Get Whipping

Have you ever thought about looking at just the ingredients on packaged foods?  Thought about what a product is marketed as versus what it actually is?

I used to LOVE Cool Whip until I realized that it wasn't what I thought I was getting.  Hmmm... that's a little backwards sounding.  What I thought I was getting was whipped cream... what I was eating was something that isn't even close to the ingredients in whipped cream.  

Here's what's in a tub of Cool Whip:


WATER, CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Monostearate, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).

A whole lot of goodness packed in one little plastic tub.  Here's the thing... whipped cream is supposed to just be cream that is whipped.  I can't figure out why there are SO many ingredients in prepackaged whipped products.  So, of course, over 7 years ago... when I learned of the ingredients in Cool Whip... I stopped buying it and started making my own because whipped cream does not need all of those funky ingredients to taste good.  In fact, REAL homemade whipped cream tastes so much better than any premade packaged whipped product.

Want to lose the plastic tub (and all that comes with it) and make the real deal BEST Whipped Cream?

1 cup organic and/or local heavy cream

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix using a hand mixer or whisk by hand until whipped. 

Tips:  

• I, personally, prefer to use my stand mixer and watch the magic happen :)
• Put your bowl and beater(s)/whisk in the freezer about 10-15 minutes before you want to make the whipped cream and it'll whip up super fast.)  
• Pay attention!  Over whip the cream and you'll have butter!!  
• Use homemade whipped cream in any recipe that calls for Cool Whip :)

Ready to try something new and go beyond dairy?  Try Whipped Cashew Cream... it's absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!  Seriously, you'd never know there's NO dairy in it... it's so divine.  Use it just like you would the aforementioned whips :)

Check out this photo of some whipped cashew cream dolloped on top of stewed blackberries (that we picked and froze LAST summer from Lewis Farms!!)... mmmm... a few more months and fresh blackberries!!!

I use the Cashew Cream recipe from "The Conscious Cook" by Tal Ronnen.