Oh yes, you read that right! It is definitely possible to make whipped cream from low fat cream. And this dainty darling, in its few avatars is soooo fluffy and silky, and it melts instantly in your mouth!
Getting good quality whipping cream or heavy cream here can be difficult. Yes, there are whipping cream powders but nothing beats whipped cream made from fresh cream. Enter Amul Fresh Cream, India’s darling. I know, I know, it has only 25% fat. The secret is to use the fattier butterfat present in the cream. You see, whipping cream turns out just the way you want when the cream you’re using contains more than 30% butterfat. More than 30%, and you’ll be able to whip it into shape faster, and it’ll hold it’s form for longer.
So how does this miracle unfold? It unfolds under extremely cold conditions. All your equipment will have to be cold. You even have to hold your whipping vessel over a cold water bath. And you’ll have to use icing sugar only half way through and not before. Whether you live in a hot country or cold country, ensure that your vessels, cream and equipment are really really cold.
That is all! Let the hand mixer do all the hard work — you could use a whisk but your arm is sure going to threaten to fall off with all the mixing. This is going to take a while so be prepared! Take care though, as too much beating can cause the cream to curdle and separate and eventually turn into butter. You don’t want that. You’ll have to stop whisking once you get stiff peaks.
The effort is worth its weight in gold. Follow these instructions to make whipped cream from low fat cream, and you will land the most luxurious whipped cream! Know though, that this option is only the closest you’ll get to the real deal. After all you’re only making do with the low-fat cream you have.
Well, you may think it is the end of this blog post, but there are a few more ways to make whipped cream from low fat cream. Oh yes. And you don’t have to keep it in the fridge for 8 hours. When you did that, you made use of all the milk fat, and when you don’t have enough milk fat in your cream for whipped cream, you must add an emulsifier. So if you have gelatin or agar agar, or soy lecithin. or xanthan gum in your house, you can use them to make whipped cream from low fat cream.
For further reading about each of these ingredients, please refer the links below. They’ll explain all the science behind using the emulsifiers.
This dainty darling is so fluffy and silky, it melts instantly in your mouth! Read on to learn the ways in which you can make the most luxurious whipped cream made from low fat cream.
- 1 litre low-fat fresh cream I used 25%, anything between 20% and 30% is fine to use here
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted adjust the sugar according to the amount of cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1 and 1/4 cups low-fat cream perfect for half and half cream: 10.5-18% or light/table cream: 18-30% or medium cream: 25%
- 1 teaspoon gelatin (unflavoured) or agar agar
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1 cup low-fat cream for half and half cream: 10.5-18% or light/table cream: 18-30% or medium cream: 25%
- 1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1 cup low-fat cream for half and half cream: 10.5-18% or light/table cream: 18-30% or medium cream: 25%
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
-
Leave the cream carton in the fridge for 6-8 hours, ideally overnight.
-
Take out the carton and cut out the top layer. Inside, you’ll notice that all of the denser cream is floating on top and sticking to the sides of the carton.
-
Scoop out this dense layer (there will be a more liquid layer below this) from the top. The side too will have the fattier cream sticking to it, and you’ll have to scoop this out as well. Ensure you don’t include the liquidy cream! Separate the two — put them in two different containers (see "Equipment" in "Notes" below). I was able to get 1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream from the carton.
-
Next, you’ll want to keep the heavy cream in the freezer for 20 minutes. Also to keep in your freezer — a medium bowl (that you’ll use for whipping the cream — ensure that it will be big enough to hold the whipped cream once it is done), a bigger bowl (that’ll contain the ice cold water bath), and the beaters from your electric beater.
-
Take everything out of the freezer. In the big bowl add 20-25 ice cubes and a cup of chilled water.
-
Keep your medium bowl over this ice water bath, and add the heavy cream.
-
Start beating on low speed till you get bubbles.
-
Increase the speed to medium and beat until you can see that the cream is now beginning to thicken.
-
Increase the speed to high and beat until you get soft peaks. You’ll know when you lift your beater and the peaks soften and form a curve that you have soft peaks forming.
-
Add the sugar in slowly while you continue to beat at high speed. This is a good time to add the vanilla extract or any other flavour of your choice. Make sure that they are cold too! You can use this whipped cream with soft peaks to fold into another mixture, like cake batter.
-
Continue to beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks. You’ll know it is stiff when the cream sticks to the beater and holds its form. Then, STOP beating. You must stop beating the cream further as you’ll over whip the cream and curdle it. There you go. Congratulations, you just made whipped cream from low fat cream!
-
Chill the big bowl in the freezer, along with the just the beaters. Place the cream in the medium bowl and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Meanwhile take two tablespoons from the cream container and add the teaspoon of gelatin (or agar agar) to it, and let that rest for 10 minutes.
-
Then place the now spongy gelatin mixture in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, till it is a liquid. You can also melt it over a bain marie.
