Whipped cream

The typical fat content of cream used for whipping is high as fat globules contribute to forming a stable structure surrounding and stabilizing air bubbles.[1]. The typical fat content for whipping cream is between 30%-36% milkfat. Other components include water at 62.9-57.3% and proteins at 2.5-2.2%.[2]

During whipping, partially coalesced fat molecules create a stabilized network which traps air bubbles.[3] The resulting colloid is roughly double the volume of the original cream. If, however, the whipping is continued, the fat droplets will stick together destroying the colloid and forming butter. Lower-fat cream (or milk) does not whip well, while higher-fat cream produces a more stable foam.[4]

Cream is usually mechanically whipped with a whisk, an electric hand mixer, or a food processor. Results are best when the equipment and ingredients are cold.[5] The bubbles in the mechanically whipped cream immediately start to pop, and the whipped cream begins to liquefy. Thus mechanically whipped cream has a useful lifetime of one to two hours. Many 19th-century recipes recommend adding gum tragacanth to stabilize whipped cream, while a few include whipped egg whites.[6] Various other substances, including gelatin and diphosphate, are used in commercial stabilizers.[7][8][9][10]

Whipped cream may also be made instantly as needed, in two ways: from a retail can, or in a whipping siphon. Cream is placed into the siphon, and a whipped-cream charger is inserted into its holder in the siphon. When the top is screwed on the charger is automatically opened, and the pressurized gas contained therein is released to dissolve into the cream. Typically the gas is nitrous oxide, as carbon dioxide tends to give a sour taste.[11] The nitrous oxide gas dissolves in the butterfat under pressure. When the pressure is released bubbles are produced, and thus the cream is instantly whipped.

Whipped cream is often flavored with sugar, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, orange, and so on.[12]

Whipped cream, often sweetened and aromatised, was popular in the 16th century,[14] with recipes in the writings of Cristoforo di Messisbugo (Ferrara, 1549),[15] Bartolomeo Scappi (Rome, 1570),[14] and Lancelot de Casteau (Liège, 1604).[16] It was called milk or cream snow (neve di latte, neige de lait, neige de crème).[17] A 1545 English recipe, "A Dyschefull of Snow", includes whipped egg whites as well, and is flavored with rosewater and sugar.[18] (cf. snow cream) In these recipes, and until the end of the 19th century, naturally separated cream is whipped, typically with willow or rush branches, and the resulting foam on the surface would from time to time be skimmed off and drained, a process taking an hour or more.[4] By the end of the 19th century, centrifuge-separated, high-fat cream made it much faster and easier to make whipped cream.

The French name crème fouettée 'whipped cream' is attested in 1629,[19] and the English name "whipped cream" in 1673.[20] The name "snow cream" continued to be used in the 17th century.[21][22]

Various desserts consisting of whipped cream in pyramidal shapes with coffee, liqueurs, chocolate, fruits, and so on either in the mixture or poured on top were called crème en mousse 'cream in a foam', crème fouettée, crème mousseuse 'foamy cream', mousse 'foam',[13][23] and fromage à la Chantilly 'Chantilly-style molded cream', as early as 1768.[24][25][26] Modern mousses, including mousse au chocolat, are a continuation of this tradition.

Cream whipped in a whipping siphon with nitrous oxide was invented in the 1930s by both Charles Getz, working with G. Frederick Smith,[27][28] and Marshall Reinecke.[29] Both filed patents, which were later litigated. The Getz patents were originally deemed invalid, but were upheld on appeal.[11]

Crème Chantilly is another name for whipped cream. The difference between "whipped cream" and "crème Chantilly" is not systematic. Some authors distinguish between the two, with crème Chantilly being sweetened, and whipped cream not.[30] However, most authors treat the two as synonyms,[31] with both being sweetened,[32][33] neither being sweetened,[6][34] or treating sweetening as optional.[35][36] Many authors use only one of the two names (for the sweetened or unsweetened version), so it is not clear if they distinguish the two.[37]

The invention of crème Chantilly is often credited incorrectly, and without evidence, to François Vatel, maître d'hôtel at the Château de Chantilly in the mid-17th century.[38][39] But the name Chantilly is first connected with whipped cream in the mid-18th century,[40] around the time that the Baronne d'Oberkirch praised the "cream" served at a lunch at the Hameau de Chantilly—but did not say what exactly it was, or call it Chantilly cream.[41][42]

The names "crème Chantilly", "crème de Chantilly", "crème à la Chantilly", or "crème fouettée à la Chantilly" only become common in the 19th century. In 1806, the first edition of Viard's Cuisinier Impérial mentions neither "whipped" nor "Chantilly" cream,[43] but the 1820 edition mentions both.[44]

The name Chantilly was probably used because the château had become a symbol of refined food.[45]

Imitations of whipped cream, often sold under the name whipped topping or squirty cream, are commercially available. They may be used to avoid dairy ingredients, to provide extended shelf life, or to reduce the price (although some popular brands cost twice as much as whipped cream).[46]

Artificial whipped topping normally contains some mixture of partially hydrogenated oil, sweeteners, water, and stabilizers and emulsifiers added to prevent syneresis.

It may be sold frozen in plastic tubs (e.g., Cool Whip), or in aerosol containers or in liquid form in cartons, reminiscent of real whipping cream.

Whipped cream or crème Chantilly is a popular topping for fruit and desserts such as pie, ice cream (especially sundaes), cupcakes, cakes, milkshakes, waffles, hot chocolate, cheesecakes, Jello and puddings. It is also served on coffee, especially in the Viennese coffee house tradition, where coffee with whipped cream is known as Melange mit Schlagobers. Whipped cream is used as an ingredient in many desserts, for example as a filling for profiteroles and layer cakes.[47]

It is often piped onto a dish using a pastry bag to create decorative shapes.