How to make a small amount of whipped cream?

August 18, 2020 8:12 PM

Just enough for a couple of cups of hot chocolate, or two strawberry shortcakes.

I have a 6-quart KitchenAid mixer and can whip up a large batch of whipped cream in no time. But every time I try to make a small amount, say 1/4 to 1/2 cup of heavy cream, I never seem to find the right combination of bowl and tool.

Tonight I used the whip attachment on my hand mixer and a deep-sided bowl, and I still had cream droplets all over the kitchen. I tried draping a dish towel over the bowl, but then I couldn't see how the cream was coming along, and I was worried that the towel would get caught in the beater.

I also tried my immersion blender in a Bonne Mamman jar, the way I make mayonnaise, but that too splattered all over the place and never quite came together.

What is the magic formula of tool to bowl for just a small amount of whipped cream? Less than a cup is just too little for the 6-quart mixer, and I have no intention of whipping by hand with a whisk.

posted by Joleta to Food & Drink (31 answers total)

I put the cream in a cold glass jar with lots of extra room - say, 1/6 full - lid it tightly, and shake to whip. Fun at picnics.
posted by clew at 8:17 PM on August 18, 2020

I use a narrow whisk in a jar or high-sided bowl for small amounts of whipping, and usually the bowl is tilted over so I can whisk around the bottom with one half in the cream and the other half in air (since the air is important)
posted by janell at 8:31 PM on August 18, 2020

Sorry. You don’t want to hand whisk. Reading is not me.
posted by janell at 8:32 PM on August 18, 2020

I use a hand mixer for things that have too little volume for my stand mixer.
posted by blacktshirtandjeans at 8:33 PM on August 18, 2020

Having been in this situation recently, I can say that a small handheld frother of the sort that uses a AA battery does a fine job in a small glass without too much mess.
posted by mochi_cat at 8:35 PM on August 18, 2020

Do you have a smaller bowl for the Kitchenaid? That's what I use (different brand mixer that has a big and a small bowl included). Also recommend stopping the mixer a couple times to stir gently with a spatula and scrape down the sides.
posted by Red Desk at 8:52 PM on August 18, 2020

Does your immersion blender have different attachments and bowls/cups? Mine came with a whisk like attachment and also a tall-ish skinny-ish measuring cup type bowl. I’ve used that successfully.

I can’t find the exact model I have but the cup is like the second picture here
posted by sillysally at 8:54 PM on August 18, 2020

Here’s a full setup with the whisk attachment and tall cup
posted by sillysally at 8:57 PM on August 18, 2020

I do the same as Clew. Put however much whipping cream and sugar in a jar with plenty of room and shake it up, pass it around the group to shake some more.
posted by gloturtle at 9:00 PM on August 18, 2020

Somewhere I have a wire sphere that came inside a big wire hand whisk, I bet it would speed up the jar whipping.
posted by clew at 9:43 PM on August 18, 2020

Perhaps a blender bottle (made for protein shakes, with the little wire whisk ball inside) would work for you? According to the internet at least, it could work.
posted by MadamM at 9:48 PM on August 18, 2020

I would use the whisk attachment on a hand mixer in a mason jar. Alternately, my immersion blender comes with a tall cup that would be better than the jam jar. I think you just need something taller.
posted by vunder at 9:51 PM on August 18, 2020

I normally use a 2-cup pyrex glass measuring cup. I can successfully whip ~1/4 cup of cream in this measuring cup with one whisk beater on my hand mixer without too much splatter. My family also used to use something like this growing up. I know you don't want to whip by hand, but I found it a lot easier when I learned you're supposed to whip back and forth in straight motion and not in a circular motion.
posted by emsuro at 9:51 PM on August 18, 2020

I’ve been using a milk foamer (the held-in-one-hand kind for make-at-home cappuccinos).
posted by Namlit at 10:14 PM on August 18, 2020

I have a small food processor I make mine in, and as long as you're making enough that the heavy cream touches the top blade, you'll be alright.
posted by tapir-whorf at 11:13 PM on August 18, 2020

Watch out when shaking cream in a jar; it's easy to overdo it and make butter. If you see any separation, stop immediately or be prepared to enjoy delicious fresh butter.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:13 AM on August 19, 2020