-
Set the hot liquid aside to cool down. After about 10 minutes, add two tablespoons of chilled cream from the medium bowl, to bring the temperature down further.
-
Fill the big bowl with the ice cubes and chilled water, then place the medium bowl with the cream in it atop it.
-
Start beating the chilled cream on low speed and slowly increase the speed till you can see the cream thicken slightly.
-
Stop and add the sugar and the vanilla and beat on low speed for a few minutes.
-
Now as you continue to beat the cream, slowly pour the gelatin liquid in.
-
Continue to beat the cream until it forms medium-stiff peaks. Done!
-
Chill the big bowl in the freezer, along with the just the beaters. Place the cream in the medium bowl and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Fill the big bowl with the ice cubes and chilled water, then place the medium bowl with the cream in it atop it.
-
Start beating the chilled cream on low speed and slowly increase the speed till you can see the cream thicken slightly.
-
Stop and add the sugar and the vanilla and beat on low speed for a few minutes.
-
Now as you continue to beat the cream, slowly add in the soy lecithin.
-
Continue to beat the cream until it forms medium-stiff peaks — just a few minutes will do.
-
Chill the big bowl in the freezer, along with the just the beaters. Place the cream in the medium bowl and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-
Fill the big bowl with the ice cubes and chilled water, then place the medium bowl with the cream in it atop it.
-
Start beating the chilled cream on low speed and slowly increase the speed till you can see the cream thicken slightly.
-
Stop and add the sugar and the vanilla and beat on low speed for a few minutes.
-
Now as you continue to beat the cream, slowly add in the xanthan.
-
Continue to beat the cream until it forms medium-stiff peaks. Done!
Equipment
A big bowl for the chilled water and a medium bowl for the cream (both preferably of steel), hand-held electric beater or stand mixer (you won’t need the big bowl for the stand mixer). Chill the bowls and the hands of the beater / whisk attachment in the fridge/freezer for 30 minutes before you start whipping the cream.
25-30 ice cubes and 1 cup chilled water to place in the big bowl.
A small microwave safe bowl to mix the gelatin or agar agar.
Storage
With just the fat from the the low fat cream
This whipped cream is best served as is within 2 hours. If you have to serve it later, store it in the fridge in an airtight container. If you’re saving it for later than 8 hours, store it in the freezer; let it sit out for 10-15 minutes before you serve it. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 days. Leftover whipped cream can be used to make your coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soup, cookie — just about anything, awesome! Drop a heaped spoon over them, and freeze the rest. If you want it to last longer, line a cookie tray with cling film and drop serving sized amounts on it, and then place in the freezer without covering it. When they’re all frozen, pick them up and store them in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. This way, the whipped cream can be used as needed and will stay good for a week.
With gelatin or agar agar
This whipped cream is best served as is within 2 hours. If you have to serve it later, store it in the fridge in an airtight container. It stays up to two days in the fridge. Do not freeze it, though.
With soy lecithin
This whipped cream is best served as is within 30 minutes to an hour.
With xanthan gum
This whipped cream is best served as is within 2 hours. If you have to serve it later, store it in the fridge in an airtight container. It stays up to two days in the fridge — keeping it longer will only make the cream go sour. Do not freeze it, though.
Related Links
Whipping Cream (recipetips.com)
How To Make Whipped Cream (The Kitchn)
Amul Fresh Cream (amul.com)
Cream Science: On Whipping, Butter, and Beyond (Serious Eats)
Cream (Wikipedia)
Gelatin (Amazing Food Made Easy)
Soy Lecithin (Amazing Food Made Easy)
If you’re only using the heaviest cream, then you’re taking the fat. It’s nit going to be low fat. Isn’t it lower fat cream because there is less of the heavy fat proportionally to the liquid than full fat cream? The calories on the container are for the cream shaken and with the fat incorporated throughout, right?
Hi N,
Whipping cream can be made from cream that has more than 30% fat, preferably 34-36% fat. So yes, the whipping cream mention above consists of heavy cream, and we’re sifting this from the low-fat cream since in this case, as we’re only trying to make do with low-fat cream when we do not have access to heavy cream. Obviously, one will not get the exact results as with proper heavy cream / whipping cream. When the carton/bottle (in the case of the above recipe, Amul Fresh Cream) left to stand for 8 hours in the fridge, the milk fat (fat globules) rises to the top because it is less dense than the rest of the water, sugars, minerals and protein in the carton. If you shake the carton, the fat is distributed evenly — something you must do when you want to use the carton of low-fat cream for its intended use. The milk fat globules form dense crowds so you get a seamless taste — like in its liquid form in the carton. Here, we’re keeping everything cold to keep the fat in solid phase, as fat likes to melt. On its own, low-fat cream does not have enough milk fat to aerate and stabilise, if you still want to, you will need an emulsifier like gelatin or lecithin. After I test my recipes using gelatin, lecithin and any other emulsifier, I’ll put it up here.