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    Home » Podcast » Troubleshooting Whipped Cream for Thanksgiving Pies

    Troubleshooting Whipped Cream for Thanksgiving Pies

    Published: Nov 6, 2023 · Modified: Mar 19, 2025 by Eric Samuelson

    Do you want fresh whipped cream for your Thanksgiving pies? But you don't want to make it on Thanksgiving Day? Or maybe you have made it in the past but always seem to overwhip it and make butter instead. I have my friend Erin from the blog State of Dinner on the podcast today to help you problem solve these issues.

    Slice of pumpkin pie topped with cinnamon whipped cream.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    This post includes affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These are products and services I recommend because I use or trust them. Cookies will be used to track the affiliate links you click.

    Jump to:
    • 🎧 Listen
    • 📜 Read
    • ✔️ What is the Right Heavy Cream to Buy?
    • 📏 Different Sizes of Heavy Cream
    • 🕰️ How to Make Whipped Cream Last Longer
    • 🧊 Freezing Leftovers
    • 🛠️ How to Fix Overwhipped Cream?
    • ❔ Can You Re-Whip?
    • ☕ Flavored Whipped Cream
    • 🔗 Links to Erin's Blog

    🎧 Listen

    You can listen to this podcast episode below or listen on any of these podcast players - Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts. If you would prefer to read the text, you will find a transcript below.

    📜 Read

    Here is a transcript of the interview with Erin from State of Dinner.

    Hey, before we get into today's episode with Thanksgiving coming up very soon, you may feel a little stressed by cooking the perfect. Turkey. If you have nightmares about your guests cutting into a still raw bird or that it's so dry that it's a choking hazard Then i recommend you remove that stress and get yourself a quality thermometer It will literally save your Thanksgiving. I suggest the DOT® Simple Alarm Thermometer from ThermoWorks. You attach a probe to the unit and then insert that into your turkey and you will know exactly when that bird is done. If you've never had a turkey cooked to temp before it will blow your mind. Now onto today's episode

    Eric: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Eat Shop Waste Not podcast. I'm here today with a very special guest. I have Erin with me from the State of Dinner. And we are going to be talking today all about whipping cream. We're talking about whipped cream for your holidays here and good ways to actually maximize the use of it. So Erin, welcome to the podcast.

    Erin: Thank you so much, Eric. It is really good to be here.

    Eric: Great to have you here. We would have been following each other on Instagram for a little while here, we got to see each other in person um, at a conference, blogging conference back in Chicago. Um, so it's kind of like talking to an old friend. All right, um, so let's kick things off. I want you to kind of share, who you are. What's, what's your blog about?

    Erin: Awesome. Yeah. I'm Erin Gierhart. I live in Fort Worth, Texas and have a blog. As you mentioned, State of Dinner. What we do at over at State of Dinner is focus on elevated comfort food recipes, including iconic recipes from across the United States. So, um, those. Things that, like, you think about when you think of Indiana, for example, and their Hoosier Sugar Cream pie or their, pork tenderloin sandwiches, um, you know, things like that, that you think of when you think of different states.

    And so, um, that is what we do. Love it over there.

    Eric: That is awesome. That's a really fun thing. So I'm from Michigan. So what's, so what's the Michigan thing that you got?

    Erin: Um, so with Michigan, I'm trying to think, Oh, I have . planned to do, of course, Detroit pizza, Detroit style pizza, but we also have, um, Coney dogs to celebrate Michigan since that is, many people think that Coney dogs are from New York when they think of Coney Island, but it's actually a Michigan recipe.

    Eric: Yes. Yes. We have a lot of all over Michigan. You find, um, Coney Island restaurants. So there's like, you know, like Hank's Coney Island and Antonio's Coney Island and National Coney Island and they're all like diner type places that serve that type of things.

    Erin: That's awesome.

    Eric: Yeah, glad you know your Michigan things.

    Yeah, definitely make some Detroit syle pizza and if you can get, um, brick cheese for it. Cause that's the type of thing you need to get for that.

