Today I’m sharing a simple, 3-ingredient homemade whipped cream recipe. Skip the store-bought and make your own using just heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, ready in just 5 minutes!

A Simple, Stable Whipped Cream Recipe

If you’re still buying your whipped cream from the grocery store in a little plastic tub, this recipe is going to be a game changer for you.

Today we are ditching those store-bought, synthetic, poor excuses for whipped cream and we’re making it at home, from scratch. And you’re never going to look back. All you need is three ingredients (heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract) an electric mixer, and about five minutes.

This is a completely different animal from the store-bought variety. The taste is fresher, richer, better. Ever since sharing this recipe with my family, my siblings won’t even touch any imposters from the store. Even better, my recipe is essentially foolproof, perfected to be easy, stable, and pipe-able. It’s the perfect whipped cream recipe, great for topping off a slice of cheesecake or using in your strawberry shortcake.

How to Make Whipped Cream:

1. Chill a medium-sized bowl in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
2. Combine (cold) heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in chilled bowl.
3. Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer on high speed until cream is thick and billowy and stiff peaks form.

That’s it.  Sweet, simple, and from-scratch. Three ingredients, three steps, and about three minutes standing between you and your own homemade whipped cream.

How Long Will Whipped Cream Last?

I’m bragging, but this recipe is the longest-lasting I’ve ever used. I’ve made it up to 3 days in advance and it has held its shape and consistency perfectly for me and I’ve never had it weep or run.

However, because I know recipes can be fickle and can vary depending on the environment in which they are made (especially during humid summer months), I generally recommend making whipped cream the same day you intend to use it, just to be safe.

What Makes It Work?

I credit the stability of this recipe to a few key factors:

1. We’re using powdered sugar rather than granulated. Just enough to keep it stable without over-sweetening. Because this cream is slightly sweetened, it’s also known as Chantilly Cream.
2. We’re whipping our cream long enough to convince it to hold its shape. Many recipes stop shy of this, but we’re going all the way to stiff peaks (a bit more on that below!).
3. I recommend using heavy cream and not whipping cream. Whipping cream will work, but heavy cream holds its shape better.

I was so sick of weepy, weak, flat, whipped cream recipes as my only alternative to store-bought, which is why I perfected this recipe in the first place. I think you’re going to really love how simple and stable this one is.

A Few Tips

• Whipped cream is easiest to make not only when all of your ingredients are cold, but when your tools are, too. Because of this I recommend using a metal bowl if you have one and popping it in the freezer for a few minutes before whipping. A glass bowl will also work great, but a metal bowl will get cold even faster.
• Use an electric mixer. This can absolutely be made by whisking by hand, but it’s going to take you a heck of a lot longer than 5 minutes and you’re going to get an intense arm workout.
• For Step 3 above (beating ingredients together), start with your mixer on low speed and gradually increase to high. Otherwise you’ll be finding heavy cream splatters on your kitchen walls, utensils, and appliances for weeks to come (ask me how I know).
• “Stiff peaks” simply means that when you lift the beater out of the cream, the peak that forms on the beater will hold its shape even when you turn the beater upside down (if you’ve made my meringue cookies, you’re familiar with this technique, but here is a great visual on the different kind of peaks). You want to stop right when you reach stiff peaks, or you run the risk of over-beating your cream and ending up with a slightly curdled-looking cream. Don’t panic, it’s still going to taste amazing.

Perfect Pairings:

Alright, now that you’ve made your whipped cream, you need something to to do with it, right? Here are a few of my favorite options:

• Angel Food Cake (with strawberries, of course!)
• Pancakes
• Chocolate pie
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• No-Bake Cheesecake (or mini cheesecakes!)
• Banana Cream Pie
• Coconut Cream Pie
• Pound Cake
• Gingerbread

Or… really just about anything goes great with it, to be honest. Let me know what your plans are!

Homemade Whipped Cream Recipe

A quick and easy homemade whipped cream recipe! Just 3 ingredients and 5 minutes to make. Tastes so much better than store-bought and is perfect for topping off your favorite pies, cakes, or other desserts!

4.87 from 51 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade whipped cream recipe, how to make whipped cream at home, whipped cream

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 3 cups

Calories: 120kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups heavy cream¹ cold (355ml)
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)

Instructions

• Place a medium-sized bowl (preferably metal) in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill.  
• Once bowl has chilled, remove from freezer and add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Using an electric mixer², beat ingredients on low speed, gradually increasing speed to high, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Don't over-beat, but don't stop beating until cream has reached a thick, billowy consistency (think the thickness of Cool Whip).
• Keep unused whipped cream refrigerated in an airtight container.  

Notes

¹I recommend using "heavy cream" rather than "whipping cream". Heavy cream holds its shape better after whipping, but whipping cream will work in a pinch.

²I definitely recommend using an electric mixer for this.  Whisking cream to stiff peaks by hand takes forever and is not fun.

If you're using a KitchenAid or stand mixer, use the whisk attachment for best results, though it's possible to make whipped cream using the paddle attachment.

I have made this whipped cream up to 3 days in advance and had it keep beautifully, however because all baking environments differ I generally recommend you make it the same day you intend to use it.

I used a Wilton 2D tip for piping in the video

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 120kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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This recipe was originally published 10/27/2017. Updated 07/27/2019.