Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream, known as heavy cream, whipping cream or double cream, that is aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-solid colloid. It is commonly sweetened with white sugar and often flavored with vanilla. Whipped cream is often served on desserts and hot beverages and used as an ingredient in desserts.
History
A dish called αφρόγαλo (aphrogalo) 'frothy milk' is mentioned by Galen but with no further information. One modern author calls it a "popular milk foam" and suggests that it was "possibly a forerunner of whipped cream".
The earliest clear evidence for whipped cream, often sweetened and aromatised, comes in the 16th century, under the name milk or cream snow (, , ). s.v. Étymologie B.2 (1552 quotation) It was mentioned in the writings of Rabelais (Paris, 1531) and recipes are found in Cristoforo di Messisbugo (Ferrara, 1549),Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, Festive Feasts Cookbook (British Museum), 2004, , p. 33, citing Messisbugo's Bartolomeo Scappi (Rome, 1570),Terence Scully, trans., The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570): L'arte et prudenza d'un maestro Cuoco; The Art and Craft of a Master Cook, 2008, , p. 105, note 2.39, with many menus including "neve di latte servita con zuccaro sopra" 'milk snow with sugar on top', and Lancelot de Casteau (Liège, 1604)., "Pour faire neige", p. 123 transcription A recipe for sneeu 'snow', is found in a manuscript from the Netherlands from circa 1525–1575. It consists of cream, rosewater, and sugar beaten with a woody switch split at the end. The resulting froth was drained on a sieve.
The recipe "A Dyschefull of Snow" in A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye (London, 1545) is made of a mixture of egg whites and cream. Flavored with rosewater and sugar, it was served over a "thick bush of rosemary", and sometimes gilded, as a centerpiece for banquets. Later, this dish was called "cream with snow", "snow cream" (not the same as the snow-based dish snow cream), and "blanched cream".
In these recipes, and until the end of the 19th century, naturally separated cream is whipped, typically with willow or rush branches, and the resulting foam ("snow") on the surface is from time to time skimmed off and drained. By the end of the 19th century, centrifuge separation was used to rapidly produce high-fat cream suitable for whipping.Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking, 2007, , p. 30–33
The French name for whipped cream is attested in 1629,Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, full text and the English name "whipped cream" in 1673. definition 3 The name "snow cream" continued to be used in the 17th century., 1726, s.v. 'Syllabub' full textSarah Harrison, The house-keeper's pocket-book, and compleat family cook, 1749, p. 173. full text At the end of the 18th century, "whisked cream" could mean both whipped cream as well as cream curdled with wine and lemon to make a syllabub.
Various desserts consisting of whipped cream in pyramidal shapes with coffee, liqueurs, chocolate, fruits, and so on either in the mixture or poured on top were called (cream in a foam), , (foamy cream), (foam),M. Emy (officier), , Paris, 1768 p. 222Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière, , 1839, p. 184 and (Chantilly-style molded cream), as early as 1768.Jim Chevallier, A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites, 2018, , p. 195"Tante Marie", , 18??, p. 296 "Crème fouettée (ou Fromage à la Chantilly)"Mrs. Beeton, The book of household management, 1888, p. 927 Modern , including , are a continuation of this tradition.
Cream whipped in a whipping siphon with nitrous oxide was invented in the 1930s by both Charles Getz, working with G. Frederick Smith,Charles Getz, "Process of making aerated food products", U.S. Patent 2294172A, filed 26 September 1935, issued 25 August 1942 full text; also U.S. Patent 2435682 (continuation in part) and Marshall Reinecke.Marshall C. Reinecke, "Device for producing aerated expanded food products", U.S. Patent 2120297A, filed 15 August 1935, issued 14 June 1938 full text Both filed patents, which were later litigated. The Getz patents were originally deemed invalid, but were upheld on appeal.Aeration Processes, Inc. v. Lange et al., 196 F.2d 981, 93 USPQ 332, United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit, May 20, 1952.
Crème Chantilly
Crème Chantilly is another name for whipped cream. Sometimes the two are distinguished clearly, with crème Chantilly being whipped cream that has been sweetened. Other times, they are treated as synonyms, with both being sweetenedLa Grande Encyclopédie (1902)Trésor de la langue française, s.v. crème or neither being sweetened,Émile Bernard Urbain Dubois, La Cuisine classique: études pratiques, raisonnées et démonstratives de l'Ecole française appliquée au service à la russe, 1868, p. 122: "La chantilly n'est autre chose que la crème double, amenée à consistance, et rendue mousseuse par le travail du fouet et l'action de l'air."Paul Bocuse, La cuisine du marché (1980), p. 414: "Crème Chantilly (crème fouettée)" or indeed with sweetening unspecified or optional.La cuisine de Madame Saint-Ange (1927), p. 916f: "Crème fouettée dite « crème Chantilly »... Selon le cas, on ajoute du sucre en poudre, vanillé ou non, dans la crème fouettée."Julia Child et al., Mastering the Art of French Cooking, defines Crème Chantilly as "lightly beaten cream", then refers to it as "whipped cream". With added sugar or flavorings, she calls it "Flavored whipped cream" (I:580). In volume 2, one recipe for crème Chantilly is unsweetened (II:422), another is sweetened (II:450). Many authors use only one of the two names (for the sweetened or unsweetened version), so it is not clear whether they distinguish the two.Larousse du XIXe (1878) et le Littré (1872) mention only whipped (fouettée); le Larousse Gastronomique (1938) mentions only Chantilly Escoffier's Guide culinaire defines "whipped or chantilly cream" as flavored with vanilla sugar, but includes many savory recipes with unsweetened "whipped cream", never called "chantilly cream". Vanilla or fruit essences are often added.
