Stabilized whipped cream can be piped or frosted onto cakes and it won't lose its shape or melt. Best part? It only takes 5 minutes to make! Yep! You can make your own amazing whipped cream, right at home and it tastes wayyyyy better than that stuff that comes in a tub. Trust me.
Ingredients For Stabilized Whipped Cream Using Gelatin
This is my favorite way to make stabilized whipped cream. The gelatin sets the whipped cream so that it holds its shape, even in hot weather (as long as you keep it in the shade and for not more than 2 hours). Follow my easy step-by-step instructions below.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by sprinkling your gelatin over the water and let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom. This is important so that the gelatin has a chance to fully absorb the water. If you don't wait you can get grainy lumps in your whipped cream.
Once the gelatin is bloomed, heat in the microwave for 5 seconds. It melts very quickly! If it's not fully melted, go another three seconds until it's melted. Don't overheat! You can tell the gelatin is melted when it's clear and you don't see any grains of gelatin anymore.
Add the 1 teaspoon of heavy cream to the melted gelatin and stir. This cools down the gelatin and helps it mix into the whipped cream better. If your gelatin starts to get solid then just reheat it for 5 seconds to make it liquid again.
Begin whipping your cream with the whisk attachment on medium, after it starts to get foamy, you can add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Whip until you start to see lines developing in the whipped cream but the peaks are still very soft.
While mixing on low, start drizzling in your melted gelatin mixture. Keep mixing until your peaks are firm enough to hold their shape but do not over-mix or your whipped cream will start to curdle and turn into butter instead of whipped cream. This can happen VERY quickly after you add the gelatin so just watch the whipped cream and don't go checking your emails 😉
This stabilized whipped cream will hold up at room temperature (up to 90F) although I don't recommend leaving it out for more than two hours because of the dairy.
It will be ok in the fridge for up to three days! Cool huh? We used to use this recipe in pastry school on top of all our tarts so we could make them ahead of time and they would still be fresh the next day for service in the restaurant.
Here are some other ways to stabilize whipped cream!
How to stabilize whipped cream with instant pudding mix
This is the other way I generally stabilize whipped cream if I don't want to use gelatin. The only thing I don't like is that it's not quite as smooth as using gelatin.
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon instant vanilla pudding mix
Begin whipping your cream until you reach soft peaks. Then add in your vanilla pudding, sugar and vanilla extract. Continue whipping your cream until you have firm peaks but they are not crumbly.
I love the taste of this stabilized whipped cream. The vanilla pudding mix adds a nice flavor! Fold 1 cup of this stabilized whipped cream into the pastry cream and you have an excellent diplomat filling that's perfect for my cream tart recipe.
How to stabilize whipped cream using corn starch
You can use cornstarch to help thicken and stabilize your whipped cream. This is a very common and easy way of thickening and stabilizing your whipped cream to keep it from turning into a melty mess.
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The cornstarch can leave a slightly gritty texture to the whipped cream though.
Stabilized whipped cream using cream of tartar
Cream of tartar can be used to stabilize whipped cream according to fine cooking all though I've never tried it. I'm definitely interested to see if this works.
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine the sugar and cream of tarter. Whip your cream to soft peaks and add in your sugar/cream of tartar and vanilla. Continue whisking to firm peaks.
How to stabilize whipped cream with powdered milk
This is another cool way to stabilize whipped cream in a super duper easy way. If you have powdered milk around, you can use it as a stabilizer. The powdered milk adds just enough body to the cream to keep it from losing its shape.
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoon powdered milk
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Can you frost a cake with whipped cream?
The short answer is yes! You can frost a cake with stabilized whipped cream but you cannot cover it in fondant. Whipped cream has too much liquid in it and is not thick enough to support the weight of the fondant. I frosted my pink velvet cake in whipped cream and it was amazing!
But you CAN cover a cake frosted with whipped cream with mirror glaze if you freeze it first in fact, this is exactly what I did for my geode mirror glaze heart!
I hope this answers all your questions about how to stabilize whipped cream! If you have any other issues you can always leave me a comment below.
Looking for more recipes? Check these out!
Pink velvet cake with whipped cream frosting
Copycat Whole Foods berry Chantilly cake
Mirror glaze cake
Chocolate mousse recipe
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Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
Ingredients
Stabilized Whipped Cream
- 12 oz heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 ounces powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon gelatin I use KNOX brand
- 1 ½ tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Sprinkle your gelatin over the water and let bloom for 5 minutes.
- Melt gelatin for 5 seconds in the microwave. If not fully melted do another 3 seconds. You can tell gelatin is melted when there are no granules of unmelted gelatin visible.After dissolving your gelatin, add in 1 teaspoon of heavy cream and mix. If your gelatin is too cold, heat again until it's melted (5 seconds).
- In a cold mixing bowl, whip your heavy for 15 seconds on medium speed until its foamy
- Add in your powdered sugar and vanilla and continue mixing on medium speed until you reach very soft peaks, barely holding their shape.
- Turn your mixer down to low and drizzle in your gelatin. Continue mixing on medium speed until your peaks are firm and holding their shape but don't over-mix to the point when your whipped cream starts to look chunky or begins turning into butter.
Video
Stabilized Whipped Cream from Sugar Geek Show on Vimeo.
