How to Whip Cream by Hand

Hi, and welcome to one of my fundamental posts, how to whip cream by hand. Yes, you can use a mixer or any number of other tools to whip cream. But you’ll have the most control over the texture if you whip it by hand.

In this post, you’ll learn to whip cream using a whisk, how to stabilize the cream so it keeps better, how to know how you’ve over-whipped your cream and how to avoid it, and more.

This post is part of my Fundamental Friday series in which I answer readers’ baking and pastry questions. For ease of browsing, you can find all my Baking Fundamentals posts in one place. Thanks for reading.

I just used this recipe for a topping for butterscotch pie. It was perfect. And everyone of your tips was so helpful. Thanks!

Reader Travis (emphasis, mine)

Hand-Whipped Cream, at a Glance

✅Skill Level: Beginner
✅Skills: Whisking
✅Type: Dessert Garnish/Component
✅Number of Ingredients: 4
✅Prep Time: 2-3 minutes
✅Yield: 1 cup of whipped cream

Jump Straight to the Recipe

Why whip cream by hand?

I’ve whipped gallons of cream by hand (a little at a time!), and I promise you that it’s not hard to do.

Hand whipping allows you to control the speed at which you whisk and to vary that speed as your cream gets closer to being done.

Since you build up all the bubbles more slowly, this will result in a more stable whipped cream.

Two secrets about whipping cream

It seems as though most “recipes” for whipped cream start with either a big old stand mixer or at least a hand mixer. For large amounts, that’s fine.

But you can whip up to a cup or a cup and a half of cream with no more than your balloon whisk, a good, sturdy bowl, and some elbow grease in about 2 minutes.

The purpose of getting everything–the cream, bowl, beaters, etc–super cold before whipping has more to do with the plasticity of the butterfat in the cream than it has to do with the speed of whipping.

Since butterfat is firm at refrigerator temperatures it takes longer to whip air into it, but the resulting foam will be much more stable.

Room-temperature whipping cream will thicken shockingly quickly, but since you haven’t had a lot of time to pump air into it through whisking action, it will collapse almost as quickly.

You also run way more of a risk of ending up with butter when whipping warmer cream.

What kind of whisk to use

Here’s another secret: a whisk with more wires/tines will whip up cream or egg whites faster than one with fewer.

Also, a rounder shape is better for whipping than a more compact shape. The more wires, the more you can agitate the cream and whip air into it.

A big round whisk will also help you get more air into the mixture more quickly than a whisk with a more compact shape. If you are looking for just one whisk to own, buy a balloon whisk.

 

Procedure

• Pour cold cream into your cold bowl. Don’t chill the whisk because you’ll just end up freezing your hand while you’re whisking.
• To stabilize the bowl on the counter, wrap a damp towel around the base of your bowl. It’s like a little nest for the bowl that it can settle down into. You can also use a piece of that non-slip shelf liner, although I actually prefer using a damp towel.
• Add a pinch of fine salt and just a bit of sugar. Maybe 1 Tablespoon per cup to start. You can always whisk in a bit more. Why the salt? Just as salted butter tastes better on toast than unsalted butter, adding some salt to your whipping cream will make it taste better too. You won’t need a lot, but you will be amazed at the depth of buttery flavor you can achieve with just a tiny pinch of salt.
• Start whisking slowly and steadily. You don’t really even need to pull the whisk up out of the cream. Just keep it moving steadily back and forth across the bottom of the bowl.
  I often whisk side to side. You can also whisk back and forth. I don’t suggest doing a lot of “round and round” whisking until the cream starts to really thicken up.
  
  Going around and around with your whisk just ends up pushing the cream ahead of the whisk rather than allowing the whisk to cut through the mixture introducing air. You end up stirring rather than whisking, and the whole process will take longer.

