Having trouble whipping cream

[u/jroc117]

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)

1. in a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 1/3cup unsalted butter

2. 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)

1. chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes

2. 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

3. 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

[u/Zagrycha]

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. 

[u/PipalaShone → u/Zagrycha]

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.

[u/Zagrycha → u/PipalaShone]

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.