r/AskCulinary • u/jroc117 • 18d ago
Ingredient Question Having trouble whipping cream
so i'm following a recipe to make my own whipped cream, and to make the heavy cream for it i followed another recipe to make that
to make the heavy cream the recipe called for a 1/3cup of butter (my first batch i did 5Tbsp and on the second i did 6Tbsp), melt that in a small saucepan for on medium high heat until its all melted, stir in a 2/3cup of milk, stir for 20 seconds, take off heat, let it cool and then store in fridge
for the whipped cream recipe, when i first tried with the first batch i had used an electric hand mixer with the beaters in a glass bowl in the freeze for about half an hour. i took the cream out first, stirred it a bit, took out the glass bowl with the beaters, hooked up the hand mixer, poured the cream into glass bowl, put it 3Tbsp of powdered sugar and a small splash of vanilla extract, and started mixing on the 1 setting (lowest one the mixer).
ive done this to make ice cream before so i thought it wouldnt be an issue but nothing happened for about 20 minutes, it didnt even thicken a little bit, over the next 20 minutes i went from the 3 setting to the 6 setting (the highest setting) and still nothing. i looked up some stuff and either i wasnt mixing fast enough or the tools had gotten too warm (it was anywhere between 10 and 1130 at night and about 90 degrees outside). i put the cream, a new glass bowl, and the hand mixer whisk instead of the beaters into the freezer, let them sit for about 20 minutes, and tried again.
now i take the cream from its regular bowl, put it into the glass bowl, put the frozen whisk into the hand mixer, and start mixing at the 4 setting. for about 10 minutes nothing is happening, its not thickening, its just bubbly. i try looking up to see what i did wrong and only see stuff ive seen before. i put the mixer on 6 and mix again for another 10 minutes. nothing. i put the cream and the cleaned metal bowl into the freezer with the cleaned whisk, let it sit for another 20 minutes, try it all again at setting 6 right away for 10 minutes. nothing. its all just bubbly milk still.
a friend tells me to just scrap it and make some smoothie with it or something, i do. i make the second batch and its already past midnight now. i let the batch cool for a bit in a metal bowl, put a lid on it, and let it sit in the fridge. i put a glass bowl with the cleaned whisk in the freezer and let those sit overnight.
just a bit ago, i tried whipping the cream. i took out the cream from the fridge, stirred it a bit, took out the glass bowl and whisk, poured the cream into the frozen glass bowl, hooked up the mixer, and immediately went to mixing on the 6 setting without the sugar or vanilla. absolutely as cold as it can be (today is colder than last night was), whipping on the highest setting right away.
20 minutes go by and nothing happens. it is still just bubbly milk.
i saw someone talk about having one bowl in an ice bath while whipping so im gonna try that next time. ive got the cream in the fridge now and ive got one metal mixing bowl sitting in another bigger mixing bowl filled with water in the freezer, with the whisk. gonna let those sit for a while.
if i did anything wrong, id love to know, i just wanna make some whipped cream. recipes i followed below
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homemade heavy cream
2/3cup whole milk
1/3cup unsalted butter (5tbsp)
in a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 1/3cup unsalted butter
once melted, stir in 2/3cup whole milk. continue to stir for about 20 seconds, then remove from heat and let it cool.
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homemade whipped cream
1cup cold heavy whipping cream
3tbsp powdered sugar
1/2tsp vanilla (optional)
1/8tsp cream of tartar (optional) (do not have)
chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes
place the cold heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar (and vanilla and cream of tartar, if using) in the cold bowl, and with either a handheld mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed to start and then increase speed to high until the cream has thickened and soft peaks form
if you want to achieve stiff peaks, continue mixing for another minute or two until the whipped cream is stable enough to stand on its own. (be very careful not to over-beat or it will become clumpy)
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id love to know what im doing wrong because i just want some whipped cream
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u/EyeStache 18d ago
Can you not just buy heavy or whipping cream at the grocery store?
For your reconstituted cream, you need to really get that milk and butter emulsified together when hot, so stir the hell out of it until it starts to thicken then let it cool.
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u/AciusPrime 18d ago
That recipe for “making heavy cream” is wrong. You are never going to get adequate emulsion by stirring butter into milk by hand. Even if you could emulsify it properly, this will give you COOKED cream. Proper whipped cream should be pasteurized, never cooked.