The invention of crème Chantilly is often credited incorrectly, and without evidence, to François Vatel, maître d'hôtel at the Château de Chantilly in the mid-17th century. The name Chantilly, though, is first connected with whipped cream in the mid-18th century, around the time that the Baronne d'Oberkirch praised the "cream" served at a lunch at the Hameau de Chantilly—but did not say what exactly it was, or call it Chantilly cream.
The names crème Chantilly, crème de Chantilly, crème à la Chantilly, or crème fouettée à la Chantilly only become common in the 19th century. In 1806, the first edition of Viard's Cuisinier Impérial mentions neither "whipped" nor "Chantilly" cream, but the 1820 edition mentions both.
The name Chantilly was probably used because the château had become a symbol of refined food;Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. 'cream'. the word Chantilly by itself has since become a culinary shorthand for whipped cream.Harry Louis Cracknell, G. Nobis, Practical Professional Gastronomy, 1985, , p. 237 II.6
Physical properties Cream with high butterfat content—typically 30%–36%—is used for whipping, as fat globules contribute to forming stable air bubbles.
During whipping, partially coalesced fat molecules create a stabilized network that traps air bubbles. The resulting colloid has about twice the volume of the original cream. If whipping is prolonged further, the fat droplets stick together, destroying the colloid and forming butter. Low-fat cream, or milk, does not have enough fat to whip effectively.
Production Manual
Cream is usually whipped with a whisk, an electric hand mixer, or a food processor. Results are best when the equipment and ingredients are chilled. The bubbles in the whipped cream immediately start to pop, and it begins to liquefy, giving it a useful lifetime of one to two hours.
Many 19th-century recipes recommend adding gum tragacanth to stabilize whipped cream, while a few include whipped egg whites. Various other substances, including gelatin and diphosphate, are used in commercial stabilizers.Alan Imeson, ed., Food Stabilisers, Thickeners and Gelling Agents, 2011, , passimRose Levy Beranbaum, The Pie and Pastry Bible, 2009, , p. 550
Instant Cream aerated by an aerosol can or by a whipping siphon with a whipped-cream charger is sometimes described as whipped cream; it is similar to cream that has been aerated by whipping. A gas dissolves in the butterfat under pressure; when the pressure is released, the gas comes out of solution, forming small bubbles "aerating" the mass. Nitrous oxide gas is usually used; while carbon dioxide produces the same physical effect, it gives a sour taste. Cream supplied in an aerosol can is also known as skooshy cream (Scottish), squirty cream, spray cream, or aerosol cream. There are many brands of aerosol cream, with varying sweeteners and other factors. In some jurisdictions, sales of canned whipped cream are limited to avoid nitrous oxide abuse.
Flavorings Whipped cream can be flavored with sugar, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, orange, or other flavorings.Jules Gouffée et al., Le livre de pâtisserie, 1873 p. 138
Alcohol-infused whipped cream
Alcohol-infused whipped cream is mixed with an alcoholic beverage. Commercial versions were introduced in the U.S. by 2005, and became a fad in 2010. Brand names include Liquor Whipped (14% alcohol by volume); CREAM (15%); Whipped Lightning (17.8%), made in various flavors; Get Whipped, Whipsy, which is 13.5% and made with wine; and Canisters of Cream.
It has been criticized for their potential to be "aimed at young drinkers". "If a product looks like something else, it's easy not to be aware that it might contain a lot of alcohol", a public health official observed. In the U.S., the sale of alcohol-infused whipped cream is regulated as a "distilled spirits specialty product".
Imitation whipped cream
Imitations of whipped cream, often called whipped topping (occasionally whip topping), are commercially available. They may be used to avoid dairy ingredients, to provide extended shelf life, or to reduce the price — although some popular brands cost twice as much as whipped cream.
The earliest known recipe for a non-dairy "whipped cream" was published by Ella Eaton Kellogg in 1904; consistent with her Seventh-day Adventist practices, it replaced cream with almond butter. Based on research sponsored by Henry Ford, a soy-based whip topping was commercialized by Delsoy Products by 1945. Delsoy did not survive, but Bob Rich's Rich Products frozen "Whip Topping", also introduced in 1945, succeeded. Rich Products topping was reformulated with coconut oil replacing soy oil in 1956.
Artificial whipped topping normally contains some mixture of partially hydrogenated oil, sweeteners, water, and stabilizers and emulsifiers added to prevent syneresis. For purposes of regulation this is called "whipped edible oil topping" in the US.Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, section 172.836 through 172.842
Non-dairy versions may be sold frozen in plastic tubs (e.g., Cool Whip), in aerosol containers, or in liquid form in cartons.
Uses
Sweet Whipped cream is a popular topping for fruit and desserts such as pie, ice cream (especially sundaes), cupcakes, cakes, milkshakes, waffles, cheesecakes, gelatin dessert, and puddings. It is also served on coffee and hot chocolate. In the Viennese coffee house tradition, coffee with whipped cream is known as Melange mit Schlagobers. Whipped cream is used as an ingredient in many desserts, for example as a filling for profiteroles and layer cakes, and the final step of making Bavarian cream. and some fruit sorbets.
It is often piped onto a dish using a pastry bag to create decorative shapes.