Learn how to make the best homemade whipped cream with a fresh cream flavor that is delicious paired with fruit or as a topping for all kinds of desserts!
It only takes a few minutes to make and tastes so much better than the stuff you buy at the store!

Homemade whipped cream is the ultimate topping for just about any dessert. We love to use it in recipes such as strawberry icebox cake, banana pudding, no-bake lemon icebox pie and peanut butter pie. It's also great as a topping for sourdough brownies or apple pie.
What's the difference between homemade whipped cream and cool whip?
- Better ingredients. Heavy cream, sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla extract. Frozen cool whip is made with oils and other unnecessary ingredients.
- Quick and easy to make. Homemade whipped cream takes less than 5 minutes to make from start to finish.
- It just tastes better! This goes back to the ingredients. It's light and fluffy and has that fresh cream flavor that you love!
Ingredients

There are only three basic ingredients that make up this recipe.
- Heavy Cream: Make sure to use organic heavy cream that is COLD. This will ensure that the cream beats into stiff peaks.
- Powdered Sugar: I don't use pre-made powdered sugar anymore because it contains cornstarch. (I'm sensitive to corn.) Instead, I take organic cane sugar and process it in a blender to make a fine powder. Easy!
- Vanilla Extract: We love to use homemade vanilla extract but you can also use vanilla bean paste. The paste will give you those little vanilla specks that are really pretty!
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is not 100% necessary for homemade whipped cream. However, it does help to keep it stabilized. A stabilized whipped cream keeps its shape and is excellent for topping pies, cheesecakes and more. Just a ½ teaspoon per cup of heavy cream is all you need.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Place a mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer and add all of the ingredients into the bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat on high speed until firm peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.

Storage
Store the whipped cream in the fridge for up to 2 days. Make sure to keep it covered and give it a stir before using.
Equipment
Homemade whipped cream can be easily made using one of the following;
- electric hand mixer (affiliate link)
- stand mixer (affiliate link) with the whisk attachment
- high speed blender (affiliate link)
If you don't have one of these pieces of equipment, you can use a hand whisk to vigorously whisk the mixture until stiff peaks form. It works, it just takes a little elbow grease!

Top Tip
Need to figure out how much heavy cream to use for a recipe? Heavy cream doubles in size when it's whipped so, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of whipped cream, you'll beat 1 cup of heavy cream.

Homemade Whipped Cream
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup heavy cream (cold)
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place a bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the chilled bowl, on medium-high speed until it forms stiff peaks, about 2-3 minutes. (If you beat the cream too long you will end up with butter!)
- Store in a covered container in the refrigerator, up to 2 days, until ready to use.
did you make this recipe?