"Whipped cream" from a can is neither whipped nor cream. Whip up the REAL THING yourself either by hand or with an electric mixer, and the fresh taste will keep you from ever going back to the spray-on variety.
Start by chilling a clean stainless steel bowl, a whisk, and the cream in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 or 20 minutes. Let them get nice and cold, but don't freeze the cream. (Cream is easier to whip when cold.)
Pour the cream, when chilled, in the bowl and start whisking. Hold the whisk like a dagger, with the wire part pointing down, and use your wrist and elbow for the motion, not your shoulder. I set my bowl in a large brown paper bag in the sink—the ergonomics is much better—way less strain on the upper arm or shoulder.
The paper bag is so the splatters go on the inside of the bag and not onto the backsplash, under the upper cupboards, or onto appliances. Makes clean-up a breeze. Just toss (or save for next time) the bag.
Stick the whisk in the bowl at an angle and draw it through the cream in quick, sharp motions. Alternate between circular motions and straight ones. Switch hands to lessen fatigue.
It’s a pretty good workout during the 4 or 5 minutes it takes to whip a cup of cream by hand, but it’s sure worth it. (Most of the time, I just use my electric mixer.) At first bubbles will appear on the surface of the cream, then it will start to become foamy, then volume will begin to build.
As volume is building, this s the time to add a dash of real vanilla and some sweetener. I use blue agave and the taste is fantastic. The cream will pass through several degrees of stiffness. Light and foamy is best for topping cakes and desserts as an accompaniment; stiff and firm is best to use as a cake frosting or to make mousse.
NOTE: You can freeze heavy whipping cream, but you can't make whipped cream once it has been frozen. Thawed whipping cream can be used for many purposes though, such as in cake, custard, mousse, sauce, meat and vegetable recipes.
For fluffy whipped cream, your best bet is to use freshly bought heavy cream, otherwise, whip and sweeten the cream prior to freezing and eat in a semi-frozen state. Yum!