If you have room in your freezer, you can whip a big batch and either freeze the leftovers in a jar ( all that fat doesn't freeze hard), or make blobs on wax paper and store the paper in a closed box in the freezer. The blobs can be sized just right for a cocoa cup or a shortcake.
posted by Cranberry at 12:40 AM on August 19, 2020

There are stick blenders that come with whisk attachments. I usually pour the cream into something like a jar and use my stick blender with the whisk. Bonus - it only takes seconds.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:15 AM on August 19, 2020

My immersion blender is old. No attachments and no cup. I'm going to start by trying vunder's suggestion and use a tall mason jar with the whisk attachment on my hand mixer. If that doesn't do it, I'll buy a milk frother. I'll come back and mark best answers after experimentation. Thanks all.
posted by Joleta at 5:14 AM on August 19, 2020

You want a small whisk with a little spring shape at the end. Usually it's called a "coil whisk" or something similar. Should look like this.

You can quickly whisk up small amounts of "stuff" in a cup or mug with this. You plunge it up and down in the cup, it doesn't take a lot of effort, and the stuff you're whisking will foam up surprisingly quickly.

I use mine to beat a single egg white, for example--something I couldn't really do with an electric mixer, and something that would seem like a lot of work with a traditional balloon whisk.
posted by gimonca at 5:18 AM on August 19, 2020

We use a cream whipper/siphon like this, but they have cheaper options. So simple, takes minutes and you can keep the cream in the fridge for over a week as the compressed gas prevents it going off. Bonus: you can use it for making sparkling water, or even carbonating cocktails, making nitro coffee...
posted by sizeable beetle at 5:22 AM on August 19, 2020

Immersion blender in a tall narrow cup, like a pint glass for beer.
posted by Daily Alice at 6:42 AM on August 19, 2020

Wipe the sink down. Put whatever bowl/jar/etc. you're going to use in the sink and mix it there. It won't eliminate all of the flying cream, but it's easier to wipe down the sink afterwards than wipe down the walls or ceiling.

I can understand not wanting to get a towel caught up in a blending mechanism, but if you use a small enough vessel, you should be able to get most of your hand over the top of it. With my hand mixer, that usually means placing the attachments in the V between my thumb and fingers and having my hand cover most of the bowl. I still get some spray or splashing that comes up on the thumb side of my hand, but it's mostly eliminated, especially if I start the hand mixer on the lowest speed and keep it there until the mixture starts to thicken up. Then you can up the speed.
posted by sardonyx at 7:09 AM on August 19, 2020

Immersion blender, big gulp or similar plastic cup, cream level covers head of blender fully. Keep blender.. Immersed.. All the way :)
posted by elgee at 10:36 AM on August 19, 2020

I'm a member of team "shake it in a jar" and I just want to add that it doesn't take much effort to shake up the small quantity we're talking about here. It's really, really simple and you can even control the thickness of the cream with a little practice. Thinner for beverages, thicker for desserts.
posted by McNulty at 11:43 AM on August 19, 2020

No, no, no. I have exactly the right thing for this, my sister-in-law gave it to me as a present, it is perfect and I use it all of the time. This thing. Screw Jeff Bezos sideways and find somewhere better to buy it, but that is the thing you want. It is shockingly fast. It cleans up easily. The bottom silicone foot pops off and becomes a lid. It will do about 2/3 of a cup max. It is perfect in every way. But it now.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 12:16 PM on August 19, 2020

Apparently, the link I posted was to an inferior knock-off of the one I have: This one from pampered chef
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 12:18 PM on August 19, 2020

I've ordered the device that Lazlo Hollyfeld recommended, and a milk frother as well. I'll test them both out and come back to mark best answers.
posted by Joleta at 5:32 PM on August 19, 2020

narrow wisk and tall sided bowl for me...a little heavy cream, sugar and vanila. Tilt bowl at a 45 degree angle and wisk like hell.
posted by mmascolino at 6:31 PM on August 19, 2020

Whip it for a week ahead and keep it in fridge.
posted by georgehanson at 1:22 AM on September 8, 2020

The milk frother worked okay but took quite a while. But the Pampered Chef Whipped Cream Maker that Lazlo Hollyfeld linked to is exactly what I was looking for. I can make as little as 1/4 cup of whipped cream in it, or a full cup and store the leftovers in the fridge by removing the non-skid base and using it as a lid.

Who am I kidding. When do we ever have leftover whipped cream?
posted by Joleta at 7:31 PM on September 9, 2020