Homemade Sweetened Whipped Cream is SO much better than the store bought stuff and it couldn’t be easier to make. Just 3 simple ingredients with a mixer and a whisk attachment is all you need. It only takes about 5 minutes to have an amazing homemade dessert topping!
Benefits of Homemade
- The flavor of Homemade Whipped Cream cannot be beat!! It will enhance any dessert you add it to.
- When you make your own whipped cream you can flavor it to match the dessert – bourbon for apple pie, peppermint at Christmas etc…
- If you are serving a store bought dessert, adding fresh Whipped Cream will make it feel homemade!
Best Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you need, plus some expert tips to make sure it turns out billowy and sweet.
Cold Heavy Whipping Cream
No subs here, you need the full milk fat of the heavy whipping cream to whip up into fluffy peaks!
Pro Tip: Make sure your heavy whipping cream is cold, straight out of the fridge. This will help your cream whip up faster and fluffier.
Powdered Sugar
I recommend that you use powdered sugar over a granulated sugar. The powdered sugar will melt into the cream, leaving you with the silky texture that you want.
How to Make This Recipe, Step-by-Step
Start with 1 cup of cold heavy whipping cream in a mixing bowl. Add in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Pro Tip: if you have 15-20 minutes before beginning pop the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer! It will help your whipped cream whip up faster and fluffier.
Turn the mixer on medium speed for 1 minute.
Now sprinkle in 2 generous tablespoons confectioners sugar and turn the mixer on high. Whisk for 2-3 more minutes until medium-stiff peaks form.
Medium Stiff Peaks are when you pull the whisk out of the cream and it holds the peak that pulls out on the whisk without wilting right away. See the photo below.
Pro Tip: You will start to see light traces of the whisk in the cream that remain while it is whisking, that is showing signs of “medium-stiff peaks”. Be careful not to beat the cream past stiff peaks or you will separate it into butter and buttermilk!
Serve immediately over your favorite cakes, cupcakes, berries or waffles.
Stabilized Whipped Cream
Whipped Cream is best used right after it has been whipped. However, if you need to make it ahead, like for a dinner party, then you will want to stabilize it. Which means it won’t separate, weep or turn back into liquid in the fridge.
Add ¼ tsp cream of tartar when you are mixing up the cream. This will help it last a couple hours in the fridge.
Additional Flavors
You can also make flavored whipped cream to pair with your desserts. Just swap out the vanilla extract for these flavors:
- Coconut – ½ up to 1 tsp coconut extract or coconut rum
- Maple – 1 tsp maple syrup
- Cinnamon – keep the vanilla extract and add ¼ up to ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Peppermint – ½ up to 1 tsp peppermint extract
- Bourbon – 1 tsp bourbon
- Banana – ½ up to 1 tsp banana extract or banana rum
Tips to Make it Perfect!
Here are a few pro tips to make sure your whipped cream turns out perfect:
- Keep everything COLD!!! If you have time you can put the mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before making the whipped cream.
- Make sure your whipping cream is really cold!
- If you have to make this recipe a couple hours in advance add ¼ tsp cream of tartar to stabilize.
- Use full fat heavy whipping cream, it will give you the creamiest results.
- Whisk to medium-stiff peaks (they stand on their own without collapsing right away), which will take about 3 minutes total, but don’t overbeat or it will separate into butter and buttermilk.
Recipe FAQ’s
They are essentially the same thing. Heavy cream has 30% milk fat and heavy whipping cream has 36% milk fat. Both will whip up beautifully.
Double cream is the British term for heavy whipping cream. However it contains about 48% milk fat and can over whip quickly. So if using double cream you may need to cut the whipping time in half.
If you have moved past stiff peaks and over whipped your cream it will actually separate into butter and buttermilk!
Unfortunately, no. You will need to start over with fresh whipping cream.
Related Recipes
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Homemade Sweetened Whipped Cream
Equipment
- Sand mixer with whisk attachment (or hand held mixer with whisk attachment)
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold! (also called heavy cream or double cream)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (generous) confectioners sugar (also called powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Start with 1 cup of cold heavy whipping cream and 1 tsp vanilla extract in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or hand held mixer with whisk attachment).Pro Tip: if you have 15-20 minutes before beginning pop the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer!
- Turn the mixer on medium speed for 1 minute.
- Sprinkle in 2 generous tablespoons confectioners sugar and turn the mixer on high. Whisk for 2-3 more minutes until medium stiff peaks form.Pro Tip: You will start to see traces of the whisk in the cream that remain while it is whisking, that is showing signs of "medium-stiff peaks". Be careful not to overbeat the cream or you will separate it into butter and buttermilk!
- Serve over your favorite dessert, berry or waffle/pancake.
Notes:
- Keep everything COLD!!! If you have time you can put the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before making the whipped cream.
- Make sure your whipping cream is really cold!
- If you have to make this recipe a couple hours in advance add ¼ tsp cream of tartar to stabilize.
- Use full fat heavy whipping cream, it will give you the creamiest results.
- Whisk to medium stiff peaks (they stand on their own without collapsing right away), which will take about 3 minutes, but don’t overbeat or it will separate into butter and buttermilk.
If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.
We would love to have you comment & rate the recipe!