream together.
- Now whisk the combined mixture together till they form stiff peaks. A good indicator to check whether stiff peaks are formed or not is when you lift the beater it will form trace marks on the cream. That is when you know stiff peaks are formed.
This combo being a bit thicker than the normal whipped cream versions is ideal for being used as an icing base. If you wish, you can even use it as a topping for your cakes or pies.
Making cream at home is really not that difficult. It might seem a bit daunting at first but it is not something which cannot be done. All you require is some patience and dollops of confidence to help get the format right. Once you get the hang of making cream at home, trust me you will never touch the processed variety again.
