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Learn how to make whipped cream with this easy 3- Ingredient Homemade Whipped Cream recipe! Skip the store-bought stuff – this stabilized sweet whipped cream is delicious and perfect for frosting cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, trifles and more!
Looking for more whipped cream recipes? Try these recipes for Baileys Chocolate Whipped Cream, Strawberry Whipped Cream and Mascarpone Whipped Cream!
*Post updated 3/21/19
Easy Homemade Whipped Cream
Growing up, we only knew of store-bought whipped cream. Making it homemade was just not a thing, so Cool Whip it was! When I made homemade whipped cream for the first time, I totally expected it to be difficult but it was SO easy! How had I not done this all along?! Once I realized my error, I never looked back!
How to Make Homemade Whipped Cream
You need three very simple things to make whipped cream. Just heavy whipping cream (or heavy cream), powdered sugar and vanilla extract. That’s it!
Start with cold cream. The colder the cream, the easier and more quickly it will whip. You could even freeze your bowl and whisk for 10-15 minutes before making it, but it isn’t really necessary.
I like to whip the cream on high speed and get a nice, stiff whipped cream. I’m usually using it to frost cakes, cupcakes or any other dessert and I want to make sure it stays put, so I whip it until stiff peaks form. What that means is that when you lift the whisk out of the cream after whipping it, it stays in place. You could whip it a little less, but that’s my preference in most cases.
Do be careful not to over-whip it though. You don’t want to walk away, because whipped cream happens quickly and if you leave it too long, you end up with butter. Cool, right?! But not what you want.
How to Stabilize Homemade Whipped Cream
Not only do I whip my cream until it’s stiff, I also use powdered sugar to ensure it doesn’t wilt. Because I use this whipped cream with desserts, it needs to stay in place for days at a time. I can easily pipe this whipped cream onto a cake or cheesecake and set it in the fridge and it’ll stay exactly as I left it. I’ve let things sit for a week or more and it stays as is.
My general rule for the ratio of heavy whipping cream to powdered sugar is 2:1. So for every cup of cream, I use about half a cup of powdered sugar. You can certainly reduce the powdered sugar a bit (and I often do) and it’ll stay fine, but that math is easy to work with if you’re making larger batches. I wouldn’t reduce it by more than a couple tablespoons though.
Can I Use Whipped Cream Instead of Cool Whip?
Because this whipped cream is so stable, it makes a great replacement for Cool Whip and other store-bought frozen toppings in recipes. And because I’ve been asked about that replacement so often, the recipe below makes the perfect amount for replacing 8 oz of Cool Whip.
Is Whipping Cream the Same as Heavy Cream?
They are very similar, but not the same. The difference is in the amount of milk fat. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream contain 36% milk fat, while whipping cream (without “heavy” in the name) is lighter with 30% milk fat. Both will whip into whipped cream, but the “heavy” ones will hold their shape better and longer, making them the better option for this whipped cream.
More Whipped Cream Recipes:
Stabilized Mascarpone Whipped Cream
Strawberry Whipped Cream Two Ways
Baileys Chocolate Whipped Cream
Recipes to Use Homemade Whipped Cream With:
Black Forest Cake
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
Tiramisu Cheesecake
Oreo Ice Cream Cake
Funfetti Cheesecake with Cake Bottom
Homemade Whipped Cream
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: about 2 1/2 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
If you’ve ever wondered how to make whipped cream you’ll love this easy recipe with only three ingredients!
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream or heavy cream, cold
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment.
2. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
3. Use the whipped cream on any number of desserts including ice cream, cake, cupcakes, cheesecakes, trifles and more. Whipped cream will stay stable when stored in the fridge for at least 5-7 days after piping onto a dessert. I suggest piping it onto your dessert shortly after making it.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: About 2 1/2 cups
- Calories: 753
- Sugar: 63.5 g
- Sodium: 42 mg
- Fat: 54.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 64.4 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
- Cholesterol: 169.5 mg
Can I add milk in the mixing? and also can I use the whip cream without refrigerator for two days?
I’m not sure what you’re asking about adding milk. Milk will not whip properly, if that’s what you mean. And the whipped cream does need to be refrigerated.
Super simple to make, easy to double the recipe.
I added some cinnamon for a fall flavor. 🙂
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!
I have a request to make a marble cake with whipped frosting. I plan to use your recipe for the marble cake as well as this recipe. Do you think this is thick enough to support two layers of cake? I’m worried the cake would be too dense and may push out the frosting in the middle, if that makes sense? Thank you!
Can this be frozen on the cake or should you apply to frozen cake when pull out for use?
I’m not sure what cake you’re making or the context, but you could probably do either. It holds up great to freezing on the cake, if that’s mainly what you’re wondering about.
Sent an email not sure it was sent
I searched and didn’t see one. Did you have question I could answer?
I use heavy cream for icing and frosting but the heavy cream is yellowish color. I add white gel color to make it white but it doesn’t look white. Could u plz suggest how to do this ?
Hmm, a trick that many people use for buttercream that’s a little yellow-ish is to add a very small amount of purple gel icing color. Purple is the opposite of yellow on the color wheel and helps bring back a white appearance. You could give that a try.
Can gel coloring be added to your stabilized whip cream for a colored frosting?
Yes, it can.
It is so hard to understand
What part is hard to understand? Maybe I can help clarify.
Do you have to use a stand mixer❓can you use a hand mixer❓
You can definitely use a hand mixer. Just in my experience, it doesn’t whip to quite as stiff of a peak. Still fine though.
How long do I need to whip
You should need to whip it for long. Usually just a few minutes, at most.
Why is my whipping cream not making peaks?
It’s hard to say from a distance. Are you using heavy whipping cream? And is it nice and cold? Are you using a stand mixer or hand mixer or something else?
I made this for my Nephew and his family. They have 3 young boys. This was my first time EVER to make an ice cream cake. I looked at a lot of different recipes for over 6 months but this was the one I chose and SOOOOO glad I did. This will ALWAYS be the ONLY recipe for ice cream cake. The family gave it a THUMBS UP, 10 STARS and LOVED IT!! The only thing I did was added more Oreo cookies for the crunch in the middle. The homemade whipping cream is AMAZING TASTING also. It tastes so close to coolwhip. NEVER again will I buy any coolwhip from the store. This is SOOOOO much better. Thank you for this recipe. God bless you for sharing your wonderful, and tasty recipes. I will DEFINITELY be using your recipes now.
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
does this whip cream freeze well?
I’m not sure what you’re using it for so that makes it tough to answer fully. Yes, you can freeze it. That said, it needs to already be on the thing it’s going to go on in order to thaw well. For example, if you make the whipped cream and put it on an ice cream cake, and then freeze it, it does great. Or if you put it on a cheesecake and then freeze it and thaw it later, it’s great. But if you leave it in a bowl and freeze it, and then thaw it later and try to stir it back up, it will deflate. I hope that helps.