This recipe teaches us how to make gelatin whipped cream that doesn’t melt.

By mixing 1 tsp of gelatin to your regular heavy whipping cream, you will get stabilized whipped cream that can hold its shape under room temperature for a whole day!

This type of cream is perfect as a strong mochi filling. Check out my mochi recipes here.

Some tips for making gelatin whipped cream that doesn’t melt:

1. Gelatin cream ratio

1 portion of gelatin can set 100 portion of heavy whipping cream. So the ratio of gelation and cream will be 1:100 – use 3g gelation powder (1tsp) to set 300g heavy whipping cream (1¼ cup).

Note that different types of gelatin might have different “bloom strengths,” or their ability to set a liquid. I used Knox unflavored gelatin. You may need to adjust the amount of gelation powder based if you use gelatin from a different brand.

2. Two portions of heavy whipping cream

To make gelatin whipped cream, we will need to separate the heavy whipping cream into 2 portions: 1 cup portion and ¼ cup portion.

We will keep the 1 cup portion of cream in a large mixing bowl, which we will use later to whip the cream. Then keep the large mixing bowl in the fridge for now, because cold cream whips up the quickest and lightest.

For the rest of the ¼ cup of the cream, we will need to warm it up with a hot water bath. So that it can be well blended with the gelatin liquid.

If we pour melted gelatin directly into a large portion of cold heavy whipping cream, the gelatin will get chilled and turn solid immediately, then your whipped cream will be lumpy instead of smooth.

3. Powdered sugar or granulated sugar

Commercial powdered sugar often contains a small amount of cornstarch, which could help with stabilizing the whipped cream.

However, since we are going to stabilize the whipped cream with gelatin, our whipped cream will for sure be able to hold its shape. We don’t really need the cornstarch in powdered sugar to stabilize the cream. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter whether you want to use powdered sugar or granulated sugar to whip the cream.

But note that granulated sugar tastes sweeter than powdered sugar. You may want to reduce the amount of sugar in my recipe from 30g to 25g, if you are going to use granulated sugar instead.

4. Cream Whipping Stages:

– Soft peaks: Lift the beaters and the cream will drop off like melted ice cream. You just start to see trails of cream, but they will gradually dissolve into the cream. (Soft peak cream is good for frosting a cake, since it can create a smooth surface. You can also add it to your drinks or pancakes.)

– Medium peaks: Lift the beaters and the cream won’t drop off. When you hold your beaters up with the cream tip pointing to the ceiling, the medium peaks will slowly bend down and eventually hold its shape at 45 degrees pointing to the floor. (Medium peak cream is good for piping patterns. You can also use it as a filling for most of the desserts, such as my roll cake, strawberry cream puffs, and rainbow crape cake.)

– Stiff peaks: When you hold your beaters up with the cream tip pointing to the ceiling, the stiff peaks will hold its shape and point straight up to the ceiling. (We often use stiff peak whipped cream as a strong filling for desserts. Mochi, for example, needs a strong filling to hold its soft skin, otherwise it will collapse or turn flat.)

5. Can we use agar agar powder instead of gelatin?

You can use 1 tsp of agar agar powder to substitute 1 tsp of gelatin powder. But based on my own expertise, gelatin whipped cream is going to have a smoother and lighter texture than agar agar stabilized whipped cream.

Agar agar’s melting point is between 85º to 95º C (185º to 203º F), which is close to water’s boiling point. While gelatin’s melting point is 32º to 34 °C (90º to 93º F), which is close to our body temperature.

Therefore, to melt agar agar powder you will need to bring the agar agar mixture to a full boil. But it could be hard to boil only 1 tbsp of water in a pot. So I’d either make a larger portion of agar agar whipped cream, or just use gelatin instead.

6. Storage of gelatin whipped cream

You can use the gelatin stabilized cream right after it has been whipped.

If you have any leftover, you can cover the mixing bowl with food wrap, and keep the cream in the fridge. It can last in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

You can also freeze your gelatin whipped cream to make them last even longer – up to 3 months in the freezer. Specifically, you can pipe the whipped cream into small portions on a piece of parchment paper, and freeze them overnight until solid. You can see Tracy’s post for detailed instructions.

EQUIPMENT you will need:

2 small size bowl
2 medium size bowl
1 Large mixing bowl
1 hand mixer (or stand mixer)

INGREDIENT List:

1¼ cup heavy whipping cream (300g)
1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder (3g)
1 tbsp water (10g)
4 tbsp powdered sugar (30g)
½ tsp vanilla extract (2g)

Step-by-step INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin powder and 1 tbsp (or 3 tsps) of cold water to a small bowl. Stir to mix well, set aside and let bloom for 3 minutes.

2. Pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream to a large mixing bowl, keep it in the fridge for now. Pour ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream to a small size bowl.

3. Pour boiling water to 2 medium bowls until they are half full.

4. Place the 2 small bowls (one with gelatin mixture, the other with heavy whipping cream) into the 2 medium bowls, so that the small bowls are sitting into hot water.

5. Use 2 spoons to stir the gelatin mixture and the heavy whipping cream, so that they are heated evenly.

6. When the gelatin mixture is fully melted into liquid, pour the warmed heavy whipping cream into the gelatin bowl. (Touch the heavy whipping cream with a finger, it should feel similar to your body temperature. ) Stir until well combined. Take the small bowl out from the hot water bath, set aside on the countertop.

7. Take the large mixing bowl with the large portion of heavy whipping cream out from the fridge, add powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the heavy whipping cream.

8. Use the beater of your hand mixer to gently stir the heavy whipping cream until the powdered sugar is roughly dissolved. (In this way, the powdered sugar won’t splash out when you whip the cream at the next step.)

9. Beat the heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer on medium speed for about 5 minutes until soft peaks form. (Lift the beater and cream will drop off like melted ice cream. Just starting to see trails of cream, but they will gradually dissolve.)

10. Pour the gelatin cream mixture to the mixing bowl, continue to beat the cream until your desired whipping stage.

I used Gelatin Whipped Cream in these recipes: