The Struggle
Whipped cream is a childhood dessert staple for many of us. It topped everything from sundaes to pies. It’s one of those foods that you stand in front of the late night glow of the refrigerator, just to eat it out of the can. Don’t judge me, we’ve all done it. Whipped cream is so easy to make its commonly the one of the first things young chefs learn. Just pour some heavy cream in a stand mixer, turn it on medium speed then add sugar and vanilla once you see it begin to thicken. One downfall of whipped cream is that it will start to deflate over time. So the questions we get more often than not is:
“How can I stabilize my whipped cream, so it lasts longer?”
Stiff Peaks 4 lyfe
A proper whipped cream should be light, silky, and slightly sweet. So you don’t want to mess with the texture of the cream too much. The addition of xanthan gum is a good starting point because at a very low ratio it will add a little bit of structure without affecting the texture. If you add too much xanthan gum the whipped cream it will ruin the texture. The best ratio for xanthan gum is about 0.1% of the total weight of the cream. We suggest dry mixing it with a small amount of sugar and adding it at the beginning of the mixing process. The sugar will prevent the xanthan gum from clumping and disperse it evenly. This will work for mixing in a stand blender or by hand with a whisk.
Now, if you are going to use a whipping siphon I do suggest something a little different. A small amount of our Foam Magic could work wonders with whipped cream. I would suggest a ratio of 0.5% to the total weight of the cream. The best part about making whipped cream in a whipping siphon is you can basically pour everything into the canister, charge it, shake it, and it’s ready to use. As usual there are a few tips you should know before making whipped cream in a whipping siphon. First, make sure it is cleaned and assembled properly. You don’t want to have a a whipped cream that tastes like the jalapeno foam from the week before. Second, always add the cream first. Dry ingredients will clump at the bottom of the canister if you add them first. Third, Dry mix your dry ingredients, doing this just makes your life easier. Fourth, always use N2O charges, do not use CO2 charges. CO2 creates large bubbles that contain carbonic acid, carbonic acid is sour and nobody wants sour carbonated cream. N2O charges have very fine bubbles and give off a natural creaminess, which lend themselves nicely to whipped cream. Lastly, using one charge will under whip the cream and 2 charges will over whip the cream. Sadly, they don’t make 1.5 charges so you will have to use two charges then release a small amount of the pressure to have the perfect whipped cream. To release some of the pressure place a towel over the nozzle and press down on the lever for 3 seconds. This should release the correct amount of pressure to result in a Beautiful whipped cream.
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