Make your desserts extra special by garnishing them with light and fluffy Homemade Whipped Cream from scratch! With only 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of whipping time, you will never buy canned whipped cream again. Recipes for both full batch and small batch whipped cream provided.


Homemade whipped cream in a silver bowl

One of my goals for this blog is to retest and rescale recipes to be more small batch friendly.

I’ve been blogging for over 18 years now. Although I’ve been scaling down recipes for two most of my cooking life, I haven’t always blogged that way.

It’s one of the few things I regret about blogging; I wish I would’ve started this focus much sooner.

As I’m taking inventory of my recipes, I noticed one thing – I have blogged the same whipped cream recipe over and over and over….

I’ve always hated making a big batch of homemade whipped cream because I would always have leftovers in the fridge.

And since whipped cream isn’t something that lasts more than 1-2 days, I end up throwing the rest out. Cue sad face.

After years of making my small batch whipped cream, I figured out the proper proportions to make just enough to serve with your chocolate pancakes and angel food cake in a loaf pan.

Although due to popular demand, I’ve also included proportions for regular-sized batch whipped cream as well.

I even figured out how to make flavored whipped cream too, including peanut butter whipped cream, chocolate whipped cream, strawberry whipped cream, maple whipped cream, and cream cheese whipped cream.

My whipped cream recipe is probably the most used recipe on this blog. I’ve always made it since I could remember; very rarely do I buy the canned version.

Another name for homemade whipped cream is Chantilly cream, which is the French name for it. It’s not a term I personally use, but if you see it on a menu, it’s good ol’ fashioned whipped cream.

With only 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of whipping time, you will never buy canned whipped cream again.


Small Batch Whipped Cream at the stiff peak stage

Ingredients For Homemade Whipped Cream

The ingredients for this easy whipped cream recipe are simple:

  • Heavy whipping cream: Look for heavy whipping cream and not just whipping cream (more on that below)
  • Powdered sugar: Both thickens and sweetens the cream
  • Vanilla extract Whipped cream on its own doesn’t have much flavor, so adding vanilla makes it taste even better

You can certainly add other ingredients such as peanut butter or cocoa powder, but they all start with the same three ingredients.

What is the difference between heavy whipping cream and whipping cream?

For a successful whipped cream recipe, look for the carton that says heavy whipping cream (vs. whipping cream without the word heavy in it).

Although both produce luscious whipped cream, heavy whipping cream has a little more milk fat at 36%, which whips better and holds its shape more.

Whipping cream only has 30% milk fat, so it’s a little lighter and a little more time sensitive. That means it won’t hold its shape as much.

If you’re eating your whipped cream right away, such as on thick hot chocolate, using either type of cream will work.

However, if you need it to last longer, such as on top of a small pumpkin pie, you’ll want to use heavy whipping cream.

No, you cannot use half and half or whole milk. Yes, you must use heavy whipped cream.


Whipping up whipped cream recipe from scratch

How To Make Whipped Cream

Learning how to make whipped cream is SO easy, you’ll wonder why you bother buying canned whipped cream! Here’s how to make it:

  1. Beat cold heavy cream on high speed until it starts to thicken.
  2. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
  3. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks start to form. This means when you pull the beater straight up, peaks will form in the cream and will not fall over.

Once you reach the stiff peak stage, stop beating. If you go further than that, it’ll get grainy then eventually turn into butter.

If you do find yourself with overbeaten whipped cream, add in another tablespoon or so of cream to help smooth it out.

Serve your homemade whipped cream immediately. However, you can refrigerate it for up to 2 days. The longer it sits, the more it’ll deflate but will still be delicious.

You can also re-whip deflated cream to put more air back into it. Be careful you don’t overwhip it into butter.


Close up of small batch whipped cream

How To Freeze Whipped Cream

If you need your whipped cream to last longer than 2 days, you can freeze it for up to 2 months.

I like to portion the whipped cream onto a cookie sheet (either piped or spooned), freeze until firm, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag.

That way, they’re ready to go for Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake and Brownies For Two.


Homemade Whipped Cream in 3 different flavors

Recipes Using Whipped Cream

Now that you made small batch whipped cream, here are some the desserts you can serve with it:

Small Batch Whipped Cream at the stiff peak stage

Homemade Whipped Cream

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Whip Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Make your desserts extra special by garnishing them with light and fluffy Homemade Whipped Cream from scratch! With only 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of whipping time, you will never buy canned whipped cream again.

Ingredients

Small Batch Whipped Cream

  • 1/4 cup cold heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Full Batch Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

    1. In a large cold mixing bowl on medium-high speed (with whisk attachment if using a 5 quart stand mixer), beat the heavy cream until it starts to thicken, about 1 minute.

      If making the small batch version, you don't want your bowl larger than 5 quart. If your bowl is too big or you're having trouble whipping, use a smaller bowl with a handheld mixer.
    2. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla then continue beating until stiff peaks form (when you pull the beater up, peaks will form and not fall over), about 3-4 minutes.

      Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days. The longer it sits, the more it'll deflate but will still be delicious.

Notes

Recommended Products

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First published March 4, 2019