How To Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
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 you’re 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.
How can i make this a chocolate whip cream? Thank you.
I imagine you could add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. If you do though, you may need to add a little extra powdered sugar.
Can I use this with the following (part of a ) recipe instead of the Cool Whip?
Lemon Layer:
1 small (3 oz.) pkg lemon jello
¾ cup boiling water
Stir to dissolve gelatin. Cool.
Cream together:
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
Mix this with the cooled lemon jello mixture. Fold in:
1 8 oz Cool Whip.
I would probably just use my regular whipped cream recipe for that.
Is there another way to make stabilised whipped cream without gelatine? I’ve seen ‘cream of tartar’ floating around in the midst of my google searches. However, I’ve used a few of your recipes with great success and have now built up a bit of trust in your baking knowledge!!
I’ve really only ever used gelatin to stabilize it. I’ve heard you can use cream of tartar and cornstarch too though.
Will stabilized whip cream work with Russian Piping Tips?
I honestly haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure how well it would work.
Yes. This does work with russian piping tips. Infact, when i tried it ,it turned out very well!
There is a packet (actually, a two pack) of Whipped cream stabilizer.
It does not contain gelatin.
I think it’s xanthum gum, tapioca and cornstarch.
It’s .99¢-$1.09 ( USD) at any Grocery store in the baking isle.
It comes in a blue packet (like the color of DreamWhip) – or try DreamWhip!
Hope this helps!
I use one tablespoon of Hershey’s white chocolate instant pudding. It works and there isn’t too much that it affects the flavor of the whipped cream.
Hi Susan. How did you incorporate the vanilla pudding mix into this recipe? Was it instead of the plain gelatin, or in addition to, and did you do anything else differently?
Hi Susan. Could you please give me the recipe using white chocolate instant pudding for the stabilizer. AlsoHow long does it hold up? Thank you ?
Would this work on a cake overnight
Yes, I would recommend refrigerating the cake though.
After I whipped the cream with gelatin, it looked smooth and fine, but after I put it in the fridge, I found some small lumps when I use it to frost the cake. What went wrong?
Hi, Dorothy! Did you refrigerate it, then try to use it later? If so, I recommend using it on your dessert right after you make it then refrigerating the dessert.
Will I get the same results if I use dairy free heavy whipping cream?
I haven’t tested it, so I’m not quite sure.
Can you do this without adding the sugar (and vanilla)? I find plain unsweetened whipped cream tastier.
You can leave out the sugar and vanilla if you prefer.
Thank you for the five tips. I learned to cook – taught by my mother when I was about seven – 80 years ago. I appreciated your tip about measuring the flour, I have never done that before and might be the answer to how things turn out well or not so well. However, in England, we always used scales to measure whatever and I have never got used measuring things by cups. I am glad that you include weight as I have scales here.
One question: when you write about the sugar in the whipped cream, is that icing sugar? I am never quite sure what it means and sometimes (not for cream) I have put sugar into my mixer and ground it down to a finer consistency – more like fine sugar in the U.K.
AGAIN, thanks. I don’t know how I came to receive your tips, but appreciated them. Christina
Hi, Christina! Yes, powdered sugar is the same as icing sugar 🙂
Do you recommend using the recipe for if I wanted to frost a cake with whipped cream, or just using plain whipped cream? Thank you in advance.
I would recommend using this one, since it’s stabilized and will hold up better.
I used 4 cups of heavy cream does it mean I need to use 4 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin or can I use less of the unflavored gelatin? I found lots of lumps on my whipped cream, I use your suggestion to microwave the unflavored gelatin with the water and pour slowly the gelatin after a soft peak and I still have lumps. I was thinking whether I should sift it once before pouring it into the whipped cream,
Yes, if you’re using more whipped cream you would want to increase everything else accordingly. Did you let the gelatin sit on the water for a few minutes?
Can I use this to frost a wedding cake?
Yes you could, but something like my buttercream frosting may be a better option.
I’m a baker. I bake all the time, and I’ve never had problems with recipes at all. But for some reason this whipped cream did not work for me. It wasn’t it. The frosting just dropped down and the rosettes I did on the top fell over to the side.
Can this be folded into beaten and softened cream cheese to make a whipped cream/cream cheese frosting?
I haven’t tried it, but I think that would be fine.
I had made some cream cheese whip cream icing in a recipe for an Angel Cake Log…and then tried using the same icing on cupcakes. It held up but it was not pipped! As I searched Pinterest I came across yours and made it. I doubled the recipe (except for the sugar – we’re not into super sweet icing) and added one 8 ounce block of cream cheese. It holds up well and it is closer in sweetness to what we like that any of the other . . . Wish I had found it sooner. Thank you
Can this be colored? I’m making a first birthday cake for my grandaughter and didn’t want to be all buttercream. Thanks!!!
