Whip cream cold
Cream needs at least 30% fat to whip, and heavy cream has about 36%. Whipping makes the fat globules link into a net that traps air bubbles. That net only holds when the fat is cold, below about 10°C (50°F).
Chill the bowl and whisk too
Put the bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes, and pour in cream straight from the fridge. A cold metal bowl keeps the cream below 10°C (50°F) through the 2 to 4 minutes of whipping.
Stop at stiff peaks
Stop when the peaks stand straight up as you lift the whisk. Keep going another minute or two and the fat clumps and squeezes out buttermilk, leaving you butter. Catch it early and you can whisk in a few spoonfuls of unwhipped cream.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Cream stays soupy after 5 minutes of whipping in a hot kitchen. What is the best fix?
Chill the cream, bowl and whisk, then start again. Cold fat is firm enough to build the air-trapping net.
True or false: Warm cream whips faster than cold cream.
False. Fat must be firm to hold air, so cream below 10°C whips and warm cream stays runny.
What went wrong? You whip room-temperature cream in a warm bowl. After five minutes it is still runny.
The cream and bowl were too warm. Warm fat cannot hold air, so chill both and try again.
Fill the blank: Cream needs at least about ___ percent fat to whip into peaks.
Cream needs at least about 30 percent fat to whip into peaks. That is enough fat globules to link into an air-trapping net.
You whip heavy cream 3 minutes past stiff peaks. What do you end up with?
Lumpy butter in a pool of buttermilk. The fat clumps together and squeezes out the liquid.
Cold bowl vs warm bowl cream
Does the bowl temperature matter?
Do the 15-minute experiment