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How to Make Whipped Cream from Scratch

ByJenn Giam Smith

Discover the secret to making the perfect homemade whipped cream. Delight your taste buds with this luxurious and creamy topping for any dessert or hot drink

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Whipped Cream finished by a hand mixer. whipped cream still on the beaters.
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Have you tasted homemade whipped cream? It puts Cool Whip and the canned stuff to shame. Homemade whipped cream is ultra-luxurious, decadent, and as delicious as the best vanilla ice cream you’ve ever had.

Whipped cream is the perfect creamy topper for desserts and hot drinks and since the holidays are coming, I thought I’d share a tutorial with everything you need to know about making whipped cream.

If you’ve never made whipped cream before, it may seem a little intimidating at first, but I promise, it’s so easy to make. You can make whipped cream in under 10 minutes (or even ahead of time), impressing everyone that you made it from scratch!

Whipped Cream Tips

Whipped cream is truly so easy to make. Here are a few tips before you get started:

  • Whipped cream doubles in size. So, if you use 1 cup of heavy cream, you’ll end up with about 2 cups of whipped cream. You can divide or multiply the amount of heavy cream to get your desired quantity of whipped cream (but, making extra is never a bad idea).
  • Equipment options: I personally love using my hand mixer (affiliate link) to make whipped cream. Mainly because I hate lugging out my heavy stand mixer for small amounts like this. You can also use an immersion blender or whip it together by hand, if you’re looking for an arm workout, no seriously, by hand is an arm workout. If you really want to try it, Bon Appetit has a video for you to check out.
  • Start chilled. At the very minimum, your heavy cream needs to be chilled. However, the whipped cream will whip up faster, and better if your bowl and beaters are chilled as well. Use a tempered glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bowl so it retains the cold temperature (plastic & melamine bowls will not).
  • The only ingredient you really need is heavy whipping cream. To make it taste like the whipped cream you know and love, I recommend adding a tiny bit of your sweetener of choice and vanilla.
  • Pay attention. When you first start blending the mixture, it might not seem like you’re doing much. Then the whipped cream will start progressing from soft peaks to medium to stiff peaks fairly quickly. You’ll learn more about the differences between those textures below.
  • Choose (and Incorporate) Your Sweetener Wisely My personal whipped cream sweetener of choice is confectioner’s sugar. It’s ultra-fine; so it dissolves into the cream quickly. Also, the small amount of cornstarch in the sugar helps stabilize the cream, keeping it pert and perky. You can absolutely use regular granulated sugar in your whipped cream, but add it before you begin to beat so it can properly dissolve into the cream. Read the next line for other great options
  • Not a fan of white sugar? Alternative ways to sweeten that work the best are maple syrup or agave; just fold it in gently with a rubber spatula once the cream has already set. Don’t use more than two tablespoons of a liquid sweetener—or any other liquid (like bourbon for a fun adult play on this sweet topping). I don’t recommend date sugar or coconut sugar, because they are made of small pieces of dates/coconut, and try as you might, they just won’t dissolve into the cream, leaving you with a less-than-desirable texture.
ceramic bowl with whipping cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
whipping together stage 1
Finished whipped cream at stiff peaks stage on a spoon.

Here, you can see examples of soft, medium, and stiff peaks side by side. I hope it’s helpful, but of course, let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below.

image of what soft peaks look like directly after mixing (nothing is really on the beaters)
image of what medium peaks look like directly after mixing (a small amount sticks on the beaters)
image of what stiff peaks look like directly after mixing (a good amount of whipped cream sticks on the beaters)
An image of 3 spoons agains a dark wood background to show the texture and stiffness of each style peak of whipped cream.
As you can see from the above image the whipped cream changes, especially in volume with each progression. The very top is Stiff peaks (any further and it would be butter), the bottom left is soft peaks (or almost liquid), and the bottom right is medium peaks (soft but still with volume).

Storage Details

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Whipped Cream in Advance.

There’s no need to sweat up a storm or make your guests or family wait for dessert because you need to furiously whip cream. You can make whipped cream hours in advance but err on the side of under-beating. Store it in the refrigerator and simply bring it back to life with a few whisks before serving.

Here are a few other notes to help with storage:

  • Whipped cream will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
  • If the mixture has separated, gently whisk it back together with a balloon whisk or fork.
  • Homemade whipped cream loses some volume over time, so you may need to lightly whip it again to achieve the original texture.

Just in Case You’ve Whipped Too Long

At this point, the mixture is grainy and losing volume. It’s literally falling apart—the fats and liquids are separating into butter and buttermilk, respectively.

How to fix it: Depending on how over-whipped the mixture is, you might be able to save it by letting the mixture chill out in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour and then stirring with a spatula to combine. For a more immediate fix, you can try stirring in a few tablespoons more heavy cream with a spatula. If those don’t work, you might as well turn the mixture into butter! Since you’ve added a sweetener to it, add a pinch of salt and serve with warm rolls.

ENJOY and Share!

Let me know how your whipped cream turned out! Do you have a preference for how you like your whipped cream? Comment below and share!

