Stabilize Whipped Cream With A Pantry Staple You Already Own

Have you ever experienced this tragedy? You whip up perfect, lush, stiff peaks in your whipped cream, only to find it fallen completely flat after a few hours. It's a misfortune faced by many, and may seem like an inevitability for the creamy, delicate topping. However, this need not be the case. The perfect multi-purpose ingredient that can both stabilize your whipped cream and give it a dash of flavor might be tucked in your pantry right now: instant pudding mix.

Boxed pudding works to keep your whipped cream, well, whipped because it contains stabilizers, such as modified food starches, that help pudding maintain its thick, rich form. These starches also help keep your whipped cream perfectly stiff. You can also use your pudding mix to make the perfect frosting using a similar technique.

You needn't add the whole envelope of mix to get your cream to the right consistency. In fact, adding too much could turn your cream into a whipped pudding. Start by adding 1 ½ teaspoons of mix per 1 cup of heavy cream while mixing (along with sugar), adding more depending on how thick you want your whip to be. The pudding mix also adds a perfect touch of flavor; for a basic whipped cream, add in vanilla pudding.

If you want a flavorful twist, add in a bit of lemon, banana, or even pistachio pudding mix. You can also add chocolate pudding, though it might not have enough of a punch to make chocolate whipped cream. To add in more chocolate flavor, enhance your whipped cream with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Of course, pudding mix isn't the only way to stabilize your whipped cream. For some, it simply may not be an option since modified food starches, often sold in bulk to bakers under the name "Instant Clearjel," aren't always gluten free. Though many modified food starches are made with corn, which is gluten free, some are made with wheat. For this reason, a good alternative for stabilizing your whipped cream is gelatin.

Gelatin keeps those peaks stiff for at least a full day, and can give great shape to your cream. Now, mixing gelatin into your whipped cream is a bit more complicated than simply pouring a packet of gelatin into your whip. First, bloom the gelatin in hot water to activate it and make it easier to incorporate into your cream. Add it gradually, and only use a small amount of gelatin powder; about 1 teaspoon per 1 ¼ cups of heavy cream.