From scratch · Dairy
Whipped cream
One cup of cream, a little sugar and vanilla, whipped to soft peaks in a few minutes.
✋ 5 min hands-on
⏱ 5 min start to finish
🍽 About 2 cups.
ContainsMilk.
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- 15 g powdered sugar, or granulated sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Time
Hands-on time is when you’re busy; the rest is rising, simmering, chilling or cooling, when you can do something else.
| Step | Hands-on | Waiting |
|---|---|---|
| Whip the cream | 5 min | – |
| In all | 5 min | 0 min |
How long it keeps
- Refrigerator: best within a few hours; covered, it holds about a day before it weeps (whisk it a few strokes to bring it back).
- Freezer: pipe or spoon sweetened mounds onto a tray, freeze, then bag them (NDSU).
Nutrition
Estimated from the ingredients’ USDA FoodData Central numbers.
Steps
You’ll need: chilled bowl, whisk or mixer.
- Chill the bowl and whisk (or beaters) for 10 minutes if you can.
- Beat the cold cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium-high until it holds soft peaks that droop at the tip, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Stop there for spooning; beat a little longer for firmer peaks to pipe. Past that it turns grainy and heads toward butter.
⚖️ ScalingOne cup of cream makes about 2 cups whipped (USU). Whip up to 2 cups of cream at once with a hand mixer; more fits a stand mixer.
Sources
- Food Freezing Basics: Freezing Dairy Products, Eggs and Other Foods (FN616), NDSU Extension, reviewed 2022. Accessed 2026-10-25.
- List of Ingredient Substitutions for Cooking and Baking, Utah State University Extension. Accessed 2026-10-25.