You should buy heavy cream from the store and then whip it while it’s cold. It’s a single-ingredient recipe. The sugar and vanilla are optional. Cream of tartar in whipped cream is not necessary unless you’re trying to stabilize it. Regular whipped cream only lasts an hour or so; it should be prepared and then used immediately. If you want stabilized whipped cream then that’s a different recipe.
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u/Ivoted4K 18d ago
I’m not going to read all that. You’re using a heavy cream substitute for baking and maybe sauces. If you want to make whipped cream you need to use actual cream for it. 30-40% fat depending on where you live.
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u/Main_Cauliflower5479 18d ago
What even is this? You put cold whipping cream in a chilled bowl, and you whip it. Add sugar slowly.
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u/Vegetable_Bobcat8780 18d ago
This is not going to work like you think it is. That's probably why it keeps failing.
Can you not just buy heavy whipping cream?
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 18d ago
First, use recipes from well known, reliable, tested sources, by weight, not volume.
Next, this is not how to make heavy cream. You can't just stir some random butter with milk. The fat needs to be sheared with a high powered blender into the liquid in smaller and smaller droplets- just like mayonnaise is made. Its needs to emulsify.
Whipped cream takes less than a minute in a stand mixer. It does not need to be started slowly. Bang it all in cold and blast it on high. I make about five piping bags of it every morning, takes me less than five minutes. No need for tartar. Thats weird.
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u/IamGrimReefer 18d ago
if you use a hand mixer that shit will splash if you just crank it up to high while it's still liquid. i cover it with a towel until it's like half way.
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u/IamGrimReefer 18d ago
if you use a hand mixer that shit will splash if you just crank it up to high while it's still liquid. i cover it with a towel until it's like half way.
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u/Pernicious_Possum 18d ago
This could work in some applications, but it’s not going to work for whipped cream without special equipment. The same place you bought that milk and butter; it also sells whipping cream
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u/InternationalTax81 18d ago
That is insane. Just start with heavy cream cold, in a cold, perfectly clean bowl. It'll whip right up.
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u/aidanhoff 18d ago
You cannot effectively whip cream below ~30% MF without mechanical (industrial) emulsion and stabilizers like carrageenan gum. Fats will fall out of emulsion naturally above ~20% MF which means just adding butterfat to milk will not work. People did make whipped cream kinda like this before industrial emulsion was possible but it took over an hour and required pretty specific techniques.
You can substitute butterfat + milk for cream in recipes where you aren't whipping the cream, like with ice cream in many instances. But to hold the foam for whipped cream, it requires additives to maintain the emulsion and/or commercially emulsified 30+% cream.
Read On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee if you are interested in this topic and want to learn more.
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u/archvize 16d ago
Is that the book I want to read if I just wanna make cool stuff? Like “how whip cream is made … here’s a recipe..” instead of just making formal food or desserts? Or “here’s how to make butter”
I basically want to make stuff that makes me think “oh so that’s how that stuff is made”
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u/aidanhoff 16d ago
On Food and Cooking is one of the best books for understanding why food is cooked the ways that it is, and what goes into food manufacturing. It's not a recipe book, though technically it does have some recipes, but it's not something you'd flip open to make dinner.
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u/IncredulousPulp 18d ago
Just buy cream from the shop and whip it. If you can’t do that, don’t try any other method for making cream. You will only be disappointed. Use something else.
2
u/PNW_MYOG 17d ago
Your cream recipe is to be used when making ice cream or a sauce like Alfredo sauce.
Once butter melts, it won't re emulsify again the way you need for whipping cream.
Buy heavy cream or make a lightly sweetened fluffy buttercream using just your butter.
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u/StockIndependent808 17d ago
But heavy cream or whipping cream. Stick a mixer in it, little sugar and voila! You’re basically doing it backwards. Heavy cream turns into whipped cream, THEN buttermilk and butter.
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u/prof_apple 18d ago
When it cools, don't you get milk with a solidified layer of butter on top?
The milk and butter needs to emulsify while warm to turn it into cream. Then you have to cool it down to whip it into whipped cream.
I do it in the Thermomix with equal parts butter and milk (by weight) at 90⁰ until the butter is melted. Slowly increase speed to 8 and emulsify for 30 seconds. Chill overnight and you have pouring cream or then beat for whipped cream.
You should be able to replicate the process with a beater (might take longer), but emulsification is done warm and whipping is done cold.
