A cherry on top is considered the best topping, but honestly, cherries would have no leg to stand on if it wasn’t for whipped cream. Swirled, piped, and layered, whipped cream is the perfect garnish that takes a so-so dessert and transforms it into a decadent, over-the-top indulgence. The thing that gets me is that whipped cream melts before I get to dig in, and nothing looks sadder than a soggy pile of blah-looking cream. Recently I found a trick that’ll keep that topping in tip-top shape, and this trick won’t ruin the flavor of whipped cream either!
There are so many people out there saying that they have the secret ingredient, but when it comes down to it, did they put their ingredient through a stress test? Luckily this video documents the painstaking steps to find out which stabilized whipped cream literally melts under the pressure.
After many rounds of tests, the stabilizing ingredients were ranked based on their stability, ease, and price cost, these latter factors are crucial because even if an ingredient keeps whipped cream from wilting, it’s not easy to add those ingredients into cream. Take for example gelatin, many people swear by things like gelatin, but the reality is that gelatin is fussy to handle, it lumps up super quickly, and these lumps never smooth out.
So what was the whipped cream winner? Instant pudding mix. To make stabilized whipped cream, you whip up 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons of pudding mix, this recipe is so simple, and it can be doubled up with no problems at all.
If you need a super stable whipped cream you can add 2 tablespoons, but the pudding taste will be stronger.
So which flavor of pudding mix should you use? The best option would be classic vanilla or French vanilla pudding mix, though if you have a special dessert, you could mix up the flavors to give the treat a different taste. Now you’re not going to be using all of the instant pudding mixes, but the remaining pudding mix stores well in your dry pantry. Once you open the box, put it in a zip-top sandwich bag and keep it in a cool, dry pantry.