The Texture To Look Out For When Making Homemade Whipped Cream

Eating whipped cream straight from the can is a childhood memory that many of us share, and let's be honest, it's a habit we've probably taken into adulthood. But homemade whipped cream can be just as tasty and only requires cold heavy cream and your sweetener of choice. Adding vanilla extract is optional but will make it taste more like store-bought. For quicker results, pop your mixing bowl and beater attachments in the freezer, ideally overnight or a minimum of 15 minutes before starting. Using an electric beater or whipping by hand, blend until the mixture doubles in size. After this, the whipped cream will go through three different texture changes, so keep a close eye on it.

The cream will first turn into soft peaks, with the texture resembling melted ice cream. If you continue mixing, your whipped cream will reach the medium peak stage. Noticeable marks will remain in the cream when you lift the mixer, and this stage has the classic dolloping texture for pies. For stiff peaks, keep blending until the peaks stand straight up and the cream looks like cake frosting. Be careful not to over-whip at this point, as you'll end up with curdled or grainy cream.

Whipped cream at the soft peak stage will flop over instead of holding the peaks, but its smooth and velvety texture is perfect for folding into desserts like blancmange or adding to Irish coffee. Medium peaks have much more stability and hold rather well — but the cream remains soft. This is ideal for sandwiching in between cakes or dolloping on top of puddings, mousse, cakes, and trifles. Stiff peaks will have a very firm texture but won't be as velvety as the previous stages. These will work well for frosting cupcakes or cakes, piping, or as a dip for fruits and sweets.

If you're going for stiff peaks but accidentally over-whip the cream, you can pour in a little more heavy cream and gently fold it in with a spatula. Alternatively, if you have more time or no more heavy cream, you can let the over-whipped mixture sit in the fridge for up to an hour before stirring with a spatula. Both of these methods should bring you back to a smoother whipped cream. If all else fails, we're sure there's a can of whipped cream lurking somewhere in the fridge.