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Fruit Whip
Beat thick cream until it is stiff; gradually add pineapple which has been cut fine and drained. Any fresh fruit crushed or strained canned fruit may be used in cream whip, adding sweetening if necessary, depending upon the acidity of the fruit.
A two-ingredient dessert that depends entirely on how much liquid the fruit carries and how cold the cream is. The instruction to drain is the whole recipe.
- "Thick cream"This means heavy or whipping cream, generally around 30 to 36 percent butterfat or more. Anything labelled light cream, half-and-half or single cream will not hold a peak no matter how long it is beaten.
- Cold everythingChill the cream, the bowl and the beater. Cream near 40F whips in a couple of minutes; cream at room temperature turns grainy and then to butter without ever going properly stiff.
- Drain harder than you thinkCut pineapple shed juice continuously. Press it in a sieve, then blot on paper towel. Residual syrup or juice is what causes a whip to weep into a puddle within the hour.
- Fresh pineapple loosens the creamFresh pineapple -- Raw pineapple contains bromelain, a protein-digesting enzyme; it is best known for preventing gelatin from setting, and it is often said to slacken cream left standing with it. Canned pineapple has been heated and the enzyme destroyed. If using fresh, fold in at the last minute and serve at once.
- SweeteningTwo to three tablespoons of sugar per cup of cream is the usual range. Confectioners' sugar dissolves without grit and its cornstarch gives a little stability; add it when the cream is at soft peak, not at the start.
- Fold, do not beatThe recipe says gradually add, but the fruit should be folded in with a spatula once the cream is stiff. Continuing to beat after the fruit goes in breaks the foam.
- Yield and timingOne cup of cream whips to roughly two cups and serves three to four with fruit added. Best made within an hour or so of serving; it tends to weep and slacken if held overnight.