An easy homemade chocolate whipped cream recipe made with cocoa powder and vanilla. This simple stabilized cocoa cream can be piped onto your bakes and desserts to add the perfect chocolatey touch!
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
- Heavy cream - also called double cream or heavy whipping cream. You're looking for whatever cream you would normally use to make homemade whipped cream.
- Cocoa powder - a good quality dutch processed cocoa powder will add the best flavour to your cream. If yours is lumpy, it is worth giving it a sift before adding, to avoid any hard lumps being left in the cream.
- Powdered sugar - or icing sugar. Like with the cocoa powder, sift the powdered sugar if yours is very lumpy. This will help avoid any hard bits getting left in the cream.
- Vanilla extract - vanilla is actually key to this cream. It might be chocolate flavoured, with the cocoa powder, but vanilla accentuates the cocoa and will really improve the overall cream.
How to Make Chocolate Cream
This quick cocoa whipped cream is just a one bowl recipe that follows the same process as my vanilla whipped cream. You can make it one of three ways: with an electric hand beater; with a stand mixer; by hand with a whisk.
Using a Handheld Electric Beater
This is my preferred way to make this chocolate whipped cream - it gives you enough control, whilst saving your wrist the pain of hand whisking!
Simply place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with the electric hand beater on a high setting until your cream is thickening and the beaters are starting to leave tracks. Then, lower the setting and continue beating, stopping regularly to check until you have stiff peaks.
With a Stand Mixer
You can use an electric stand mixer for this cream. In this case, place all the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Then, using the whisk attachment, beat at a medium high setting until the cream is thickening and the whisk is leaving tracks. Again, reduce the speed and stop to check as you whisk until stiff peaks form.
I find that a stand mixer makes me more likely to over-beat the cream. Be sure to stop and check regularly as your cream thickens.
By Hand
So the proper old school whipped cream method will always be by hand using a whisk. You can make this cream using just a mixing bowl and standard whisk. As with the other methods, all the ingredients go in the bowl and then you whisk (and whisk and whisk and whisk!) until you reach stiff peaks.
Traditionalists will tell you that whipped cream should be hand whipped - and it does really give you complete control. You are less likely to over-beat as you may with the other methods.
Tip: Personally, I don't have the strength or patience to whip by hand. However, finishing off the whipped cream process by hand is a great compromise. If you want to do this - whip your cream until the whisk or beater is leaving tracks then finish by hand.
Troubleshooting this Recipe
The main area where problems may arise in this recipe is with over or under-whipping the cream.
1. Check for stiff peaks
The test for stiff peaks is usually to be able to turn the bowl upside down and the mixture to stay. For a good smooth piping consistency, you'll want the cream ever so slightly under whipped by this standard - you should be able to turn the bowl on its side and the cream may slide a little, but it should be holding together. If you dip a beater in and pull it out, it should hold shape.
2. What to do if you over-beat
If you over-beat, you're mixture will quickly become solid. This would be smooth and pipeable. But, good news! You can fix this actually quite easily - you'll just need a bit of cold milk.
Add the milk a little bit at a time (about a tablespoon) and whisk by hand to smooth the cream. The amount you need will depend on various factors, including the climate in your kitchen and how overbeaten the cream is.
3. Cream becomes stiff while piping
The process of piping cream can cause whipped cream to become stiff. The pressure of forcing the cream through a piping tip almost acts like another stage of whipping and can make it lose its silky smooth consistency. This is especially true of smaller nozzles.
If you find that the cream becomes unpleasantly stiff, you can salvage this the same way as if you'd initially overwhipped it. Simply return the cream to a bowl and add cold milk a small bit at a time. Whisking slowly after each addition until you've gained a smoother consistency.
FAQs
This cream will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator. As a stabilized whipped cream, you can top your desserts in advance, and store in the fridge until needed.
Yes! Though that comes with a caveat. You can freeze this cream as part of a dessert (such as the topping to a cheesecake), but I would not recommend freezing the cream on its own to use later. This is because the freezing and defrosting process will mean you need to rewhip the cream to bring it back to a piping consistency. You may need to work harder to adjust the cream using milk to reach the silky smooth texture you'd like.
Looking for more accompaniments and decorative touches for your desserts? Try:
- Pistachio Brittle
- Stabilized Whipped Cream
- Cream Cheese Frosting with Spreadable Cream Cheese
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Chocolate Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream or double cream
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder dutch processed
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place all ingredients - the cream, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and vanilla extract - in a large mixing bowl. (see note)
- Using a hand held electric whisk, beat just until you reach stiff peaks, usually only a few minutes. (see note)
- Your cream is now ready to dollop or pipe for your dessert.
Leave a Reply