    Erin: Okay. Good tip.

    Eric: Alright, now let's go. Let's talk about some, whipped cream now here. Um, so yeah, so, you know, this is coming out for the holiday season here.

    And, people often want to have whipped cream, for their desserts and you know, best if you can do the homemade version, of course, especially for Christmas. You want to have the homemade stuff. You don't want to be pulling out a thing of Cool whip, because, you know, yeah.

    Erin: It tastes so much better. Right?

    Eric: And it's not just a bunch of concealed oils and, like, you don't want to look at the ingredients.

    Erin: Yep.

    A 16oz container of Darigold 36% Heavy Whipping Cream in someone's hand.

    ✔️ What is the Right Heavy Cream to Buy?

    Eric: Scary. So, if we're gonna make some whipped cream here, first we got to start off with the cream. So what is the right cream to buy?

    Erin: So when it comes to whipped cream, definitely there is one right thing to look for. There are and it can get a little bit confusing. So there are two types of whipped cream that are the most common types. There's heavy cream and then there's whipping cream. And you might think, Oh, whipping cream is what I need for whipped cream.

    But, um, that's actually not true. So to make it more confusing, though, before I get into why you want to choose heavy cream, it also can be labeled heavy whipping cream.

    But the key thing you want to look for is the term heavy. So anything that is a heavy cream has higher than 36 percent milk fat or 36 percent or above.

    Containers of Winco Whipping Cream in the grocery store.

    And that higher fat percentage gives you that rich, fluffy whipped cream that not only is a great texture, but it also holds its shape better. So whipping cream conversely, um, has around 30 percent milk fat and that doesn't whip up quite right. You can still whip it, but it won't whip up quite as fluffy. And it also turns runny really quickly.

    And to make it even more confusing in Europe, they have, they use double cream for whipped cream. And so if you're listening to this overseas, that is what you want to look for. Double cream is even thicker. It's around 48 percent milk fat and it gives you really luxurious whipped cream. So we can find that occasionally in some places here in the States, but for the most part in the States, you want to look for heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, anything that has 36 percent milk fat or more.

    Land O Lakes Heavy Whipping Cream container at the store.

    📏 Different Sizes of Heavy Cream

    Eric: Yeah, very good tip there. Yeah. We need to have the right thing for that. Most time , pretty much every store will sell it. I mean, it's, it's hard not to like, to not find it, um, at all. And obviously there's, you know, there's different, different sizes. You know,

    Erin: Yeah, you can get, you know, a half pint, which is just one cup. You can get a big old quart of it. So multiple sizes and, um, just really depending on how much you want to make. And you might want to save yourself some time with the tips we're going to talk about in a little bit on how to extend the shelf life of it, and make a bigger batch of it to take you through several different events.

    But if you're just, you know, needing to top one pie, a half pint will do you just fine.

    Eric: And normally too, I think like when you look at the containers, you're going to find, you know, the, oftentimes you'll find ones that are ultra pasteurized.

    Erin: Yes.

    Eric: Those are going to last unopened.

    Erin: Those are going to last a really long time because that pasteurization process does extend the shelf life and make them more shelf stable. The thing to note with the ultra pasteurized is it can be harder to whip up. So that pasteurization process changes the proteins in the dairy. And so it won't whip up quite as full as a regular heavy cream will.

    So you want to note that as well. Um, and look for a regular pasteurized heavy cream instead of ultra pasteurized.

    Eric: Yes. I think you may only be able to find the ultra. It just depends on what the store is carrying here.

    Erin: And it does still work. So you can still whip it. It's just going to take it longer, take you longer to get that fluffy whipped cream that you want.

    A bowl of homemade whipped cream.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    🕰️ How to Make Whipped Cream Last Longer

    Eric: All right. Um, so we wanted to talk about extending the life of whipped cream. Um, so how do we do that?

