Shortcut Stabilized Whipped Cream
Learn how to create Shortcut Stabilized Whipped Cream with four simple ingredients. This easy recipe creates a stable vanilla whipped cream that holds its shape for frosting and piping–and it tastes delicious!
Also try my recipes for Chocolate Stabilized Whipped Cream, Brown Sugar Whipped Cream, and Strawberry Whipped Cream.
If you’ve ever tried to use whipped cream as frosting, then you know that it’s not quite up to the challenge. It is delicate and loses its shape easily. While classic whipped cream is truly perfect as-is, sometimes you need something with more stability. Enter, this recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Accessible ingredients: Instant pudding mix provides the stabilizing action here. It’s easy to find at a regular grocery store.
- Great flavor: While you can taste the pudding a bit, it mostly just tastes like a classic vanilla ice cream.
- Easy to make. The recipe is quick and easy. No fuss!
What Are Different Ways You Can Stabilize Whipped Cream?
There are several ways to stabilize whipped cream for piping and longevity. Let’s review:
- Gelatin sheets. This one doesn’t work for me because it’s a hassle and I never have gelatin sheets on hand.
- Creme Fraiche. I haven’t tried it, but Creme Fraiche can be a challenge to get ahold of, so this one isn’t my favorite.
- Cream cheese. I’ve tried adding cream cheese to whipped cream for stabilization and there are a few downsides. You get some cream cheese flavor (which some people really don’t like) and it’s a bit of a production to soften the cream cheese and get it smooth enough to incorporate into whipped cream.
- Powdered sugar. Powdered sugar (since it contains cornstarch) provides some stabilization too. It does help the whipped cream stay whipped (which is great for situations when you want to prepare it a few hours in advance), however, it’s still very light and delicate stuff.
The recipe I provide at the end of the post is great for situations when you want to make the whipped cream in advance and for situations when you want a dense, stable cream that holds its shape (more like a buttercream).
How to Stabilize Whipped Cream with Pudding Mix
My favorite way to stabilize whipped cream is with pudding mix. It’s simple, quick, and requires only easy-to-find ingredients.
A potential downside is the hint of pudding flavor. I personally love the hint of vanilla–almost like ice cream. If you don’t like pudding though, you might want to reduce the amount used, or skip this recipe.
However, the biggest plus is that the finished product really is stable. It can be used as a filling (doughnuts, cream puffs, the like) or to pipe onto or top cakes or desserts.
Another item to note is that because the pudding mix helps the heavy whipping cream whip up so quickly, there is less time to aerate the mixture. This means the whipped cream is more dense than a typical batch of whipped cream. The recipe yield is also less than a standard recipe for whipped cream.
How to Use Stabilized Whipped Cream
You can think of this recipe as a type of sturdy vanilla mousse. It’s quite a bit more stable than a typical whipped cream. It will scoop, pipe, and fill baked goods no problem. Try it on my Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies, or here’s some other ideas for how to use it:
- A very rich stand-alone dessert (garnish with cookies, homemade fudge sauce, or a fruit sauce)
- Fruit dip
- Filling for doughnuts, cream puffs, and the like (keep in mind that these items are still best when filled close to serving time)
- Piped onto cakes, cupcakes, or desserts
- A topping for fancy cookies
- A frozen whipped topping/Cool Whip substitute
How to Make it Ahead
This version of whipped cream keeps well in the fridge for 5-7 days. Note: For the best flavor, I usually prefer to use whipped cream in the first day or two to avoid it taking on any weird tastes from the fridge.
Can you freeze this stabilized cream? Absolutely. It freezes well and tastes great. You can follow the steps on how to freeze whipped cream.
Ingredients in Shortcut Stabilized Whipped Cream
This is a simple shortcut recipe which uses an instant pudding mix to create a vanilla-flavored stabilized whipped cream for a fraction of the time (and effort).
Heavy Whipping Cream – Use a high-quality heavy whipping cream. Skip products labeled “whipping cream” which are too low in fat to whip well. Be sure the cream is cold and straight from the fridge.
Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix – You can also opt for a white chocolate flavored instant pudding. Just be sure to choose an “instant” mix. You only need about 1 ounce of mix for this recipe.
Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioners’ sugar, powdered sugar adds a little extra sweetness here.
Vanilla Extract – Use your favorite.
How to Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
Here’s a summary of how this recipe is made. Find the complete ingredients list and full instructions within the printable recipe card below!
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl. Whisk by hand for 1-2 minutes to dissolve the pudding mix.
- When mixture is smooth, switch to a hand mixer (using the whisk attachment) and whip until you’ve achieved desired texture.
Note that the mixture will continue to firm up as it sets (just like when you make a pudding mix following the instructions on the box). Be careful not to overwhip as it will go fast!
How Much Whipped Cream Do I Need to Frost a Cake or Cupcakes?
Because the pudding mix speeds up the whipping process, there is less air added, thus, less volume. That means the yield of this recipe is less than a typical whipped cream recipe.
This recipe makes about 1.5 cups of whipped cream.
Frosting a cake? If you want to frost a 13″x9″ cake, you should double the recipe.
What about cupcakes? You probably want about 2-2.5 cups of frosting to comfortably frost a dozen (12) cupcakes. So again, I would suggest simply doubling this recipe. You can use the “2x” button in the recipe card to do so quickly.
FAQS for Whipped Cream
Homemade whipped cream is SO good, it’s worth the few minutes it takes to make. But, if you run into trouble, check these frequently asked questions to get some help.
First off, make sure you’ve purchased heavy whipping cream, not “whipping cream”. Whipping cream is actually lower in fat and it won’t whip well (if at all). The brand you chose might also be affecting the final results. I’ll note that I’ve had repeated bad results with Target’s Good & Gather brand.
If you accidentally prepared too much whipped cream, you may wish to save some for later. Luckily you can totally freeze whipped cream! Check out this easy tutorial on How to Freeze Whipped Cream.
Generally you can pipe whipped cream (if whipped to medium or stiff peaks), but it does start to deflate quickly. This recipe for stabilized whipped cream will hold its shape really well. It should still be refrigerated until it’s time to serve, but it pipes well and will hold its shape.
Related Recipes
If you love whipped cream recipes, you should also try my Brown Sugar Whipped Cream Recipe, Strawberry Whipped Cream, and Stabilized Chocolate Whipped Cream.
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Shortcut Stabilized Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix (about 1 ounce)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together all ingredients gently for 1-2 minutes until the pudding mix is dissolved. If it does not dissolve easily, let it rest for about 5 minutes and then stir gently again.
- Use a hand mixer on low speed with the whisk attachment to whip the mixture until it is thickened to desired texture (see notes).It will go fast so be careful not to overmix.
Love this recipe!
Thank you Laura! =)