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March 18, 2006
Whipped Cream
I have many interesting things to report on the cooking front. Lately we've made dumplings (complete with an assembly line for stuffing and sealing them), broccoli with udon noodles (I hated it, Derek loved it), an amazing shrimp with lime and cilantro recipe (from the Gourmet Cookbook), and whipped cream. The most fascinating item was the whipped cream. Have you ever whipped cream by hand? I hadn't. I've seen it done on countless cooking shows, though. It usually goes like this: Expert chef assures amateur chef that cream/egg whites can be hand whipped. Expert hands amateur the whisk. Amateur happily starts whisking. The show cuts to a shot showing the amateur with transformed egg whites or cream. I have always been curious to know exactly how much whipping was needed. Was the amateur's arm about to fall off? Did they slip it in a Cuisinart off camera?
Here's why we needed whipped cream. Derek cleaned out our kitchen cabinets yesterday in search of insects (he is at war with the mini-roaches we keep seeing). In doing so he found some Jello mix. To avoid putting quite so many sugary, insect-attracting things back in the cabinet, he made Jello. Then, at the Coop today, I decided that we needed to have whipped cream with the Jello, so we bought some heavy cream. Then, during some NCAA baskeball time-out or something this evening (D's the basketball fan, I barely understand the rules), D said "I'm getting the Jello. What do I do, just whip the cream?" I panicked, since I wanted to be the cream-whipper, said I'd do it, and ran off to the kitchen. Finally, the mystery of whipping cream would be revealed. The glass bowl I wanted was in the dishwasher, still warm from the cycle. I worried that this might possibly make whipping difficult, so I had the brilliant idea of putting the bowl briefly in the freezer. It didn't really fit, so I shoved it in and slammed the door shut. I had planned to wait there for a minute and take it out, but I got antsy and decided to get the cream out instead. I closed the refrigerator door, turned around, put it on the counter, and then heard the most distubing sound. The freezer door was opening. The bowl was moving. I couldn't quite turn around fast enough to catch it, so the bowl crashed dramatically to the floor and broke into at least a thousand pieces. Pyrex, when it breaks, is a bit like that glass they use in car windshields. Only sharper. I spent at least 15 minutes cleaning things up and cursing myself for my stupid cool-down-the-bowl plan. How did I get to be such a braindead idiot? Who DOES things like that, anyway? I can't quite bring myself to tell Derek exactly how I broke the bowl (and I know he's a sporadic blog reader, so maybe he'll never find out). But I'm getting off topic.
I found another bowl and poured in half the cream, so I'd have some left if I dramatically screwed up the whipping somehow. I started whipping. After only a few seconds I could feel it get a little thicker, and it stayed that way for a while. The consistency was a bit like chocolate syrup. I looked around for something to read while I whipped. I grabbed a cookbook while whipping (can you see how this constant urge to multitask might be disastrous?). I whipped some more. I opened up the the index of the book to look for chocolate mousse, and then, all of the sudden, this dramatic change in consistency took place in the bowl and I was whipping something that looked exactly like Readi Whip. I don't think I'd been whipping more than 3 minutes. I was amazed. It's so easy! It's a little bland without something in it -- I guess I should add some sugar or something at the beginning? -- but it's the real thing. I think it's magic.
Posted by csageday at March 18, 2006 11:10 PM
Comments
Oh, I'll find out about it all right ...
Posted by: D at March 18, 2006 11:15 PM
we always used this when we were kids:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11582052&RN=104
even faster!
Posted by: kaitlyn at March 19, 2006 04:04 PM
oh yea, and adding sugar and a little vanilla is yummy! Just be careful not to beat too much or you'll eat up with some sweet whipped BUTTER.
Posted by: kaitlyn at March 19, 2006 04:05 PM
Thanks for the tip Kaitlyn. We used to use that beater for eggs when I was a kid. It's probably a good thing I didn't know about whipping cream then or I would have eaten it straight every day. I'll definitely try the vanilla and sugar.
Posted by: Cindy at March 19, 2006 04:21 PM
Hey, we had whipped cream with gingerbread tonight -- I added the vanilla and sugar and didn't whip it quite as much and it was YUMMY. Thanks again, Kaitlyn!
Posted by: Cindy at March 19, 2006 09:39 PM