Your star ratings with your comments are tremendously helpful! I love seeing friends and family come together over food. If you take a picture, tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Use @alwaysjennsmith & #alwaysjennsmith. Or share it on this post’s Pinterest Pin!

Need some ideas? Try it on

Ready to up your whipped cream game?

Try These for some fun holiday amp ups:

Always, Jenn Smith (Signature image)
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An image of 3 spoons agains a dark wood background to show the texture and stiffness of each style peak of whipped cream.

Whipped Cream from Scratch

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Description

Learn how to make luscious homemade whipped cream with this very basic recipe. Your whipped cream will turn out perfectly, every time. This recipe yields about 1 cup of whipped cream.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons confectioner sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. For Best Results: place your mixing bowl (either sturdy glass like Pyrex, ceramic, or stainless steel) and beaters in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes or longer.
  2. When you’re ready to make whipped cream, combined the chilled cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in your bowl. Start blending at low speed and increase to medium (be patient, and don’t go up to high speed).
  3. Continue blending until the cream increases by nearly double. It might seem like you’re not doing much for a while, but the whipped cream will progress fairly quickly through stages.
  4. For soft peaks, continue blending until the mixture resembles melted ice cream and retains light swirl marks when you lift the mixer. For medium peaks, continue blending until the mixture retains a more significant, closer-together swirl mark when you lift the mixer (if you scoop it with a spoon, it will mostly retain those swirl marks on the spoon), This is the classic consistency that you would see dolloped on desserts and what I recommend for making ahead. For stiff peaks, continue blending until the mixture has tight swirl marks and resembles Cool Whip (you could ice a cake with this texture). This is great for hot drinks and piping, but don’t overdo it, or your cream will start turning into butter!
  5. Use whipped cream as desired.

Equipment

Notes

Whipped Cream Tips

Whipped cream is truly so easy to make. Here are a few tips before you get started:

  • Whipped cream doubles in size. So, if you use 1 cup of heavy cream, you’ll end up with about 2 cups of whipped cream. You can divide or multiply the amount of heavy cream to get your desired quantity of whipped cream (but, making extra is never a bad idea).
  • Equipment options: I personally love using my hand mixer (affiliate link) to make whipped cream. Mainly because I hate lugging out my heavy stand mixer for small amounts like this. You can also use an immersion blender or whip it together by hand, if you’re looking for an arm workout, no seriously, by hand is an arm workout. If you really want to try it, Bon Appetit has a video for you to check out.
  • Start chilled. At the very minimum, your heavy cream needs to be chilled. However, the whipped cream will whip up faster, and better if your bowl and beaters are chilled as well. Use a tempered glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bowl so it retains the cold temperature (plastic & melamine bowls will not).
  • The only ingredient you really need is heavy whipping cream. To make it taste like the whipped cream you know and love, I recommend adding a tiny bit of your sweetener of choice and vanilla.
  • Pay attention. When you first start blending the mixture, it might not seem like you’re doing much. Then the whipped cream will start progressing from soft peaks to medium to stiff peaks fairly quickly. You’ll learn more about the differences between those textures below.
  • Choose (and Incorporate) Your Sweetener Wisely My personal whipped cream sweetener of choice is confectioner’s sugar. It’s ultra-fine; so it dissolves into the cream quickly. Also, the small amount of cornstarch in the sugar helps stabilize the cream, keeping it pert and perky. You can absolutely use regular granulated sugar in your whipped cream, but add it before you begin to beat so it can properly dissolve into the cream. Read the next line for other great options
  • Not a fan of white sugar? Alternative ways to sweeten that work the best are maple syrup or agave; just fold it in gently with a rubber spatula once the cream has already set. Don’t use more than two tablespoons of a liquid sweetener—or any other liquid (like bourbon for a fun adult play on this sweet topping). I don’t recommend date sugar or coconut sugar, because they are made of small pieces of dates/coconut, and try as you might, they just won’t dissolve into the cream, leaving you with a less-than-desirable texture.

You can see examples of soft, medium, and stiff peaks side by side on my blog.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Whipped Cream in Advance.

There’s no need to sweat up a storm or make your guests or family wait for dessert because you need to furiously whip cream. You can make whipped cream hours in advance but err on the side of under-beating. Store it in the refrigerator and simply bring it back to life with a few whisks before serving.

Here are a few other notes to help with storage:

  • Whipped cream will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days.
  • If the mixture has separated, gently whisk it back together with a balloon whisk or fork.
  • Homemade whipped cream loses some volume over time, so you may need to lightly whip it again to achieve the original texture.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Universal

Nutrition

  • Calories: 473
  • Sugar: 19
  • Sodium: 33
  • Fat: 43
  • Saturated Fat: 27
  • Carbohydrates: 20
  • Protein: 3
  • Cholesterol: 134

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©Photo, Prop Styling, and Food Styling by Jenn Smith

My name is Jenn, I'm wife to a true blue Wisconsin Man and mom of 5. I'm here sharing my passion for food, craft, family, & life (especially my love of Wisconsin)! I grew up in a food-oriented family. Most of my recipes are a mix of fun and easy (sometimes fast), and when I can... I add a bit of my family's Chinese-American-European roots.

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