It's Not About the Sugar

At least it shouldn't be about the sugar.

Unfortunately, whipped cream is usually prepared with too much sugar. It makes it taste like something scooped right out of a Kool-Whip container.

Having just returned from Vienna, I am of the opinion that the Europeans do a better job of making whipped cream.

In Vienna, nearly every dessert (and even several times of coffees) come "mit schlag." And the whipped cream I was served was excellent -- very little sugar was added. The chantilly that is served in France is also much less sweet that the whipped cream that is typically made in the U.S.

So how much is the right amount of sugar to prepare whipped cream? There is no consensus. The amount varied widely when I perused recipes for whipped cream.

This recipe calls for 1/4 cup of sugar for every cup of cream. That's twice as sweet as this recipe from Cooking.com, which calls for the same amount of sugar for every 2 cups of cream. This recipe from FoodReference.com is even less sweet, calling for only 1 to 2 tabelspoons of sugar for every cup of cream. I am guessing that this is probably closest to the recipe that created the whipped cream that I ate in Vienna.

The FoodReference.com recipe also had a few notes that were news to me. For example, they say that adding the sugar after the cream is partially whipped will help add volume to your whipped cream.

Whatever you do, the next time you make whipped cream at home, try letting the cream play "center stage" by reducing the amount of sugar. You will probably be pleased with the results.