Whipped Cream

In this house, we love whipped cream!  On top of ice-cream, fresh fruit ... the list could go on.  Have you ever read the ingredients?  This is the ingredient for a spray can of whipped cream (I will not list the brand):

Heavy Cream, Sugar, Contains 1% Or Less of Each of The Following: Artificial Flavor, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 80, Carrageenan, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), to Protect Flavor, Propellant: Nitrous Oxide. Alelrgy Warning: Contains Milk. May Contain Traces of Eggs and Soy.

What is half of that junk?  Yuck!  Here is the ingredient list for the freezer kind:

Water, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Less than Two Percent of Sodium Caseinate (from Milk), Natural and Artificial Flavor, Xanthan and Guar Gums, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Monostearate, Beta Carotene (Color).

Geez Louise!!!  Seriously!!  Do you know how easy, quick and inexpensive it is to make whipped cream yourself?  Well you are going to find out!
I always have a pint of heavy whipping cream in my refrigerator.  I use it for cooking and for my coffee in a pinch.  I pint costs around $2-$3 and is equivalent to about 2 cups, but when it's whipped you will get about double that amount or more.

You Will Need:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 bowls that will nest inside of each other, I would recommend that the smaller one be glass
Ice
Whisk or hand mixer

Make It:
Place ice in larger bowl and place smaller bowl inside, making sure that the ice is surrounding the smaller bowl but not falling into it.  If you have one of those nifty, silicone trivets it would be helpful to set your bowls on it.  You could also use a metal bowl that has been chilled in the freezer for 15 minutes or so.

Pour cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl.  Then ... whisk!  If you don't need the work out, then use your electric hand mixer :)  You could also use a stand mixer if you have one.  It does take several minutes.  One of the reasons I like to whisk it by hand is that I feel that it would be easier to "over whip" the cream with and electric mixer.  If you whip it too much it will separate.

The cream forms meringue-like peaks and sticks to the utensil.

Voila!  You are done!  It is lightly sweet and super smooth!  Now enjoy it!!!  This was our dessert, which we rarely ever have, tonight!