Stabilized Whipped Cream

This was the first time I had made the stabilized whipped cream, so I wasn't sure how it would work or if it would make it taste different. I am happy to say it worked great and there was no difference in flavor. I intended to take pictures of it, but I dropped the dish of whipped cream I had set aside before I could. However, I did have a slice of pie left over, and 24 hours later, my dollop was still perfectly shaped, there was no weeping or melting of the cream, and it still tasted great.

The season of pie is upon us! I adore pie, this time of year, pumpkin is my favorite. I recently posted a recipe for a delicious Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie, which I think should be on every Thanksgiving table this year. No custard based pie is complete without whipped cream, and let's face it, even fruit pies are only enhanced by its presence. I'll be the first to admit that I will shamelessly top my pie with the stuff from the can, if that's all that is available. I just think homemade is sooo much better, and it is sooo simple to make. Also, you can customize it. You can add various extracts or even booze to create a custom whipped cream to compliment your dish.

Most of my desserts are made for church potlucks, and my whipped might be used to top desserts other than the one I brought, so I usually just stick to adding a little vanilla, since its flavor won't adversely affect any dessert. Also, our potlucks are after church service is over, so in that in addition to our 30 minute commute, means my whipped cream is sitting for at least 3 hours, and that's if I make it immediately before leaving my house. Sure, whipped cream that has lost a little of its volume still tastes good, but I wanted it to still look good. I searched the internet and found several methods, but this one seemed to be the most popular, so I tried it. Most of the methods didn't contain recipes for the whipped cream itself, so I'll include my recipe and the method.

I sweeten my whipped cream, but I've noticed a lot of people don't, so feel free to leave the sugar out if that's your thing. Just warn me before I eat it. When we traveled to Germany in 10h grade, my friend and I went to Starbucks and ordered our usual drinks with extra whipped cream, we were unpleasantly surprised to discover it was unsweetened.

This recipe yields about 2 cups of whipped cream.

Ingredients:

1 cup of heavy cream, very cold
4 TBS powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
The above ingredients are for the whipped cream, and are all you need if you don't want to stabilize it.
1 tsp unflavored plain gelatin powder
1TBS water

Pace your mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 5 minutes prior to making your whipped cream. 
I make whipped cream in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It can be done with a hand mixer or even a whisk and some elbow grease, if you're into that sort of thing

Place gelatin powder in a small microwavable bowl, add water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Microwave for 10 seconds and allow to come to room temperature, about 5 minutes.

Mix the cream, sugar, and vanilla together and pour into the chilled mixing bowl. Whip on medium speed until soft peaks form, this takes about 2-3 minutes in the KA on speed 4. If you are adding the stabilizer, turn the speed down to 2 and slowly drizzle in the gelatin mixture, then kick it back up to 4 for a minute or two until you have medium-stiff peaks. If you are just making plain whipped cream, don't turn it down, just let it go on 4 until you have stiff peaks.



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