Ok, so whipped cream is like the easiest thing ever to make. Seriously. I always knew it was “easy” in that all you really needed to do was beat heavy cream. However, beating by hand is exhausting and with a mixer it can sometimes be time consuming. The hero though, that makes this all kuh-ray-zee easy, is an immersion blender. It’s literally changed my dessert eating life. So much so that I’ve been experimenting with different flavors of whipped cream. Today we’ll just get into regular and chocolate – and both are killer. Historically, I’ve neglected my immersion blender. Friends have told me they love theirs, but I never knew what to do with it. I have a blender for smoothies, I am perfectly capable of chopping up my own guacamole ingredients, and as for soups I prefer a chunky stew. What’s the point of an immersion blender?! But now I know.
Here’s what happened, my friend Charlotte was over so we could nerd out and make a spiralized dinner and dessert. (Yeah, I’m super cool and my food stories are awesome). Because our spiralizer was new we were spiralizing everything including some apples and pears. We sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar and baked them. It came out ok… I thought it would be better with cream, and while we had heavy cream in the fridge I was too impatient to make it with the mixer. And then Ryan, who had just walked in said, “what about the immersion blender?” Stunned silence. 
Why not? We tried it and friends, I kid you not, I made whipped cream in under a minute. ONE MINUTE! Ok, I admit this is not hte most fascinating story, but I was beyond excited. So easy, so neat, so fast!
The immersion blender stole the show and since then I’ve been making so much whipped cream. All you have to do is throw everything into a tall cup or bowl, whiz the immersion blender around until thick, and boom, it’s done. I’ve made plain and chocolate. But I also experimented with peanut butter whipped cream – which came out a bit thick but super delicious and amazing on moose tracks ice cream. I also made strawberry whipped cream – which was a bit runny but awesome with chocolate chip or Oreo cookies. And we’ve been brainstorming other flavors too like nutella, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice. Yummmmm!
But chocolate has been my favorite experiment so far. It’s comes out with a rich chocolate flavor but it’s the texture is still light and creamy. Basically, it’s like a chocolate mousse. And what is more better and decadent than that?!
I love chocolate mousse. It reminds me of a family vacation we took to Toronto when I was in 5th grade. One night my parents let me, my brother Eric, and my friend Sarah eat as much dessert as we wanted from the kids buffet. I remember us eating cup after cup of chocolate mousse, with a few cups of red Jell-o eaten in between. Since then, chocolate mousse has always been a symbol of delicious indulgence. And now I can practically have that at home, whenever I want, with super simple recipe for chocolate whipped cream.
And obviously if I eat all the whipped cream with fruit the calories don’t count right? Because I mean, I’m eating all those strawberries then what I’m eating is good for me. That’s how food works. I’m sure of it.
Messy level: Powdered sugar is one of my kitchen nemeses. I open the bag and as soon as I stick a spoon or cup in, a cloud of white powder flies everywhere and coats everything. If you’re super gentle, you should be able to get away without making any mess. I for one haven’t mastered that yet. Otherwise, a neat recipe.
- 1 cup cold heavy cream, divided
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (more or less depending on desired sweetness)
- 2-3 tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder (more or less depending on desired richness)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- First we're making plain whipped cream. Add ½ cup heavy cream and all of the powdered sugar to a tall sturdy plastic cup or to a bowl. Add the vanilla extract if using.
- Insert the immersion blender and turn on. Move the immersion blender around and blend until the mixture holds stiff peaks (basically when it's thick and looks like whipped cream). This should be done in 1 minute or less. Note: this step can be done with a stand or hand mixer, it will just take longer.
- Transfer your completed plain whipped cream to a serving bowl.
- Clean the immersion blender.
- Add the second ½ cup of heavy cream and the cocoa powder to a tall plastic cup or to a bowl. Note: If using unsweetened cocoa powder you might want to add a bit of powdered sugar for sweetness.
- Insert the immersion blender and turn on. Move the immersion blender around and blend until the mixture holds stiff peaks (basically when it's thick and looks like whipped cream).
- Transfer the completed chocolate whipped cream to a serving bowl.
- Serve with ice cream, fruit, or eat it straight from a spoon.