    Erin: So regular whipped cream really should be made the day that it's served. If you, um, just are going to follow your traditional recipe of the heavy cream, the sugar, vanilla, whip it up. You want to do that within a few hours of serving it because it starts to deflate over time. But there are a number of different ingredients that you can use that will extend that shelf life.

    And the one that is the most popular, that professional bakers use is gelatin. You can, um, you take like a teaspoon of gelatin and do what's called the blooming, where you mix it in with some hot water and let that absorb. And then you pour it into your heavy cream. it works really well. It can extend that shelf life up to a week.

    But there's two reasons why I don't use it as often as my go to. The first is it's a little bit of a tricky process. You have to get the temperature of your gelatin just right so that it doesn't clump in your whipping cream, which with practice you can do, but it also changes the texture. It makes it thicker.

    It makes it more like a frosting. And so if I'm putting it on top of a pie or on top of a cake, um, I want that really fluffy. Um, softer cream. And so I don't love the gelatin method for that. Now, if I'm using it to pipe on top of cupcakes, or I want to take it outside and serve, you know, we're not in, well, here in Texas, we're hot right now.

    But in most places, we're not in the middle of heat waves, That gelatin does stabilize the whipped cream where you can take it out and serve it on a hot day and it will still hold up. So it's great for some things.

    My favorite way to stabilize whipped cream is by adding just a pinch of cream of tartar before whipping the cream. So about an eighth teaspoon per cup of cream. And cream of tartar is, it's an acid and that acid changes the pH of the cream. So it strengthens the proteins and that way the water and the air bubbles hold their shape. They don't separate from the cream and they don't break down. So you only need a tiny bit.

    It's one simple, easy addition to throw in there with your sugar and your vanilla when you're adding that to the cream. But by adding that one ingredient, It's going to keep your whipped cream fluffy for four days. So if you are serving something you want to make ahead. So day before Thanksgiving, I make my whipped cream.

    I add that little teaspoon, cause I usually do two cups of cream. Um, add that quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar. And so I can do that ahead of time and for Thanksgiving and even for my leftovers, the next couple of days, that whipped cream is still going to be nice and strong and fluffy, um, and great to use.

    Eric: That's awesome. That's a great tip. Um, yeah, I think people, you know, don't want to make the whipped cream for that because it's, you know, it's another thing, especially, you know, if you're just making it, you know, right before. You serve the pie at that point. People's energy level is probably pretty low.

    I've cooked all the meal here. You're not getting like, Oh, I don't want to have to do that here. And then you end up busting out the Cool Whip or the can thing, uh, because you just don't want to do that. But so that's a great, if you go, if you could make something, that's, that's my thing about Thanksgiving is like, you know, make things easier by doing whatever you can ahead of time. As like we all like out the turkeys always prep beforehand. It's like, it's the easiest part for me. It is part of my turkey is. Putting it the other day of Thanksgiving, nothing else. It's already ready. It's like things like that. If you could do that, it makes like preparing a big, huge meal, less stressful.

    So if you could do, you know, use this trick and do it before Thanksgiving or before Christmas here the day before, and then, then you're set to go here. Then you're more likely to have that. You can, you can do that here. So I think it's really, really good to be able to do that.

    Erin: And what a great way to be able to finish your meal, right? So you've just enjoyed all of this delicious, awesome food. Finish it with the best tasting thing that you can. So, um, this is, you know, personal opinion. Everybody, some people absolutely love Cool Whip or love the can of whipped cream. Personally, I think that it is so much better to have freshly homemade whipped cream.

    And in my family growing up, my mom would always for special, you know, pies or cakes and things make homemade whipped cream. And we joke in our family that pumpkin pie is merely a serving vessel for the whipped cream. So you really want to in our family, we want to have that freshly made whipped cream.

    But I, to your point, I don't want to be doing it after I've been cooking my whole Thanksgiving meal. I don't want to be doing it when I am full and tired. So getting that done. ahead of time is great. And then, um, If you have leftovers and you've done that trick of using the cream of tartar, that whipped cream is still great.

