Whipped Cream

To be honest, I really haven't done much worthy of writing about lately, so in the interest of posting for the sake of posting, I thought I'd write about whipped cream. Last summer, I had the time and opportunity to frequent the library daily (all right, not always by choice...we were in the process of house buying and due to the incompetencies of Comcast, spent nearly 2 months without internet, therefore sending me to the library daily to communicate with our realtor, lenders, insurance agents, utility providers, etc. More than annoying.) This did give me lots of time to peruse the shelves while waiting for a computer to open up, and I spent most of my time in the food section, reading books like Twinkie: Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger, Real Food by Nina Planck, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and most recently, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In short, after reading those books I decided to eliminate a lot (not all, let's be reasonable...every so often, you are going to have to eat high fructose corn syrup...it is in everything. If you go out to eat at all, there is a good chance every item you order contains some. That is perhaps an over generalization, but I'm just trying to point out that even though I try to be really conscious about it, I am aware that I do eat some) of processed foods from my diet. Starting with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Which is why the Ward household no longer buys "frozen whipped topping" and instead makes our own whipped cream. Which is so easy, I am ashamed to admit that I just started doing this a year ago.

A note: I am only posting these pictures because they are the only ones I have of whipped cream making. They are from earlier this week, and the only reason I have them at all is because I used too small a bowl and splattered the whipping cream all over my shirt (and the kitchen), which Lucas found hilarious, therefore prompting him to fashion for me the "paper towel bib" you see me wearing in the photos. He thought he was quite funny, so he proceeded to take these pictures. Ha.


Whipped Cream
ingredients:
whipping cream
sugar or agave nectar
flavoring (vanilla, almond, liquor, etc)


Unfortunately, I can't offer you measurements or quantities for the ingredients. I just eyeball it to however much we need. I taste as I go until it is sweet enough for us. I like to flavor with almond extract, but vanilla is good too, and when not pregnant, I like amaretto or creme de caramel.



To make:
1. Pour desired amount of whipping cream into an appropriately sized bowl (I have learned that you should always go bigger than you think you need...).
2. Begin whipping with an electric whisk, or make in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. I suppose you could also whisk it by hand, but be prepared to be whisking awhile.
3. Gradually add sugar or agave nectar and continue whisking until cream starts to thicken. When soft peaks begin to form, add in flavoring and continue whisking until desired consistency. Don't over beat, or you will make butter. Very sweet and tasty butter, but probably not what you want on your dessert...

The almond flavored whipped cream is especially good with fresh berries. Mmmmm. Enjoy!