The Secret Ingredient for Whipped Cream That Will Last for a Week in the Fridge
Stabilized whipped cream
Whipped cream is one of life’s great pleasures. It just makes all of the sweet things better—cake, ice cream, hot chocolate, berries. And yes, some of us even eat spoonfuls of the stuff straight from the bowl on occasion.
The other wonderful thing about whipped cream is that it's super easy to make. Just whisk some cold cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a stand or hand mixer or whisk by hand—and voila: whipped cream. (Oh, and whisking by hand sounds so much harder than it actually is, because you only have to whip the cream until soft peaks form, so you're really not whisking for all that long.)
But here’s the thing: While whipped cream is delicious and simple to make, the stuff doesn't hold very well. Now, this isn't really a problem in terms of leftover whipped cream, which, if you have a heartbeat, is usually not a problem. If you’ve just had folks over for a dinner party and you find there’s some whipped cream still hanging out in a bowl in the kitchen, well, then that's your chef’s snack. But if you want whipped cream for your dessert, you have to whip it up pretty close to dessert time, which isn't always convenient and if you make it more than a couple of hours ahead of time it deflates and gets watery. Luckily, I have a simple fix for this problem: make stabilized whipped cream with marshmallows.
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Why You Should Add Marshmallows to Your Whipped Cream
Are you sitting down? Ok, great. So here's the deal. If you add a melted jumbo marshmallow or a handful of mini marshmallows or a generous tablespoon of Marshmallow Fluff to the cream, guess what? Your whipped cream will last for days in the fridge—and up to a week (if not longer . . . )!
The secret is the gelatin in the marshies (as I like to call them) and the egg whites in the Fluff: both serve to stabilize whipped cream cream. (Please note that if you use regular marshmallows, your whipped cream won't be vegetarian.) Some people use gelatin in their whipped cream to stabilize it, but why use fussy gelatin when you can just grab a yummy marshmallow and melt it instead?
How to Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
The process is pretty darn simple. Here’s what you do.
1. For every one cup of heavy cream, add 1 large (or 10 mini) melted marshmallow(s) or a generous tablespoon of Fluff, a pinch of salt and a little powdered sugar to taste. If you don't like your whipped cream very sweet, you can skip the powdered sugar.
2. Whisk as you would regular whipped cream. Use immediately or store tightly covered in the fridge for up to a week.
Pro tip: You can do the melting in a microwave, in a small microwave-safe bowl on high, in 10-second bursts, stirring after each. It gets pretty sticky once melted and it’s a little annoying trying to scrape it into the bowl with the cream, etc., but we’re talking stable whipped cream here, folks, so it’s 100% worth it.
