Four Ways to Make Whipped Cream Gourmet
Heavy whipped cream is a fantastic liquid. Even unwhipped , it can add a cool, creamy luxury to a bowl of berries or seasonal stone fruit, and whipping just adds to the experience. But aerating the cream isn’t the only thing you can do to make it luxurious. You can go even further with a few unexpected add-ons.
I’m not talking about extracts. While they will certainly work, they are a bit obvious; you don’t need me to tell you that lemon extract will give your whipped cream a lemony flavor. These additions range from tart to slightly intoxicating, toasty, and even slightly savory. Everything is guaranteed to impress.
Umeboshi vinegar
It is one of the top 10 vinegars , although it is not “real” vinegar, but the liquid left over from canning Japanese plums. It is salty, tart and slightly sugary, with hints of fermented stone fruit. It pairs exceptionally well with heavy heavy cream:
You can use it as a condiment (like soy sauce) and add it to summer drinks, but it’s incredibly fun with whipped cream. The sour-salty qualities of vinegar pair exceptionally well with heavy whipped cream, making the topping even more irresistible. Add sugar and you get sweet, creamy, salty and sour in one bite.
Whip the cream as usual, then gently fold in the umeboshi vinegar. Start with a teaspoon per cup of (unwhipped) cream, adding more to taste.
cocktail bitters
Bitters are the spice shelf in the bar cart, but you can use super-concentrated liquids just like any other extract:
From a flavor standpoint, adding bitters to your cream won’t change its taste to something else, but it will make it taste better, more nuanced and refined. Regular Angostura will serve you well, but I think orange bitters would be especially good, and could be a good use for any “artisanal” flavored bitters sets you’ve been given in a work gift exchange.
Cocktail bitters are so intense you only need a few drops, so you don’t have to worry about the alcohol destroying the cream’s structural integrity. Pour it in, beat it up and give it a try. (If you want a more refined taste, you can always add a little more.)
Herbs (and salt)
The savory whipped cream doesn’t play a big role, but it should. Herb-infused whipped cream adds rich flavor to sweet and savory dishes without the added sugar:
Have you ever wanted to add some creaminess to a dish but didn’t want your food to get wet? Spicy whipped cream is the answer. To open your mind to the possibilities, just think of it as a more subdued crème fraîche, a whispered burrata, or a funnier version of the (boring) runny crème, which is literally what it is. Add it to soup bowls, dried fish canapés, and summer tomato salads (or just dip cherry tomatoes in it).
Check out the full recipe here , but it’s really just a matter of soaking some coarsely chopped herbs in cold cream overnight and then whisking in salt. In addition to all the savory uses, I also think it would be good for plain shortbread or olive oil ice cream.
Dry malted milk
This last little addition comes from the latest print edition of Cook’s Illustrated, where you are advised to “stir it [malted milk powder] with cream and then make whipped cream for ice cream ice cream or pies.”
They do not offer any odds or recommended amounts, although they do have a paid prescription ; other recipes suggest 1 tablespoon of powder per cup of cream, all the way up to 1/4 cup. Instead of relying on rigid proportions, simply add the powder to the liquid cream in small batches, tasting after each addition until it tastes good enough, then whip as usual.