Whipped

There are no two ways about it, whipped cream is heaven on earth.  It’s cool, light and refreshing, but at the same time it’s rich, silky and sweet.  And provided that you can find cream that is actually cream, you don’t have to be a master in the kitchen to make it.

If you are willing to put in a little elbow grease, you don’t even need to own a mixer.  Cold cream, a bit of sugar, a bowl and a whisk are all you need.  A little pure vanilla extract or a teaspoon of a favorite liqueur never hurt either.

However, it is whipped cream’s silkiness that can be elusive.  Here’s the rundown.

Cream, is obviously a liquid.  You can pour it.  But when you start whipping air into it, the cream starts to become textured.  Beaters will begin to leave light traces on the surface of the cream.  It will increase in volume, and start to form soft peaks.  If beaten further, those peaks will stiffen.

But if beaten any more, your silky cream is gone as it has passed the whipped cream stage and is on a new path to become butter.  Now, that’s fine if you are making butter.  It is decidedly not fine if you are making whipped cream.

What kills me—absolutely kills me—is how people who should know better don’t.

Just for reference, allow me to show you a picture of beautifully whipped cream.

Now here are just two examples plucked from the interwebs.  Both are instructional posts on how to make whipped cream, and both caution their readers not to over-beat/whip their cream.  I’m only calling them out because despite the cautionary note, each of these pictures is decidedly of over beaten whipped cream.

Example 1
Example 2

For the record whipped cream isn’t lumpy.  At least in this case, the perpetrator recognized her error.  It would be hard not to, since as she notes, the whipped cream resembles ricotta cheese.

Example 3

Then there are the people who are trying to make homemade food porn.  You know what I mean, the beautifully plated and lasciviously shot pictures of food meant for ogling.  Let me assure you, there is nothing extraordinary about this whipped cream.

Example 4

Still, at the end of the day, these are home cooks. These people didn’t go to culinary school. They aren’t professional chefs.  But during Albany’s restaurant week, StanfordSteph and I experienced over-beaten whipped cream at the hands of one of this city’s most lauded chefs.

It is unacceptable.

What’s one to do?  Send back a fruit tart because the “whipped cream” that has been unceremoniously plopped onto it has started to turn into butter?

The Food Lover’s Tiptionary suggests that if you accidentally over whip cream, you can bring it back by gently whisking in liquid cream one tablespoon at a time.  I’ve never tried it, so I cannot say for sure.  But if your cream can be saved, it’s better than having to start again from scratch.

Now that you know, you’ll be seeing bad whipped cream everywhere.  Sorry about that.  But we need more people out there to help hold the line against these over zealous cream beaters.  It’s like they used to say, “Knowing is half the battle.”