Notes
Nutrition
ToiKakes says
Hi Liz!! I've made this recipe so many times and I just want to say, its the BEST one I have made!! Thank you so much for sharing you beautiful talent and yummy recipes with us! Your so amazing!
Eza says
Hi Liz. Can i confirm with you the measurement for gelatine. Your recipe mentioned 1 tsp, but it looks like a bit more in the video
Elizabeth Marek says
its one teaspoon
Victoria Miller says
This recipe looks great. May I use the stabilized whipped cream (gelatin recipe) as a substitute for Cool Whip in a no bake dessert? Will it hold up the same as Cool Whip if folded in to a pudding/pumpkin concoction?
Elizabeth Marek says
You sure can
Sharol says
Hi I need some advise . I don't get whipping cream here so please let me know if I can use normal cream instead ? Will it hold up ? Thanks
Elizabeth Marek says
Whatever cream you use to make whipped cream is what you can use 🙂
Divya says
Hi Liz, can I make the vanilla pudding version & pipe it on the cake/banoffee pie and serve it the next day? Will it still hold its shape or will it deflate? I don’t want to use gelatin so I will be using the pudding mix instead. Please let me know. Thank you 🙏
Sugar Geek Show says
Yes it should hold its shape, just make sure to refrigerate the cake 🙂
Holly says
Can I make this a day or two before I pipe it?
Sugar Geek Show says
No, this stabilized whipped cream needs to be piped immediately after its made or it will set up.
Thm says
Will this recipe work for stenciling? I want to make a tropical cake with guava and haupia filling so I'd like to use whipped cream instead of buttercream, but would like to do some stencil design, If I freeze the coated cake first, will I be able to stencil a second batch without problems?
Elizabeth Marek says
You can definitely stencil on top of whipped cream if it's frozen first
Azusena Marcial says
Hi Liz!! Once done can I mix in fruit? Like can peaches? Or would you do layer ok cream and layer of peaches...I guess my question is would the canned peaches (drained) would it cause it to go runny?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can add fruit, definitely drain off the liquids
Sowjanya says
Hi Liz! I want to go with vanilla pudding mix recipe instead of gelatin. So my question is after piping the whipped cream on cake, can I store the cake in the fridge? If yes, how many hours before I should keep the cake outside before cutting the cake? Thank you!
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! This recipe should be used immediately after making it, it will set up once you pipe it. So it can't be stored for later use.
Donna says
I find myself here more and more. I love your recipes and videos! I've never had one fail me yet. If I want to add lemon juice and zest, when should I do it?
Thank you!
Elizabeth Marek says
I wouldn't add any juice because it doesn't have much flavor and will just water down the whipped cream but you can add lemon extract and zest instead of vanilla
Donna says
Thank you 😊
Kimberly Marsh says
Hi this recipe seems great.Is it sturdy enough to use between layers?
Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you! Yes, I've used it to fill cakes before. It's not as stable as buttercream, though so I wouldn't recommend it for stacking multiple-tiered cakes.
Mtngrl84 says
This recipe is fantastic! Very easy to follow clear directions and for the first time I was able to make stabilized whip cream to pipe on top of a cheesecake. Turned out perfectly. Thank you for taking the time to perfect this recipe
Amrita says
Hi Liz! Tried this recipe today and it turned out so well. Thank you so much for such fabulous recipes and tutorials. They’re so helpful for novices like me.
Vicki says
Hi! This recipe is perfect! I used the vanilla instant pudding since I didn’t have gelatin. But everyone loved it! I’m going to try the gelatin this time and see how it goes. Thanks so much for all your recipes and videos! It makes it so much better for me not to be scared to make a cake for someone!
Johanna says
Hi Liz! Can this do well with cream cheese +your stabilized whipped cream frosting?
Sugar Geek Show says
Try my crusting cream cheese recipe! https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/cream-cheese-frosting/
lk says
hi liz,
so you said in the video that after mixing the gelatin the whipped cream is not pipable and can be in the refrigerator ... then that whipped cream is used for which purpose ??? can i still use it to decorate the cakes ??
Elizabeth Marek says
What I mean is after the whipped cream has been sitting overnight, it's not pipeable anymore. So you need to use the whipped cream right after you make it.
Beck says
Not sure if my question went through.
Does combining stabilized whip cream with pastry cream make something similar to Bavarian cream? Having never had Bavarian cream it is difficult to know what the texture and firmness it should be. I have an order for Bavarian cream filling in a 3 tier cake. Thank you!
Elizabeth Marek says
yes that is what bavarian cream is. 1 cup of whipped cream (already whipped) folded into pastry cream. Bavarian cream should be given at least 24 hours to set in the fridge once its in the cake to give the gelatin a chance to stabilize
Filipa says
Would this be good for a strawberry shortcake cake ?
Sugar Geek Show says
absolutely! I have a strawberry shortcake cake recipe coming out soon too 😀
Comfort says
Please after piping in room temperature, how long can it stay without melting.
Sugar Geek Show says
If it's hot outside and left in direct sunlight, it will melt in about 30 minutes. It can stay out at room temperature for a maximum of 2 hours as long as your room isn't too hot, then it needs to be refrigerated.
Katrina says
This recipe worked perfectly for piping on top of my cake jars! I used to have the issue that the whipped cream tops would get all mushy and lose shape, but now the piped rosettes still look pretty even after a few days of refrigeration! Thank you Liz for yet another great tip 🙂