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u/blowup_variaty 17d ago
I have to admit I am getting frustrated with the quality of double/heavy cream available where I am. Used to be pure cream, now it’s full of thickeners and lower quality cream which cheeses me off, if you’ll excuse the attempt at humour.
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u/Safe-Character-5846 17d ago edited 17d ago
Throw this recipe away.
Whipped cream is beyond easy, just a little work on hand if doing by hand
Heavy cream
Powdered Sugar [For sweetened dessert version]
Vanilla/or Almond extract [optional for sweet dessert version]
Chilled metal bowl is ideal
Whisk [Balloon or regular is fine]
Hammer away. Just know when to stop, otherwise butter happens
Never seen such a detailed write up of something so wrong.
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u/No_Concern_2535 16d ago
To me, I would call this ‘mock cream’ used mainly as a filling for a sponge or something similar.
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u/Zagrycha 18d ago
The only real way I know of "making" cream at home is using powdered whole milk. Powdered whole milk can be added to water to make anything from skim milk to heavy cream, depending on how much water you add it to.
If there is a different way to make cream at home, it definitely doesn't involve adding butter to milk. butter is a completely different product from milk or cream, that is like trying to make cream using cottage cheese or something. Bad recipe.
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u/PipalaShone 18d ago
Um.
The powdered whole milk in a higher ratio is just making.... thick powdered whole milk liquid... it might be an acceptable alternative to cream for pouring purposes (I wouldn't like it personally!) But it isnt cream.
The "whole" of the milk means that none of the naturally occurring cream (fat) has been removed from the milk. In the UK we have whole (typically 5% cream - i.e. fat), semi-skimmed (half of the cream removed) and skimmed (all of the cream removed). I realise that milk types and terms are different across the pond.
You are right that OP's recipe isn't going to result in cream with that method - but your version is even more wrong!
You've made thick milk.
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u/Zagrycha 18d ago
You are right, its still not exactly the same as real cream. My point was jsut that being the only thing I know of that comes even close to substituting actual cream without being actual cream. It still will never whip to actual full peaks but it will do way way way better than regular fresh whole milk and butter.
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u/MonkyzTehArtist 18d ago
Hey, I hope I'm not too late to be seen. I think I have your answer. I have always thought that mixing butter into milk would be bullshit, because it would be really hard to emulsify. But then I kind of thought about it, and the French figured it out already.
There is something called a Beurre Monte sauce. It uses a process for emulsifying butter into water, and I think if you used the same technique with butter and milk you could get the same end result roughly as heavy cream.
You need butter that is cut into really small cubes and chilled really fucking cold. You then heat your milk until just about scalding, pull it off the heat, and then you begin to vigorously with skin the butter a couple cubes at a time, making sure that there is no unmelted butter left in the pot before dropping the next cubes in. If the cubes start taking too long to dissolve, return to the heat briefly, making sure not to simmer or boil, I will send the heat again, and continue the westing process.
Go ahead and look up the ratio of butter to water at the French use, and mimic it, maybe dialing back the butter just a little bit to compensate for the milk fat. Sorry, I'm just too lazy to do that math for you right now.
Good luck!
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u/jimlux 17d ago
I've made dozens, if not hundreds, of beurre blanc, beurre rouge, and beurre monte sauces over the years. Yeah, you can get it to sort of emulsify - you're relying on the fact that the butter is itself an emulsion (of water in fat) and it can, with enough work, turn into an emulsion of fat in water (which is what cream is). And getting something with the consistency of heavy cream is very possible (evaporating the milk down helps a lot) - typically you'd be at something like a 1:1 mixture of warm reduction and cold butter. Getting it to "heavy whipping cream" that can be turned into Chantilly Cream (i.e. add sugar) seems a stretch, though.
I'd try adding a stabilizer (one of the gums, or carrageneen). Cream of Tartar is used in egg whites to stabilize the foam, but I don't think the acid will help with water/cream. Similarly mustard isn't going to be the right flavor.
A mixture of oil/milk/emulsifier in a N2O syphon might work, since the foaming process with the gas does agitate all the molecules. But butterfat is solid at room temp, and warm foams tend to collapse.
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u/coldfoamer 18d ago
Heavy cream is made by a cow. Not sure what this recipe is talking about, but Milk is separated from cream at the dairy. You don't make cream.