9 ways to transform your whipping cream

Your whipped cream wants to be different

Bourbon whipped cream. Photo by Stephanie Eddy.
Bourbon whipped cream. Photo by Stephanie Eddy.

Heavy cream, whipping cream, 35 per cent cream -- they are all the same, and all create light, velvety pillows of whipped cream that can be used in so many different ways. In 2003, 49,505,000 litres of whipping cream were sold in Canada, so we clearly like the stuff. It's rich, yet deceivingly good for you. Start using whipping cream in these nine new ways.

Add melted chocolate

Whether you prefer dark, milk or white, melt a little bit of chocolate into your heavy cream and chill it back down before you whip it. Not only will it add chocolatey flavour, it will amp up the richness. What you do with it is up to you, although we highly recommend just eating it with a spoon. 

Steep it in tea

Milk and cream were made for Earl Grey and matcha. Choose your tea of choice and steep it into half of the quantity of cream you will be using. You'll need a lot of tea leaves and a long time to extract the flavour, but heating up the cream will make it a bit harder to whip, so it’s a good idea to supplement it with some plain whipped cream for extra body. Make sure it is ice cold before you try to whip it too, otherwise you might get carpal tunnel.

Make it savoury with herbs and spices

Who says whipped cream has to be sweet? Add a dollop of herbaceous whipped cream to summer soups instead of sour cream. Add minced parsley or basil, or even some jalapenos for a kick!

Make a semifreddo

Fold whipped cream into a zabaglione -- a fancy way of saying whipped eggs over a water bath -- with a touch of honey and some fruits. You can transfer the mixture into individual ramekins, or in a loaf tin and then cut it into slices when solid. Voila, you’ve got yourself semifreddo.

Make a mousse

Chocolate mousse is probably the first flavour that comes to mind, but you can lighten mousse up with a fruit alternative, like raspberry or lemon (or layer one on top of the other in a trifle). Use bloomed gelatin to stabilize the cream to keep it from deflating after it has been whipped. It actually makes for quite the fancy dessert.

Make butter

Photo by Stephanie Eddy.

Bob Ross taught us that there are no mistakes, just happy accidents. So next time we over-whip cream, we'll call the butter a happy accident. Just keep beating the crap out of it, and eventually the solids and liquids will separate, leaving you with creamy, homemade butter.

Add flavoured simple syrup or liquor

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, whipped cream is sweetened with icing sugar. Frankly, that is 100 per cent boring. A flavoured simple syrup or even a rich sweet brown liquor is the perfect alternative. Try herb-infused syrups for the summer; basil works great in desserts and pairs well with most fruits. Mint is always a classic, as well. Try this bourbon whipped cream with carrot cake or pumpkin pie.

Crazy for Caramel

Not only will caramel sauce give the cream a bronze colour, it gives it a nutty and totally different flavour profile. You could even fold in the caramel partially, leaving the cream swirled with ribbons of sweet, buttery goodness.

Make fancy coffee

If all else fails, you can always dollop leftover whipped cream into your morning cup of joe -- unless you drink it black -- and top with chocolate sprinkles and cinnamon. Just make sure you're not using the left over jalapeno whipped cream for this.