• Once the cream starts to thicken up a bit, taste it. Add a bit of sugar if you think it needs it. You can also add a few drops of vanilla. Or some cinnamon. Or some other spice or extract that will complement whatever you’re putting it on.
• Continue to whisk, alternating back and forth and side to side when you get bored, but keep the it moving and be pretty assertive with the whisking. You don’t have to break a sweat, but you want to whip the cream, not just massage it.
• Once the whisk starts leaving tracks, it will start to thicken up fairly quickly. At this point you can do some around and around whisking if you can’t help yourself. You can also lift the whisk up out of the bowl, whisking in a circle perpendicular to the surface of the cream. If that makes sense.
• Check the consistency of your foam every few turns of the whisk, pulling it straight up and out of the bowl, and then turning it sideways to check on the peaks. I almost never take mine to full stiff peaks–where the peak just points straight out to the side without any curling over. At that point there’s not much room for error. I generally stop when the peaks curl over a bit–medium to medium-firm peaks.
• And there you have it: how to whip cream by hand. Ta da!

Tips for Success

Set your bowl of cream in a “nest” made of a damp kitchen towel. It will keep the bowl from slipping and spinning around while you whip your cream.

Whisk back and forth rather than in circles. Your cream will whip faster.

Whisks with more wires and a rounder shape will whip up your cream faster than a whisk with fewer wires and a flatter shape.

How much cream do I need for…

Plan on the volume of your cream doubling when whipped to medium-stiff peaks.

1/2 cup of cream will yield about 1 cup of whipped cream

1 cup will yield about 2 cups

1 1/2 cups yields roughly 3 cups whipped, and on and on

How to stabilize whipped cream

For most uses, just whipping the cream with a pinch of salt, a little sugar, and some flavoring works great.

Sometimes you want it to hold up for a few days under refrigeration without weeping.

I have found the best way to do that is to whip some bloomed and melted gelatin into the cream. You can read how to stabilize whipped cream with gelatin in this post.

If you are vegetarian or want to keep your whipped cream vegetarian, you can stabilize your cream with some ^(affiliate) Instant Clear Jel.

Learn how to make stabilized whipped cream with Instant Clear Jel.

Can I Over-Whip Cream?

You can absolutely over-whip cream, although whipping it by hand gives you more control so you probably won’t.

Still, you should know why it can happen.

When whipping cream by hand, most folks run into trouble by whipping it to very stiff peaks.

That’s okay as long as all you’re going to do with it is plop it into a mug of hot chocolate or on top of some plum crisp.

When NOT to whip to stiff peaks

There are two times when whipping cream to stiff peaks is not the best plan:

1. when you are going to be folding it into something else like a mousse, cake batter, or pudding, or
2. when you’re going to pipe it decoratively onto a cake, pie, or other dessert

In both cases, you run the risk of over-working your cream.

The act of folding cream into another mixture and the act of pressing it through a decorative piping tip both continue to work or “whip” the cream.

If you take it to very stiff peaks before folding or piping, you could end up with over-whipped-bordering-on-butter cream.

Give yourself a little wiggle room by whipping any cream that will be folded into another mixture to no more than medium-soft to medium peaks and whipping any that you’ll be piping onto something else to no more than medium-firm peaks.

Whipping Cream by Hand Q & A

Serving suggestions

There are no shortage of ideas on what to serve your hand-whipped cream with.

Hold the sugar and whip your cream with a shot of butterscotch coffee syrup (or white chocolate sauce) for a lovely butterscotch (or white chocolate) whipped cream.

Serve a meltingly tender whipping cream pound cake with a side of softly whipped cream. Whip up some cinnamon whipped cream to top a slice of brown sugar cinnamon pound cake.

Top any kind of fruit dessert with a dollop. Some of my favorites are strawberry peach sonker, strawberry shortcake, lazy peach sonker, and peach crisp. Fruit and cream is a no-brainer combination!

Any pie would be happy to have a swirl or three of whipped cream on it. I think it’s especially dreamy on “plain” pies that don’t already call for a topping like chocolate chess pie or an old-fashioned shoo fly pie or key lime pie. Or if you’re feeling really fancy, top your chocolate pancakes with some hand-whipped cream.

And please, I implore you, top some of this French vanilla no-churn ice cream with it. After you douse it with some homemade chocolate syrup. I mean, just look!

And yes, I did whip the cream you see on top of that sundae by hand!

And don’t forget whipped cream as a component of other desserts. Whip your cream by hand to make chocolate mousse, cranberry fool, or coffee mousse.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

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And there you have it!

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Take care, y’all!