Use our recipe with tips to make your own batch of whipped cream from scratch! The ingredients are simple and easy to find. You might even have them in your fridge and pantry right now: Heavy cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. That’s it!
This great recipe goes well as filling for pies, layered between cakes, piled high onto hot drinks, folded into a no-bake cheesecake, or topping any shortcake.
It just tastes BETTER
Compared to store-bought whipped cream, our homemade whipped cream tasted richer, creamier, and fresher. It had a smoother consistency and a nicer mouthfeel, and it just had more body compared to the store-bought stuff.
Plus, the sweetness level was just right since we controlled the amount of sugar we put into the mix.
Pro Tips
Granulated sugar might not melt completely into the recipe (remember, it’s cold!), so you might get a somewhat gritty whipped cream. Only have granulated sugar? Pulse granulated sugar in a food processor and you can make your own powdered sugar for this recipe!
Start your mixer on the low setting so you are less likely to splatter the cream before enough air is incorporated. No mixer or want a good arm workout? A metal whisk will work, but likely to take a solid 10 minutes of average beating time, so keep that in mind.
A chilled metal or glass bowl out of the freezer will help your cold cream stay frosty as you beat it. The cold helps the air bubbles stay inflated. You can also put your bowl of cream on top of another bowl of ice cubes to help keep it cold while you work. (Just keep a good grip on it.)
What if I don’t have vanilla extract?
If you don’t have vanilla extract at home, there are other ingredients that you can use as a substitute! Vanilla adds a trademark depth of flavor, but it’s also not necessary. Try almond extract, a dash of ground cardamom, fiori di sicilia, pandan extract, or lemon zest.
How long does homemade whipped cream last?
Heavy cream tends to last longer than regular milk because of the high fat content and low sugar content, but whipped heavy cream will deflate after four days or so, and you might notice a watery consistency. (If you just want some for coffee, it will taste the same as heavy cream before it’s beaten. It just won’t have that light, fluffy texture anymore.) It’s best to use homemade whipped heavy cream within seven to 10 days, and that’s as long as it’s been kept cold the whole time. (Don’t leave it out on the counter, in other words; it shortens the shelf life of chilled foods.)
Easy Homemade Whipped Cream
Learn how to make whipped cream at home with heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream, cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar
- 1 t. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place your metal bowl into freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
- After the bowl has chilled, remove from freezer.
- Add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract into chilled bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the ingredients well. Begin on low speed, gradually increasing the speed as the cream thickens.
- Continue whipping cream until you reach desired consistency. For this recipe, we continued beating until the “stiff peak” stage, but if you want your whipped cream to be soft peak (like if you are folding this into a dessert recipe), you can stop when it has reached a thick and billowy consistency (similar to Cool Whip).
- Note of caution: Overbeating can cause the fat to separate from the buttermilk, and you've made butter! There's no turning back from that, so keep an eye on your beaters or whisk to make sure you stop beating once you have real fluffy whipped cream.
- Use immediately, or store in the fridge in an airtight container.