Techniques › Baking and pastry
Whipping cream
Beginner Baking and pastry
Whipping cream is beating cold heavy cream until it traps air and holds its shape, from soft and billowy to firm enough to pipe.
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How do you do it?
- Use heavy or whipping cream labeled 30 to 36 percent fat, straight from the fridge. Chill the bowl and whisk for 10 minutes if your kitchen is warm.
- Whip on medium speed; add powdered or granulated sugar once it starts to thicken, about 1 tablespoon per cup.
- Stop at soft peaks for folding and topping, or firm peaks for piping. It should look smooth, not grainy.
- If it turns slightly grainy, gently whisk in a few spoonfuls of unwhipped cream to smooth it.
Why does it work?
Cream is tiny fat droplets in water. Whipping knocks their thin coats off, and partly solid droplets stick together into a network around the air bubbles, which holds the foam up. That only works when the fat is cold and partly solid; warm, melted fat won't hold a structure. Keep going and the fat clumps into butter, squeezing out buttermilk.
What are the common mistakes?
- Using warm cream or light cream — it never thickens past soupy.
- Walking away from the mixer — it goes from firm to grainy butter in seconds.
- Whipping hours ahead without a stabilizer — it weeps liquid and deflates.
Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.
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