    🧊 Freezing Leftovers

    Erin: You may still have leftovers even beyond that, especially if you've made a really big batch. And so one other thing that you can do is you can freeze your whipped cream. So it can definitely be frozen. And the trick with that, though, is you want to freeze it in the form that you're going to use it. So if you want, I like to freeze like pipe swirls.

    Of that whipped cream and freeze those pipe swirls. And then you can just place those on top of cupcakes and they'll thaw in that same shape. Um, you just can't change the shape after it's been frozen and thought it's not going to keep a different shape.

    🛠️ How to Fix Overwhipped Cream?

    Eric: That's a good tip too to have on hand. So what did you, you know, you go here, you try to make your whipped cream, um, you know, you're the, you're the middle of doing it here and then something happens with the dog and, and you're those barking here and you went away from the room for a minute and then you come back and like.

    Oh no, I've overwhipped it now. What do we do? What do we do? So, if that situation happens, what can people do to fix an overwhipped cream?

    Erin: Uh, that can be so frustrating to have happen. Like you're making this beautiful whipped cream and then all of a sudden you look at it and it is curdled. It's turning to butter is actually the process of what's happening there. So um, if you keep going, you could have a nice sweet, creamy butter, but let's assume you actually want whipped cream because that's why you're making this.

    You don't have to throw it out. There is a way to save it and it is so, so simple if that happens where it has started to turn. curdled, started to get too clumpy. All you have to do is pour one to two tablespoons of cold heavy cream and mix it on low speed. It softens everything and you'll end up with that soft pillowy cream again.

    So, um, you don't want to mix it. If you're adding in that, that cold heavy cream, you don't want to mix it too high. You don't need to rewhip that cream. You actually just mix it in. on low and you'll be amazed. It just transforms that curdled cream into nice, beautiful cream.

    Heavy cream being whipped with the whisk attachment on a mixer.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    ❔ Can You Re-Whip?

    Eric: Well, that is great news. You can fix it. It's not gone beyond repair. It seems like a pretty good solution. All right, um, so what if we now get to a situation where we want to re-fluff our whipped cream because it's getting a little sad, it's starting to weep a little bit, needs a little help.

    What can you do about that?

    Erin: That's an easy fix too. So whipped cream can be re-whipped. If you have that leftover whipped cream and you see those, the water starting to come out of it, it's gotten a little bit soupy. That's called weeping. And, um, it's nothing to be concerned with as long as you're within your shelf life of, um, seven days of that.

    Um, cream being opened, um, then you can just whip it right back up. So take that mixer that you have, or, um, you can do it in an immersion blender. You can do it in a stand mixer, hand mixer, and just turn that back on to medium high speed. And within a minute or so, it'll be nice and whipped up again. It does need to be cold.

    So you don't want to do this. If you have, You know, maybe you, you're serving your pies on your buffet and it's been an hour or two and that cream is liquidy, um, that's not going to whip up. It does need to be cold, um, but you could take that chilled whipped cream medium high speed and fluff it right back up.

    Eric: That's great. This is a really good solution. You know, whipped cream is something that, you know, it's not, like you said, it's not something that's like you could, you could screw it up to the point of no hope. You can bring it back, you can revive it here, you can stabilize it. So there's a lot of good things you could do,

    To have this here so that you get to have that experience. The only thing you're missing, I guess, is the, is the idea of walking to your fridge afterward and grabbing another can and squirting it in your mouth when no one's looking.

    A white whipped cream dispenser next to a gray towel.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    Erin: You can get those cans though, you're like, they sell dispensers and, um, you can, it's really easy to make whipped cream in a dispenser as well. And so if you love that process, those cans are great for like your coffee bars or dessert buffets, things like that. You can even make them in a dispenser and you can do so much with whipped cream.

    An Espresso homemade whipped cream in a clear glass jar with coffee beans around it.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    ☕ Flavored Whipped Cream

    Erin: It doesn't just have to be that plain vanilla whipped cream. You can make, um, all kinds of different flavors too. So cinnamon whipped cream, pumpkin spice whipped cream. Um, I've got an espresso whipped cream recipe, but there's so many different ways that you can elevate this simple, um, Recipe and then as long as you use some of these different tips for extending that shelf life.

