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Homemade vanilla whipped cream made in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients! This how-to recipe walks you through the simple steps to make whipped cream at home. It’s light, billowy, and the dreamiest dessert topping!

Homemade Whipped Cream
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If you’ve never made whipped cream before, consider this your invitation to try. I love it with everything from fresh berries to sour cream pound cake and Belgian waffles.

It’s so easy to make from scratch (I could eat it by the spoonful) and tastes infinitely better than the store-bought variety. Gather your ingredients (heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla) and let’s begin!

Chilled heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract

Tips for Success

  • Use a chilled mixer bowl. I like to chill my stainless steel mixer bowl in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 15 minutes) before using. You can also chill the wire whip attachment. Keeping things as cold as possible helps the cream whip up easily.
  • Cold heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (36% milk fat) whips quickly with a light texture. I keep the cream cold while I’m chilling the mixer bowl and use it straight from the fridge. Do not use half-and-half or whole milk – neither has the fat content necessary to whip up.
  • For silky smooth whipped cream, use powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar). Powdered sugar dissolves smoothly in the heavy cream and also contains a small amount of cornstarch, which helps thicken the whipped cream.
  • Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor (my fave is Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Extract). You can also use vanilla bean paste or the seeds of a vanilla bean.
  • Avoid overbeating or overmixing. If you overmix, the whipped cream can start to develop a grainy texture or separate. Whipping to medium peaks is ideal for most uses. If you’d like to make a thicker whipped cream that you can pipe onto a dessert, see note in the recipe card.
Homemade Whipped Cream

How to Make Whipped Cream

Pour cold heavy cream into a chilled mixer bowl fitted with the wire whip attachment. Add powdered sugar and whip the mixture on medium speed until cream begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.

Heavy cream whipped with powdered sugar until thickened

Add vanilla extract to the mixer bowl, then whip the cream on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Cream whipped to medium peaks in mixer bowl

At this point, use immediately or transfer to an airtight container in the refrigerator. The texture holds up well for at least 12 hours, but you can make whipped cream up to 24 hours in advance.

Close up of homemade whipped cream

Favorite ways to use whipped cream:

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Homemade Whipped Cream

Easy 5-Minute Homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Laura Kasavan
  • Prep Time: 1 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2 cups
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

Homemade vanilla whipped cream made in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients! This how-to recipe walks you through the simple steps to make whipped cream at home. It’s the perfect topping for everything from classic pound cake to Belgian waffles!


Ingredients

  • 1 cup (240 g) cold heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp (22 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract


Instructions

  1. Pour heavy cream into a chilled mixer bowl fitted with wire whip attachment.
  2. Add powdered sugar and whip on medium speed until cream begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add vanilla extract and whip the cream on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.
  4. Use whipped cream immediately, or cover and transfer mixer bowl to the refrigerator until ready to use. The texture holds up well for 12 hours.

Notes

Whipped cream that you can pipe: Pour 1 cup (240 g) cold heavy cream into a chilled mixer bowl fitted with wire whip attachment. Beat cream on medium-high speed until cream begins to thicken; gradually add 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar. Add vanilla and beat just until firm peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with piping tip of choice.

Photography by Rachel Cook, Cook & Kin

Meet Laura

Hi, I'm Laura and I'm so happy you're here! Welcome to Tutti Dolci Baking Recipes, a baking blog celebrating all things sweet! I share approachable baking recipes and elevated classic desserts for every home baker. My goal is to inspire you to bake from scratch with kitchen-tested recipes you can count on.

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6 Comments

  1. Home made vanilla whipped cream,
    Delicious, simple and easy to make. Goes well with different recipes.
    My family likes it so much that now they prefer to use it instead of regular frostings in their homemade recipe cakes 🍰

  2. Made this whipped cream to go with a weekend dessert—turned out super smooth and not overly sweet, just how I like it. Paired it with a banana pudding I tried, and they really worked well together. Just a heads up for anyone looking for an easy combo.

  3. I normally don’t review recipes online, but I have made this twice now (once for my daughters birthday cake and just now for some pudding) and I’m not the one to buy cool whip or reddiwhip due to how processed it is plus the prices are absurd, so I’d rather just make it, I’ve tried countless other recipes but none THIS good. I’m eventually going to try it with different extracts instead of vanilla just for fun but it’s perfect the way it is.

    1. Great to hear this, thank you Ari! Almond extract or maple extract are also delicious – start with 1/2 teaspoon extract if you try other flavors. 🙂