Homemade Whipped Cream

Fluffy, light and slightly indulgent, this Homemade Whipped Cream recipe is simply the best! Once you’ve made your own fresh whipped cream, you may never buy store-bought again.

What makes this recipe for whipped cream special all comes down to simplicity. Just three ingredients come together in about 10 minutes for a truly decadent treat! You can also effortlessly customize the sweetness to make it your own.

Make this fresh whipped cream to use in fruit salad, for berries and cream or to top ice cream on a hot summer day.

With your hand mixer at the ready, let’s make a batch of homemade whipped cream.

Fruit salad was a dessert staple in our home growing up. My mom would combine red and green grapes, sliced bananas, chopped walnuts, and this fresh whipped cream for a treat. 

During the hot summer months in Minnesota it was a refreshingly cool respite from the heat of the day (and night).

Today, I make this fresh Berries and Cream recipe you have to try! It’s lightly sweet but so refreshing anytime of year.

Ingredients

One of the best aspects of this homemade whipped cream recipe is the customization. You only need three ingredients that you can easily modify to create a lightly sweet or truly decadent dessert by varying the amount of sugar. Vanilla extract is also customizable to your liking.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Heavy whipping cream, 1 pint - Choose your go-to heavy whipping cream as the base for this recipe. We use Organic Valley because it’s organic and we prefer the flavor, but any brand should work nearly the same.
• Sugar, 2 tablespoons or more to taste - Start with a little sugar, maybe a tablespoon, and taste it. Add more to your liking.
• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon or more to taste - Same as the sugar, start with a ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add more until it’s to your liking. We used 1 teaspoon, as we like a slightly more pronounced vanilla flavor.

Equipment

You will need specialized kitchen equipment for this recipe. It has to do with being able to actually whip the cream to give it form.

• Hand mixer - In order to make fresh whipped cream from scratch, you either need a hand mixer or a stand mixer, such as a KitchenAid. Hand mixers are less of an investment than a stand mixer and can be used to bake cookies or other recipes.
  
  When it comes to different brands, I prefer a Hamilton Beach hand mixer. In my experience, they last a very long time, need no maintenance and work well for baking. Our first hand mixer by the brand lasted over 10 years.

• Mixing bowl - Most use glass mixing bowls but stainless steel may also work. Check the composition of yours to determine if you can use a hand mixer with your specific mixing bowls. For instance, we have a beautiful set of handthrown pottery mixing bowls that are not suitable for use with a hand mixer. (I used one for styling this recipe.)

Instructions

1. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl and, with your hand mixer, begin mixing.

2. Slowly add the sugar while you’re whipping the heavy cream. Part way through, taste it. If you want it sweeter, add more sugar.

3. Mix until the cream begins to form peaks; about 10 minutes. To see if peaks are forming, turn off the hand mixer and pull the beaters out of the mixture once in a while. It should not be runny or too stiff.

4. Serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions

Make a batch of your own homemade whipped cream anytime you would normally use store-bought.

• Around the 4th of July, or when you want a fresh treat, our Berries and Cream recipe will be your favorite!

• Use fresh whipped cream in fruit salad with your go-to fruits, such as grapes, bananas and walnuts.
• Add a dollop to ice cream, cake, waffles, muffins, or cookies.

How to Store Leftover Homemade Whipped Cream

Store fresh whipped cream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a few days or so. Inspect it before you consume it, just in case. I’ve read you can store it for up to 5-7 days, but I have never done that so I’m not sure how it will turn out.

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