    Um, you can use them for you know over the course of several days with different events that you have or we have in my family. We have a soup and pie night. It's one of our traditions for the holidays. And so we'll do Um, get all together, have soup and pies with whipped cream. And then the next day we may have, maybe we do that on Christmas Eve.

    And the next day we do Christmas dinner and we have more pies. That whipped cream can take you from event to event.

    Eric: Yeah. I really love the idea of putting different, you know, things there. We always use like, like spices, like, like you want to have like cinnamon or nutmeg, um, definitely to it, freshly grated nutmeg, the whole nutmeg.

    Erin: Oh gosh, that makes it. And you can do, there's crazy stuff you can do too. Like, um, We do a peanut butter whipped cream and caramel whipped cream is one of my kid's favorites where you just mix in actual caramel sauce into the whipped cream and it's delicious. Um, great for things like pecan pie or ice cream sundaes.

    Um, so I mean, the possibilities really are endless. You can do so much with it.

    Eric: Yeah, definitely. straight up whipped cream was great by itself. You can customize it. Do all these kind of fun things with it. Um, yeah. Really, really great ideas here. I think if you are listening to this, you have to be inspired to make your own whipped cream now to see that it's not as intimidating as you think there's, I think a lot of things out that people think like are super intimidating here, but like, once you just have a little knowledge you can make it work.

    One of the things I like to do, it really impresses people as making homemade marshmallows. Cause because it's one of those things that people are like, Oh my gosh, you can make that at home. And I'm like, yeah, it's actually not that challenging. Like I think it's harder to make homemade fudge.

    You can screw that up more than you would like homemade marshmallows.

    Erin: I'm going to have to try your recipe because I tried making homemade marshmallows once years ago and it was a disaster, but I am sure that it was either user error or a terrible recipe. So I'm going to have to try yours.

    Eric: Yes. We actually have a pumpkin spice marshmallow recipe on the blog that I just recently updated and you guys can check that out, look at the show

    Erin: I know what I'm doing this weekend.

    Eric: So we have things to, and then I think like crackers, like homemade crackers or something that people don't think of to make, but like, they're like super easy.

    Like we do it with our sourdough discard. We turn them into crackers.

    Erin: That's a great idea.

    Eric: Boom, quick crackers. It tastes really good. So a lot of the things that we get intimidated by, just, you just need to get some knowledge and that's what me and Erin are here for, we're here to educate people and teach them different tricks.

    They can become great cooks and their own homes. So, uh, thanks for coming on Erin today. Um, so do you have any of these recipes? Can we find them on your blog right now?

    Erin: You can find so many of them. I've got lots of different standard whipped cream recipe, that cream of tartar trick. If you search my blog for stabilized whipped cream, you'll find that as well as the gelatin recipe and then all kinds of flavors as well.

    Eric: What is that website? And where can people find you on social media?

    Erin: It is stateofdinner.com and I am at stateofdinner on all social platforms

    Eric: So thank you, Erin. You are going to now after listening and following her instructions, you are going to have the most amazing whipped cream and people are going to be talking about it. Um, instead of your pies, all your pies can be great too.

    Erin: I mean, you can find pie recipes on the blog too, so

    Eric: Oh, that's good. Get it all in one great bite. All right. Thanks, Erin. I appreciate you coming on.

    Erin: Thank you, Eric.

    🔗 Links to Erin's Blog

    Here are some of the things we talked about on the episode.

    • How to stabilize whipped cream with cream of tartar
    • Stabilizing with gelatin
    • Recipe for a dispenser
    • Information on whipped cream shelf life
    Caramel whipped cream with caramel sauce drizzled on top inside a clear glass bowl.
    Photo Courtesy of State of Dinner

    Here are some recipes for flavored whipped cream:

    • Peanut Butter
    • Caramel
    • Cinnamon
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