Keep Learning with Kenwood: Whipping cream

From pies, cakes and scones, to pavlovas and mousses - even hot chocolate or liqueur coffee. Is there any dessert or hot drink that isn’t improved with freshly whipped cream? And forget anything that comes out of a can. Real whipped cream is luxurious and decadent, and super-simple to make with your stand mixer.

To make it, you’ll need to use whipping cream, which has a minimum of 36% fat content. When you whip cream you are essentially adding air to its structure, creating a lighter, more stable texture. Using a stand mixer makes all the difference- not only because doing it by hand is quite hard work and takes time, but your stand mixer’s wire whisk is especially designed to help you quickly incorporate air into your cream.

Here’s our guide to making whipped cream using your stand mixer, along with some tips on adding flavour and getting your desired consistency.

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Preparing ahead

Here’s what you’ll need:

300ml whipping cream
Stand mixer
Whisk tool

For best results, don’t remove the cream from the fridge until you’re ready to use it-cold cream whips up the quickest.

Whipping cream

Fit the whisk to your stand mixer and add the whipping cream to the mixer bowl.

Start whipping on a lower speed for two minutes and gradually increase the speed. As the cream starts to thicken it will bubble and froth a little. When the whisk starts to leave subtle trails in the cream it’s nearly ready. Keep an eye on things though. It won’t take long for the cream to thicken and start to form soft peaks, and only a few moments to go from perfectly soft and billowy to overly stiff and grainy.

When to stop whisking will depend on what consistency you need (see below), but be careful to avoid over-whipping. You can always re-whip if the consistency is too loose, whereas over-beaten cream will start to get a grainy texture, and can separate into butter and buttermilk.

Helpful tips

● For the fluffiest, most voluminous whipped cream in less time, use very cold cream and chill the mixing bowl and whisk in the fridge for 10 minutes before you start.

● How long your cream will take to whip depends on what you’re planning to use it for. For filling a pavlova or serving with a cake or tart, you may want it to stay relatively loose, with a ‘dropping’ consistency. Whisk for a bit longer to achieve soft peaks, which is when the cream is thick enough to briefly hold its shape when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. This is the best consistency for when you’re folding the cream into other mixtures, such as when you’re making a mousse, spreading over the top of a pie or filling a cake.

You may want a firmer consistency for some recipes or piping work, whipping the cream until it takes the form of stiff peaks, just be careful not to over-whip it.

● You can flavour or sweeten whipped cream with a variety of different flavours and sugars. Try icing sugar, vanilla extract, melted chocolate, cocoa, cinnamon or liqueur. Add your chosen flavouring to the cream as it begins to thicken.

● Whipped cream is best used immediately, so leave making it until the last minute if you can. It will hold if kept covered in the fridge for a couple of days, but you will need to re-whip it.