Homemade whipped cream is truly a magical thing. You only need two ingredients and 15 minutes to make it, creating the perfect finishing touch to almost any dessert, from holiday pies to over-the-top milkshakes. While it’s very simple to make (besides the necessary arm workout), there’s one thing you need to watch out for: overwhipping your cream. If you get distracted and go past the stiff-peak point—it happens to the best of us—your whipped cream will begin to look grainy and separated instead of soft and pillowy. It’s an easy mistake to make, and thankfully, even easier to correct.
Senior Food Editor and baking expert Makinze Gore has made whipped cream more times than anyone can count, and has a simple tip for saving that overwhipped cream. Don't toss that bowl away—keep reading on for everything you need to know:
How To Save Your Whipped Cream
Good news: You don’t even need an extra ingredient or tool to save your whipped cream! Gore says that you only need more heavy cream: add a little bit more, and gently fold it into your mixture. After folding the heavy cream in, the mixture will smooth back out into a perfect whipped cream.
Used all of your heavy cream in the whipping process already? Don’t stress—you can use milk instead. Use the same process, and your whipped cream will be saved just the same.
Past The Point Of No Return?
While this trick will save your slightly overwhipped cream, if it has started to separate and curdle, it may not be as successful. Don’t toss it out, though! If all else fails, Gore suggests to just keep whipping to turn it into butter. You’ll continue to beat it until it separates into liquid and solid pieces of butter. Then, you’ll transfer the butter to a cheesecloth to remove as much as the buttermilk as possible, and store in the fridge! If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide, refer to Gore’s homemade butter recipe for everything you need to know.
