Whipped Cream

This is an old-style whipped syllabub: cream beaten with sugar and wine, then skimmed off the top as the foam rises. The technique is the whole point, and it is not the same as simply whipping cream.

• The hinge: skim, don't beat to stiffnessWine thins cream and keeps it from holding a firm peak, so the method is to whip continuously and lift off the risen froth with a skimmer or slotted spoon, letting the unwhipped liquid keep working. Beating the whole bowl to stiffness will not happen; it will slacken and weep instead.
• A gillFour fluid ounces (half a US cup) by the American measure; an imperial gill is five. Either way it is a substantial proportion of liquid to one pint of cream, which is why the froth must be skimmed rather than piled.
• Fine sugarNine tablespoons is a little over half a cup. "Fine" here means caster or superfine sugar, which dissolves in the cream without grit; granulated will leave the mixture sandy unless it stands to dissolve first.
• The winePeriod syllabub recipes commonly call for a sweet or fortified white: sherry (sack), madeira, or a sweet white wine. A dry wine will read sour against the cream.
• Cream dasherA plunger-style whipping device worked up and down in a deep bowl or jar; the exact form varied. A large balloon whisk in a wide bowl does the same job; a stand mixer on medium is workable, but stop often to skim.
• Modern creamUltra-pasteurized heavy cream whips slowly and holds air badly, which matters more here than usual. Ordinary pasteurized heavy or whipping cream, well chilled along with the bowl, gives a much better froth.
• Kisses and macaroonsKisses are small crisp meringues; macaroons in this period means the almond kind, not the French macaron. Both go on at the last minute or they soften.
• Yield and timingA pint of cream skimmed this way fills a serving dish for several people. It will not hold long; the wine tends to drain out beneath the foam, so assemble close to serving.