Whipped cream

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5 from 5 votes

Easy, 3 ingredients homemade whipped cream recipe to serve on top of all your desserts!

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cups

Calories: 447kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

1 cup (240 mL) heavy cream cold
2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar (powdered)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Chill beaters and bowl for 10 minutes before starting the recipe.
With an electric mixer, whip cream, sugar and vanilla on low then increase to medium-high until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and curdled looking.
Can be made up to 1 day ahead, just cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Notes

Tools - Electric mixer (hand mixer or Kitchen-aid Stand mixer) | Metal mixing bowl
Make Ahead: I prefer to make it the day I plan to serve it. But you can make this and keep it refrigerated in an air-tight container, up to 1 day in advance for best results. If it's a hot, humid day I prefer to make and serve this right away!
Overbeaten: With your mixer running on low, add a bit of cold heavy cream to the mixture and continue to beat until the mixture smooths itself out of again. How much you will need to add will depend on how overbeaten it is. It could be 1-2 Tbs. or up to 50% more than the recipe calls for.
Timing: Recipe states up to 5 minutes but it can vary based on the speed, the temperature of the cream (and tools),and equipment you are using. You want to aim for a smooth consistency with peaks that hold their shape. Stop periodically and check the consistency so as to ensure you do not over-whip it.
Use an electric mixer. You absolutely can make whipped cream by hand, but it's going to take longer and require some serious arm muscle. Using a mixer, either hand-held or a stand mixer, will just make this whole process much easier on you.
COLD is KEY. You want to make sure your heavy cream is cold! It will up much easier and to higher volume.
Heavy cream is best. Again heavy cream is best for a whipped cream that holds it shape, but whipping cream will still work.
Use a metal bowl. This is so you can pop it into your freezer and it's get very cold very fast! Glass bowls also work, but will take a bit longer.
Chill your bowl and beaters! Besides cold cream, you also want cold tools. I recommend putting your bowl and beaters into the freezer for 10 minutes before making your whipped cream to help it whip up to its best volume.
Start on LOW speed. This is just so you don't end up with splatters of heavy cream all over yourself and the counter! Then gradually increase the speed to high once it's starting to thicken.
STIFF peaks. You want peaks that when you pull the beater out of the bowl the peaks stand up on their own. I find stiff peaks means the whipped cream lasts longer and you can pipe it if need be.
Do NOT overmix. We want stiff peaks, but you also don't want to go past that so you end up overmixing it and turning it into sweet butter instead! You can always err on the side of less mixed if you are making this for the first time.

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