This Crème Chantilly / Chantilly Cream recipe is super quick and easy to prepare will 3 basic ingredients only. This lightly sweetened whipped cream is an amazing topping or filling for your favourite cakes, pastries, desserts, pies, breakfast, hot drinks or simply served over fresh fruit!
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Why we love this recipe
Chantilly cream is a simple yet delicious addition to many desserts, cakes or even breakfast; enhancing their flavour and texture with its light and airy consistency.
It is such a quick and easy recipe to prepare: all you need is 3 ingredients (or 2 if you skip the vanilla), a bowl and electric hand mixer / stand mixer with whisk attachment and about 15 minutes of your time!
What is Chantilly Cream
Chantilly cream - or Crème Chantilly in French - is a simple sweetened whipped cream, often flavoured with vanilla. It is used as a topping or filling for many desserts such as Choux buns, Crêpes or waffles, served over fresh fruits, pie and ice cream or even over hot drinks like hot chocolate.
The name "Chantilly" originates from the Chantilly Castle (Château de Chantilly) where the cream is said to have been first served by its chef François Vatel in the 17th Century. But is is believed that the cream was first invented in Italy and brought to the French court by Catherine De Medici in the 16th century.
Ingredients
Scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities
What is Chantilly Cream made of:
- Cream: heavy whipping cream (in the US & UK) or thickened cream (in Australia). The most important factor is that the cream contains at least 35% fat or it won't be able to be whipped.
Note for Australia: many thickened cream you find in the supermarket contain extra stabilisers or thickeners like gelatine. I personally recommend using a thickened cream that does not contain gelatine as I find that it does not whip as well. For this recipe, I used the Coles brand.
- Icing or Powdered Sugar: using this superfine sugar insures that the grain melts completely into the cream without leaving any grainy texture. Icing sugar that contains a very small amount of cornstarch (or other stabiliser) is fine here. You can make this cream with caster sugar too, but powdered sugar is definitely the best option.
- Vanilla: I used a fresh vanilla bean for the best possible flavour, but you can also use vanilla bean paste (second best option) or vanilla extract if preferred.
Flavour Variation
Your Chantilly cream can be flavoured with many delicious ingredients such as cocoa powder or (cool) melted chocolate to make chocolate chantilly cream, citrus zest like lemon, lime or orange, fruit purées like strawberry, raspberry or blueberry, flavouring extracts like almond and peppermint or even alcohol like Grand Marnier or Brandy.
How to make Crème Chantilly step-by-step
Before starting, make sure that both your ingredients (cream) and utensils (large bowl with hand mixer attachment or stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment) are cold.
- Photo 1: Place the heavy whipping cream / thickened cream in a large bowl. Scrape the seeds out of a fresh vanilla pod and add it to the cream. Alternatively, use 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract.
To cut and scrape a fresh vanilla bean: slice it in half lengthwise, keeping one of the end attached. Using a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds contained inside the two lengths the pod and transfer the seeds inside the bowl. Make sure to keep the remaining pod to make your own vanilla extract or flavour sugar for example!
You can refer to the video in the recipe card below to see how to open and scrape a vanilla bean.
- Photo 2: Sift the powdered sugar over the cream and vanilla. Technically, the sugar an be added at any time when whipping the cream but I find it easier to incorporate straight from the start.
- Photo 3: With your mixer set on medium speed to medium-high speed, starting whisking the cream. Continue to whip for about 5 minutes or until the cream starts to thicken and you can see soft waves or swirl pattern appear on top of the cream.
The exact whipping time can vary based on the ingredient used (exact fat content of the cream) and exact speed of your mixer. Make sure to refer to texture rather than time!
- Photo 4: Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and continue to whip until you reach medium peaks. It should only take about a minute (or less) to go from soft to medium peaks. At this point, you can also switch to a hand whisk which is an easy way to avoid over-whipping the cream. The Chantilly cream should hold its shape on the whisk but still be relatively soft and loose.
As explained below, I personally think that Chantilly Cream should only be pushed to medium peaks to remain light and fluffy, rather than stiff peaks that can easily turn lumpy or grainy.
If you want to use this cream as a stiff frosting / filling, or a cream that can be piped and hold its shape well, I highly recommend making "stabilised Chantilly Cream" (see chapter below) by replacing part of the cream with mascarpone rather than over-whipping the cream itself.
- Use straight away or transfer in the refrigerator to chill until ready to use. Make sure to cover the cream with plastic wrap touching its surface when storing in the fridge.
Whipping Stages: soft peaks to stiff peaks
- Stage 1: soft peaks - about 5 minutes of whipping.
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The cream has started to to thicken and increase in volume. You can start to see slightly stable 'waves' in the cream when you whip it. The whipped cream can hold its shape but is still quite runny and too light to be piped.
- Stage 2: medium peaks - about 30 seconds to 1 minute of whipping after soft peaks (yes, it goes fast!).
Where I personally think you should take your Crème Chantilly to! The cream is stiff enough to hold its shape but is still light, fluffy and very slightly runny. You can pipe it, spread it, dollop it... but it remains on the softer side.
- Stage 3: stiff peaks - about 1 minute of whipping after medium peaks.
The cream is very stiff, stable and holds its shape very well - but has started to turn slightly grainy or lumpy. In my opinion, that is taking Chantilly cream too far. This type of cream is not meant to be used as a very stable topping or frosting but more as a light and fluffy one.
Recipe FAQs
Chantilly and Whipped Cream are very similar - the only difference is that Chantilly cream is sweetened and usually (but not always) flavoured. Whipped cream is pure, plain cream that has been whipped until it increases in volume and thickens. It is usually used as a way to lighten other preparations like Diplomat Cream or make Mousses.
