Learn how simple it is to make stabilized whipped cream with this easy tutorial. This whipped cream is perfectly sweet and holds its shape for days!
If you’ve never made stabilized whipped cream before you may be wondering if it’s really necessary.
The answer: It depends.
Have you ever made whipped cream, piped it on a dessert, and then a couple hours later it just deflated or even worse it started weeping (in other words, it gets a little watery)?
Yeah, no one likes that.
That’s when it’s helpful to know how to make stabilized whipped cream. If you’ve ever needed a whipped cream recipe that held its shape, then this is the perfect recipe. This stabilized whipped cream holds its shape for a few days (without deflating) and is perfect for piping on cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, pies, and so much more.
And I promise it’s easy to make too. If you can stir things together, use a microwave, and use a mixer, then you can easily make this stabilized whipped cream!
How To Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
First things first, make sure to chill your bowl and beaters before getting started with this recipe. Why? The colder your ingredients when you make your whipped cream, the quicker it will thicken and it can even increase the volume of your whipped cream too.
You only need to chill the bowl and beaters for about 5-10 minutes, so you can do this step while you gather your ingredients.
Then, pour a few teaspoons of water in a small microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle a teaspoon of unflavored gelatin on top, and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Any brand of gelatin will work fine, just make sure that it’s unflavored. I typically use Knox unflavored gelatin and can usually find it pretty easy in the baking aisle.
After a couple of minutes, place the bowl with the gelatin in the microwave and warm it up for just a few seconds. This won’t take very long at all, only about 5-10 seconds so just keep a close eye on it. Once you remove it from the microwave, stir it around, and set it aside to cool slightly.
While the gelatin is cooling, you’ll make the whipped cream. My whipped cream recipe is just a simple mixture of heavy whipping cream (make sure it’s at least 36% fat), powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
You’ll mix everything together until it thickens and forms soft peaks, in other words, when you lift the beaters out of the bowl the whipped cream folds over. Once you’ve reached the soft peak stage, you’ll slowly pour the cooled gelatin mixture in as your mixing the whipped cream.
Trust me here, I’ve tried just dumping the mixture in and then mixing it all up and I don’t advise it. Just turn your mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the gelatin to avoid any lumps.
Then, continue mixing the whipped cream until you have stiff peaks (when you lift the beaters out of the bowl the whipped cream stands straight up and doesn’t fold over).
And that’s it!
Different Ways to Use Stabilized Whipped Cream
You can use this whipped cream to pipe on just about anything that you like too. Here are a few recipes that you can use with this recipe:
P.S. I’ll be posting the recipe for the mini lemon blueberry cheesecakes (pictured above) on Thursday!
Tips For Stabilized Whipped Cream
- It’s best to chill your bowl and beaters before getting started. This will help your whipped cream thicken up quicker and increase the volume too!
- Make sure to let your gelatin cool slightly before mixing it in, you don’t want it to be too hot when you add it to the bowl.
- Whipped cream will double in volume, so if you use 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (like this recipe) then you will end up with about 2 cups of whipped cream. You can easily half, double, or even triple this recipe to make more or less whipped cream.
- Once you make the whipped cream, you can pipe it on your dessert, then refrigerate the dessert until you’re ready to serve it. This whipped cream will hold up just fine at room temperature for a couple of hours, but it’s best to keep your dessert refrigerated and avoid leaving it anywhere too warm for too long.
Stabilized Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons water
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup (240 ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the water to a microwave safe bowl and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin on top. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
- Transfer the gelatin mixture to the microwave and microwave until the gelatin is fully dissolved, this will just take a few seconds. Stir the mixture, then set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip the mixture until it starts to thicken and soft peaks form, then turn the mixer to low speed. Slowly pour in the gelatin mixture until well combined. Increase the mixer to medium speed and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe the whipped cream on your favorite dessert (or use it to frost it) and refrigerate your dessert until ready to serve.
I’m looking to make a whipped cream cheese frosting could I add cream cheese without ruining it?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure. I think you could beat 2-4 ounces of cream cheese separately, then fold this whipped cream into it.
I tried a bunch of other recipes before trying this one…. and this one is AMAZING🙌🏽 I didn’t have the unflavored Gelatin so I just mixed 1 teaspoon of jello with one teaspoon of cornstarch and it worked! I will definitely be using this recipe from now on! Love it!
I was wondering if this would work with 1/2 and 1/2 instead of whipping cream???? Anyone try this???
Hi, Katherine! Half and half doesn’t have enough fat in it and won’t thicken enough to make whipped cream. You’ll need heavy whipping cream with at least 36% fat in it.
Can you add food coloring to the mixture?
Yes, that’s fine! You can add a few drops of liquid food coloring. If you’re looking for a darker color, I recommend using gel food coloring so it doesn’t thin out the whipped cream.
How does this recipe hold up if you add food coloring?
As long as you only add a few drops of liquid food coloring, it will be fine. I would recommend gel food coloring if you’re needing a darker color.
I was curious if anyone has tried to eat this while its frozen? Ive been looking for a good whipped cream to put in a frozen chocolate cream pie.
I haven’t, sorry!
Brilliant recipe – and so delicious!! Thank you.
I followed your instructions but still ended up with gel chunks. I used 6 tsp water to 1 tsp gel. Heated it for 6 seconds, stirred, slowly put it in and they did not smooth in. Is the gel suppose to be liquid when stirring in? Thank you! -Joy
Hi, Joy! This gelatin mixture should be liquid when you pour it in. If you make it again, you can increase the speed of your mixer as you’re pouring it in and see if that helps it blend better. I recommend sticking with the 4 teaspoons of water per the recipe too.
You can add a tablespoon of cream to the liquid gelatin mix before adding to that whipped cream. This will help eliminate the gel strings! Good luck!
How many cupcakes will this whipped creamrecipe frost, like in your picture?
It will frost about one dozen cupcakes.
Whipping cream is called that for a reason. Half and half would not whip up because it is, well, half cream (Which does whip up) and half milk (Which doesn’t). Hope I helped!
is it possible to do this with an immersion blender or electric whisk?
I haven’t tried it, but I think an electric whisk would work.
I don’t own a microwave, what should I do?
You can melt the gelatin into the water in a small saucepan on the stove.
Can I add coco to make it chocolate? I was thinking of adding it with the sugar.
That would be fine! I would probably start with 1 tablespoon and add more if needed. I would recommend sifting the cocoa powder to avoid any lumps too.
Would it be possible to make this and pipe your cupcakes a day before your event ? Would it hold well overnight (in the fridge)?
Yes, that would be fine! Just be sure to store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator after you frost them.
I did all of the above and my cream split.. whey separate and milk separate.. right after adding the gelatin.. what should I do 😭
Sorry you had trouble with the recipe. If the mixture was separating, I’m wondering if it may have been over mixed after you added the gelatin?
Hello, can I use less powdered sugar for this recipe? I like my heavy cream almost unsweetened because I use it just to give texture to a dessert
Thank you
Yes, feel free to reduce it to 1 to 2 tablespoons.