Most of us already know how to do Confectionery slush (but if you need a little help, check out this blog post). We also have you covered how to make it in a mason jar AND how to fix it when something goes wrong. But one of the most common questions we get is how to stabilize whipped cream—that is, how to keep it longer without curdling or curdling. To determine the best method, I tested five stabilizers to find the best one.
What are the benefits of stabilizing whipped cream?
The main benefits of stabilizing pumice cream are that it lasts longer and prevents it from deflating and weeping. By its very nature, whipped cream is a pretty unstable thing: it's mostly air held together by a network of fat molecules from the cream. This makes it a mousse, and if you've dabbled with mousses before, you know they don't last long – think of a souffle, for example. It's only a matter of minutes (or seconds!) before it deflates and the puffy, fluffy texture turns into a crumbly, unimpressive mash.
Whipped cream can suffer the same fate: If not stabilized, the network of fat molecules will collapse, losing the whipped air and returning the cream to its liquid state. However, to prevent a structural disaster and avoid an unstable mess, you can stabilize it by adding Instant Clear Gelcornstarch, or another dairy ingredient such as mascarpone or crème fraîche.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
When should you stabilize the whipped cream?
Stabilizing whipped cream gives structural integrity to a stacked dessert. To achieve height in a dessert that is literally built on top of foam, you need that foam to be strong enough for the job. The stabilization of the whipped cream also provides easier transportability and resistance to warm temperatures. Finally, the stabilizing whipped cream allows you to prepare it ahead of time.
In contrast, whipped cream used as a ready-to-eat topping, such as decorating a slice of pie, does not need to be stabilized. As a topping, it doesn't carry the weight of the other dessert ingredients, and since it will be eaten within minutes, time isn't a concern.
When I think of piled sweets, Napoleonic immediately come to mind. Napoleons are fresh stacks puff pastry they sandwich fluffy fillings and cream between them and if you fill them with unstabilized whipped cream, they are more prone to collapse or slide. Another stacked dessert is ours Strawberry Mascarpone Tea Cake, with its thick layer of whipped cream supporting an entire layer of sponge cake. Having a stabilized fill will keep it intact during shipping and help prevent it from collapsing from the heat at your next warm-weather gathering.
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
What is the best way to stabilize whipped cream?
I tested five common ingredients used to stabilize whipped cream to see which would hold up better and longer. In addition to whipped cream with no stabilizer at all, I tested equal-sized versions Instant Clear Gelcornstarch, crème fraîche, mascarpone and plain yogurt.
To test the longevity, I let them all sit in the covered bowl in the fridge for five days. To test stability, I used the above Strawberry Mascarpone Tea Cake to see how the same set of stabilized frostings would perform on a stacked cake that was refrigerated for three days.
The result is single whipped cream
When it came to plain stabilized whipped cream, Instant ClearJel was the clear winner. After five days of refrigeration, Instant ClearJel stabilized whipped cream remained soft, airy and uniform in texture throughout. In second place were crème fraîche and mascarpone. These both retained plenty of aeration, but had become a little sour in places. Because both are pretty thick to begin with, my theory is that they naturally contribute texture and body to the whipped cream.
Yogurt performed best, with results similar to other dairy products, if slightly more deflated. Corn starch came in fifth place with bitter and harsh results. And of course, the whipped cream that wasn't stabilized at all fared worse, losing all of its volume and becoming a completely runny, sad mess.
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
It turns out stacked cake
All the stabilizers worked well in the bulk cake composition. It seems that the cake itself has absorbed any weeping that the whipped cream may have suffered during cooling. So if you need to stabilize whipped cream used in a cake or puff pastry that will keep for three days or less, any of these options will work just fine.
By following the same weight ratio of confectioners' sugar to stabilizer that we generally go for with Instant ClearJel (four parts sugar to one part Instant ClearJel), you can swap in any of these stabilizers with hard, lumpy, and chunky candies. filled with cream. The caveat is that they may introduce textural or flavor additions that Instant ClearJel would not. Cornstarch tends to impart a bit of chalkiness, while crème fraîche and mascarpone each bring a mild milk flavor, and plain yogurt offers a (perhaps unwanted) flavor.
So should you use cornstarch, Instant ClearJel, or something else altogether?
The short answer is: Follow each recipe as written for best results. It will have been tested with your success in mind and has the right portions and ingredients already defined. If you are making whipped cream to serve with your favorite dessert, it is better to prepare it just before serving (in this case it does not need to be stabilized), but if you have to prepare it ahead of time, you will take more the good. results in stabilizing your whipped cream with Instant Clear Gel.
If you are making a whipped cream cake and the recipe calls for a special stabilizer, it is best to use the one recommended. If you must make a substitution, Instant ClearJel is still the best choice, but cornstarch, crème fraîche, mascarpone, and plain yogurt will also work well.
Learn more about Instant ClearJel, how to use it and why bakers swear by it.
Cover photo by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