Yes, you can add a few drops of liquid food coloring. For a darker color, I’d recommend using gel food coloring.
Hi. If I use this to icing a cake. Will it also hold between a two layer cake? Thank you for sharing this!
It’s soft like whipped cream, so if the cake layers are heavy it may not hold up well between them.
I’ve made stabilized whipped cream before, but sadly all this one did was curdle. I’m not sure what went wrong!
Did you make sure to follow each step of the recipe (letting it sit on the water for a few minutes, letting it cool, mixing it in quickly, etc.)? If you happened to skip one then it could cause that to happen.
For how many hours this stabilized whipped cream toppings will last without dropping on sides on cakes?
It really depends on how warm it is. I’ve let it at room temperature (65-70°F) for several hours without any issues, but I do prefer to keep my dessert topped with it refrigerated so it holds up longer.
Does stabilising the whipped cream change the texture of it?
No, the texture is still the same as regular whipped cream.
Thank you for this! Could I add sour cream next time? If so, should I add more gelatin too?
I haven’t personally tried adding sour cream, so I’m not sure. Sorry!
Thanks for this! I live in Jamaica i.e. a warmer climate, and whipped cream icing recipes have failed me miserably. Though it’s the best thing for my black forest cakes.
Question: How can I adjust the recipe to accommodate 1-2 two teaspoons of white rum and 1 teaspoon of vanilla? It makes it taste divine, but it also makes it too soft.
I haven’t tried adjusting it to add some rum, so I’m not quite sure. I feel like if it’s just 1 teaspoon, it shouldn’t affect this recipe too much.
I’ve made this twice and love it! I’m planning to make it for cupcakes for my son’s 2nd birthday. If I make the cupcakes the day before, can I add the whip cream and Will they keep until tomorrow night? Wasn’t sure if cupcakes would get soggy if I do them too early in advance.
The cupcakes shouldn’t get soggy if you do it the day before you plan to serve them. I do recommend refrigerating them though after you add the whipped cream.
At what stage would you recommend adding food coloring? Also, I don’t have a microwave. If I heat it on the stovetop, I’m just looking for the gelatin to dissolve, correct? Thanks!
You can add the food coloring at any point, but it may be easier to add it with the powdered sugar and vanilla. That’s correct, you’re just looking for the gelatin to dissolve.
Can i freeze a cake that has been topped with this stabilzed whipped cream?
I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not quite sure. You could bake the cake layers and freeze them, then just thaw them, make the whipped cream, and decorate the cake.
If I can taste small chunks of gelatin the whipped cream frosting, does that mean I didn’t add the gelatin quickly enough?
Yes, you want to make sure to mix quickly and pour the gelatin in very slowly.
Hi! Can I use this recipe in between layers of a 2 tiered fondant cake? My customer wants raspberries and whipped cream inside but wants the outside to be covered in fondant. Is this possible?
Hi, Kaitlyn! It kind of depends, this is still soft like regular whipped cream. You could possibly fold some raspberries into the whipped cream and use that in between the cake layers.
Hi. I made this today for the first time l. First time I made it the gelatin hardened before I even got it to pour into the cream. Second try went better but any opinions on how to pipe it without losing some at the end where your hand is? It got too warm and runny towards my hand.
If it’s getting too warm, you can put it back in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes and that should help.
Hi Danielle! I need to make around 20 cupcakes for a baby shower, do you know how many cupcakes this whipped cream will frost?
This recipe will make about 2 cups, which is usually enough to frost 10 to 12 (depending on how much you use). I’d recommend doubling it, just so that you have enough for 20.
Not sure what I’m doing wrong. Made this twice and both times it’s not perfectly smooth. Can’t really tell anything while eating but it doesn’t look smooth.
Can you see/taste small lumps of the gelatin in the whipped cream? If so, then you may need to add the gelatin slower with the mixer on a higher speed. If not, then you may just be over mixing the whipped cream. If you mix it too long it can start to turn grainy.
Hi.
I loved this recipe. I have seen so many of them that have cream cheese and I hate cream cheese. Do you have a recipe for frosting I can use on Carrot Cake and Red Velvet Cake without cream cheese?
Hi, Donna! You could try my Swiss meringue buttercream here or regular buttercream recipe here instead.
I give this 5 stars! It holds up and tastes great. I use it anytime whip cream is needed. When entertaining, I just don’t have the time to pipe on the whip cream just before serving, I want to set out the dessert and get back to family and friends. Thanks for sharing.