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Whipped Cream (One pint cream whipped stiff)
One pint cream whipped stiff, sugar and vanilla to taste.- Have the cream very cold, this is delicious.
A one-line formula that still works, provided the cream is the right kind and everything is cold. The main translation problem is that "cream" in a period cookbook is not the same product as the carton in a modern dairy case.
- Which creamUse heavy or whipping cream: at least about 30 percent butterfat, and 36 percent or more for the most reliable result. Ultra-pasteurized cream tends to whip more slowly and hold less air; standard pasteurized cream, if you can find it, generally gives a better result. Half-and-half will not whip, and light cream whips poorly if at all.
- "Very cold" is the hingeFat globules must be firm to trap air. Chill the cream to refrigerator temperature or slightly below, and chill the bowl and beater as well. Warm cream turns grainy and then to butter without ever holding a peak.
- Sugar to tasteRoughly 2 to 4 tablespoons of sugar per pint suits most palates. Confectioners' sugar dissolves faster and its cornstarch gives a little extra stability; granulated works if added early enough to dissolve.
- Vanilla to tasteAbout a teaspoon of extract per pint. In this period vanilla often meant a homemade bean extract or a commercial essence of variable strength, so taste rather than measuring blind.
- When to stopStiff here means peaks that stand without slumping. Beating much past that point breaks the foam into butter and buttermilk, so watch it closely. Finish the last few strokes by hand with a whisk if you are using a machine.
- Yield and holdingOne pint of cream roughly doubles to about a quart whipped, enough for eight to ten dessert servings. It will weep within a few hours; whip it close to serving, or fold in a teaspoon of gelatin softened in cold water if it must stand.
Before mechanical beaters were common in home kitchens, whipped cream was made with a whisk, a bundle of twigs or a syllabub churn, and older books sometimes instruct the cook to skim the froth off the top of the bowl in batches as it rises. Against that background, the brevity of this entry is striking: by the time it was written, whipping cream had evidently become a routine enough operation to need no explaining beyond keeping it cold. Whipped cream of this kind figures less as a dish than as a component, to be spooned over fruit, pie, gelatin moulds and puddings.