This Crème Chantilly (Chantilly Cream) recipe is so quick and easy to prepare will 3 basic ingredients only. The perfect dessert, breakfast, cake and pastry topping or filling!
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.