We started the week with Flourless Chocolate Cake, and my six-year old said we had to have whipped cream to eat with it. He also was quite certain that the whipped cream had to be vanilla-flavored. Great! It was a very cool opportunity to show him a vanilla pod! Until then, he’d only seen vanilla extract and was excited to know vanilla actually grows on a vine!
It’s so quick and easy to make your own whipped cream, and FYI, what you find in a can is typically neither whipped nor cream. Whip up your own — the vanilla flavor is wonderful, but you can add all sorts of flavors or none at all — and it’s always a fantastic!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
Preparation:
Makes approximately 2 cups
Total prep time: less than 5 minutes
Split the vanilla bean vertically with a sharp paring knife. Then use the back of the knife to scrape the vanilla beans out of the pod. Add the beans and sugar to the cream, and in a medium-sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to whip it. After a minute or so, the cream will become foamy, then volume will begin to build. When it’s ready, after about 3 minutes, it will be thick, but not firm.
Some additional notes:
Make vanilla sugar by adding vanilla pods to granulated sugar as you use them. Over time, the sugar will take on the vanilla flavor. It’s wonderful!
And yes, you can also make this with plain granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract — it will not have as strong a vanilla flavor but will still be delicious!
