The other day someone who shall not be named showed up to a dinner at my house with the kind of whipped topping that squirts out of a can. It wasn’t organic. And I try not to judge. I ate it. But I thought to myself how easy it is to make it from scratch, and make it organically. But I kept my mouth shut, being grateful that someone else made and brought dessert. But then I read in The Washington Post that there will be a shortage of canned whipped cream because of a nitrous oxide shortage. Daniel Block, a professor at Chicago State University, was quoted as saying, “This story is a metaphor for the vulnerability of the entire food system.”
Unless, that is, you know how to make whipped cream from scratch. And that, to me, is the essence of scratch cooking—having the confidence to cook for yourself, reduce your vulnerability from the global industrial food complex, and also eat the best damned whipped cream ever, from freaking scratch! It’s a win-win-win situation. You never have to be afraid again.
Related: The Easiest Pie Crust You’ll Ever Make, Plus 5 Delicious Pie Recipes From Scratch
This will take you only 5 to 10 minutes. (Once, I accidentally got distracted and tried to make whipped cream from half-and-half. It doesn’t work.)
WHIPPED CREAM
1 container (any size) of whipping cream (organic, please)
Optional sugar to taste (you can use powdered sugar, maple syrup, honey, or any other sweetener you prefer)
1. Put the whipping cream in a bowl. Mix with an electric hand mixer, whisk, or fork until it’s the thickness of your choice. If you keep going for too long, you will have butter!
2. If you want it sweet, add the sweetener of your choice to taste. It’s good without sugar if your dessert is already sweet or if you are putting it into something sweet like hot chocolate.
By the way, kids LOVE to help with this. It’s also a good arm exercise.
This is so easy to make. Thanks for the idea and loved the story behind it.
A recipe for whipped cream? Oi. What’s next? How to boil water? This is less a metaphor for the vulnerability of our food system than an indictment on how disconnected we’ve become from the very earth we rely on for sustenance. Canned whipped cream. It’s like that grated cheese you can buy in a bag. Grrrrr…
It’s the only way we have whipped cream here. When I make maple oatmeal cookies, I add a bit of powdered espresso. I’m not a coffee drinker but find it delicious!
I just wish it was easier to find any heavy cream that contained only cream! Who wants carrageenan in their whipped cream?😝