French Chantilly Cream Recipe (Crème Chantilly)
While Crème Chantilly (or Chantilly cream) sounds fancy, it is so easy to make! It is just another name for whipped cream.
You can whip up this recipe in minutes, and nothing beats its light, sweet flavor.
Ingredients
The only required ingredient to make Chantilly cream is cold heavy whipping cream.
It is essential that your heavy whipping cream be cold. The fat in the cream collapses easier when it is warmer. If you want a more technical explanation of this, read the Cook’s Illustrated article on whipped cream temperature.
Depending on where you live, you may also see heavy whipping cream sold as heavy cream, whipping cream, or double cream. These all have slightly different fat percentages, but they will all work well.
Although only cream is required, I also like to sweeten things up with the addition of granulated sugar and a touch of vanilla extract. Some people insist that powered sugar or superfine sugar work better, but I haven’t found that to be the case.
How To Make Chantilly Cream
The easiest way to make this recipe is with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Pour cold heavy whipping cream into your mixing bowl and whisk it at high speed. As you whisk, you’ll notice that the cream will begin to get bubbly and then thicken.
Keep on whisking until soft peaks form, or until the mixture is thick enough that it doesn’t collapse when you lift up the whisk or place some on a spoon.
After this happens, add the sugar and vanilla and give the cream one final short whisk.
Warning: You can overmix this recipe! If you mix too much, you’ll find that it goes from a fluffy cloud back to more of a liquid. To correct overmixed whipped cream, gently whisk in some more cold cream until the proper consistency returns.
To make Crème Chantilly without an electric mixer:
- Whisk by hand – Get ready for a good workout. You’ll be whisking for around five minutes straight. This beats going to the gym. You’ll want to make sure that your bowl is ice cold, too.
- Use a blender or immersion blender – Be careful not to overmix with this method. The cream will whip very quickly.
Expert Tips and FAQs
Serving Ideas
Chantilly cream is the perfect topping for cupcakes, pies, cakes, ice cream, and fresh fruit! It’s used to decorate pavlova as well as classic British fairy cakes alongside a dollop of jam.
It’s also wonderful as a cupcake filling – use it in a chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache to make copycat Hostess cupcakes.
It’s really fantastic when served with sautéed peaches or my cherry cobbler cupcakes!
Use a disher (ice cream scoop) to plop a pile of it onto your dessert, or place it into a piping bag to create beautiful patterns with it.
FAQs
Store it in a sealed container in your refrigerator for up to one week. You may notice that it starts to liquify after a few days. If this happens, simply re-whip it for thirty seconds or so to bring it back to life.
Make sure the heavy whipping cream is cold. This is essential for the recipe to work.
If you are trying to whisk by hand, use a metal bowl and chill it in the refrigerator before whisking.
Making this Crème Chantilly takes a few minutes, so keep whisking until the cream is the desired consistency.
That’s a good indication that you’ve overmixed the Crème Chantilly. To fix overmixed whipped cream, gently whisk in some more cold cream until the proper consistency returns.
Cornstarch is a good way to produce thickened and stabilized whipped cream.
This name comes from the Castle of Chantilly, a castle in the north of France where this whipped topping was supposedly first invented!
Related Recipes
- Strawberry whipped cream
- Peach whipped cream
- Mango whipped cream
- Baileys whipped cream
- Chocolate whipped cream
- Chai spiced whipped cream (from Leite’s Culinaria)
Chantilly Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the cold heavy whipping cream on high speed. As you whisk, you’ll notice that the cream will begin to get bubbly and then thicken.
- Keep on whisking until it is thick enough that it doesn’t collapse when you lift up the whisk or place some on a spoon.
- After this happens, add the sugar and vanilla and give the chantilly cream one final short whisk.
- Spread or pipe onto desserts or fresh fruit.
Notes
- Make sure the heavy whipping cream is cold.
- If you are trying to whisk Chantilly cream by hand, use a metal bowl and chill it in the refrigerator before whisking.
- Making Chantilly cream takes a few minutes, so keep whisking until the cream is the desired consistency.
Nutrition
Very nice homemade version ! In France, Chantilly cream means cream whipped by hand with real vanilla seeds I believe ! Whereas whipped cream or “crème fouettée” can be savoury (try salt,lemon and dill over gravlax salmon).
Also if you overmix, you could also go with the flow – you’ll get homemade fresh butter !
Thanks for pointing out the part of turning this into butter if it’s over mixed, lol. I’ve never made a chantilly cream that went back to a liquidy base. However I have come close to making butter, lol. I use powdered sugar and vanilla. I like how the powdered sugar blends in nicely and it also helps to make the cream more stable. I’ve used non fat powdered milk but due to the only brand I can buy in store it always leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. I’ve also used pudding mix. That’s a great option if you want your cream to hold up for longer periods of time. The brand I like to use is Godiva in white chocolate but it works just as good with the jello brand too…
Your chantilly cream was the perfect topping for our ice cream pie slices. Thanks for all the great tips.
I made this with the intention of serving it with a pie, but I already ate half of it with a spoon! It’s so delicious!