The cream needs to contain at least 35% fat to be able to be whipped. That fat is required to stabilise the air bubbles created while you whip the cream but surrounding those individual bubbles. Without that fat, the air bubbles will eventually pop and the whipped cream will deflate.
The cream used to make Crème Chantilly is usually heavy whipping cream (in the US & UK) or thickened cream (in Australia).
I often see Chantilly creams that are quite stiff and over-whipped; but Chantilly Cream is meant to be quite light and very slightly runny. In French Pastry, it is never really used as a very stable frosting with a stiff texture - but rather as a fluffy, delicate dessert topping or pastry filling.
Yes, although it will take quite some time (and hard work!). I personally find that cream whipped by hand tends to be a bit less stable than ones whipped with an electric mixer. That is because the size of air bubbles created by hand whipping are more uneven.
How to make Stabilised Chantilly Cream
As explained above, I personally think that Chantilly Cream should still be relatively soft and very slightly runny. If you are looking for a cream that is to be used for a cake filling, frosting or piping, a great option is to stabilise it not by over-whipping it but by substituting part of the heavy cream with a simple ingredient: mascarpone cream!
Mascarpone has a much higher fat content than heavy cream (about 45% vs 35%), which will help stabilise the cream and make it hold its shape much better without requiring extra whipping.
To make stabilised Chantilly Cream, simply replace 25 to 30% of the heavy cream with mascarpone cream. The rest of the recipe is exactly the same!
Tips & Troubleshooting
The cream is not whipping
Heavy Cream does take a bit of time to start stiffening - that's completely normal! If after whipping it on medium to high speed for a while, the cream still remains completely liquid, it could be an indication that its fat content is too low to be whipped (under 35% fat content).
The Chantilly cream is too thin
Simply keep whipping it for a little bit longer and/or slightly increase the speed. Be careful not to over-whip the cream though!
The cream is lumpy or grainy
You will gain a lumpy or grainy texture when your Chantilly cream has been over-whipped and is on its way to turn into butter.
How to fix over-whipped crème Chantilly
To save a lumpy whipped cream, you can try to add a little bit of cold, liquid cream and gently fold it into the mixture. If needed, keep adding more liquid cream until you reach the desired consistency.
If the Chantilly cream then turns too soft (added too much liquid cream), lightly whip it again by hands with a whisk.
How to use Crème Chantilly
For Breakfast: over pancakes, waffles, Brioche French Toast or inside Crêpes with fruits.
On cakes: delicious over a slice of Chocolate Fondant Cake or Lemon Ricotta Cake, spread over sponge cake topped with fresh berries or over Biscoff Cheesecake.
Inside pastries: to fill Choux à la Crème (cream puffs) or Chouquettes.
Over desserts: lightly flavoured with citrus zest or espresso powder and piped over mousses like Orange Mousse or Chocolate Orange Mousse, Coffee Panna Cotta, simply served on ice cream or fresh fruits!
Storing & Freezing
Crème Chantilly should be stored in the fridge and used within 2 to 3 days. It will start deflating and eventually turn a bit runny after that. The best way to store Chantilly cream is in a bowl or airtight container, covered with plastic wrap completely covering (and touching) the surface of the cream.
This recipe will not freeze well.
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Recipe
Crème Chantilly (Chantilly Cream)
Ingredients
- 400 ml Heavy Whipping / Thickened Cream - min 35% fat content
- 30 gr Icing or Powdered Sugar
- 1 fresh Vanilla Bean - or 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Paste
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
- Before starting, make sure that both the cream and utensils (large bowl with hand mixer attachment or stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment) are cold.
- Place the heavy whipping cream / thickened cream in a large bowl. Scrape the seeds out of a fresh vanilla pod (see note 1) and add it to the cream. Alternatively, use 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract.
- Sift the powdered sugar over the cream and vanilla.
- With your mixer set on medium speed to medium-high speed, starting whisking the cream. Continue to whip for about 5 minutes or until the cream starts to thicken and you can see soft waves or swirl pattern appear on top of the cream (see note 2).
- Reduce the mixer speed to medium low (or switch to a hand whisk to avoid over-whipping the cream) and continue to whip until you reach medium peaks - about 30 seconds to 1 minute (yes, it goes fast!). The Chantilly cream should hold its shape on the whisk but still be relatively soft and loose.
- I personally think that Chantilly Cream should only be pushed to medium peaks to remain light and fluffy, rather than stiff peaks that can easily turn lumpy or grainy. If you want to use this cream as a stiff frosting / filling, or a cream that can be piped and hold its shape well, I highly recommend making "stabilised Chantilly Cream" (see note 3) rather than whipping the cream to stiff peaks.
- Use straight away or keep in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream, until ready to use (best within 24 hours).
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Notes
- To cut and scrape a fresh vanilla bean: slice it in half lengthwise, keeping one of the end attached. Using a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds contained inside the two lengths the pod and transfer the seeds inside the bowl. Make sure to keep the remaining pod to make your own vanilla extract or flavour sugar for example!
- The exact whipping time can vary based on the ingredient used (exact fat content of the cream) and exact speed of your mixer. Make sure to refer to texture rather than time.
- To make stabilised Chantilly Cream, simply replace 25 to 30% of the heavy cream with mascarpone cream. Mascarpone has a much higher fat content than heavy cream (about 45% vs 35%), which will help stabilise the cream and make it hold its shape much better without requiring extra whipping.
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