This simple 2-ingredient recipe shows us how to make heavy cream that can be easily whipped into stiff peaks.
It often happens to me that when I wanted to make a dessert but found out that I had no heavy cream in the fridge. Given that so many dessert recipes heavily rely on heavy cream as a key ingredient, it would be great to know how to make heavy cream with milk and butter.
Additionally, if you accidentally make too much heavy cream, there is a super simple method to turn whipped heavy cream into homemade butter and butter milk.
Now, let’s dive straight into this useful recipe and witness the magical transformation among milk, butter, and heavy cream!
EQUIPMENT
- kitchen scale or measuring cups
- blender
- saucepan
- hand mixer
- mixing bowl
- plastic food wrap
INGREDIENTS
- 150 g unsalted butter (About 1⅓ sticks of butter; no need to soften before using.)
- 150 g whole milk (About ½ cup + 2 tbsps)
- 30 g powdered sugar (Or granulated sugar; optional)
- 5 g vanilla extract (1 tsp; optional)
How to Make Heavy Cream with Milk and Butter
1. Add butter and milk to a saucepan, cook and stir over medium low heat, turn off the heat right after the butter is fully melted. Do not bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Pour the mixture into a blender. Blend on high speed (or juice mode) for 1 minute.
3. Transfer the blended mixture to a large mixing bowl. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Cover the mixture with a piece of plastic food wrap. Tightly press the food wrap onto the surface of the mixture to prevent any water droplets from forming. Keep the mixture in the refrigerator overnight or until it’s completely cooled. Homemade heavy cream (unwhipped) can stay good in the refrigerator for about 5 days.
4. Once you are ready to whip the cream. Take the mixing bowl out from the refrigerator, remove the plastic food wrap. Optionally, add powdered sugar (or granulated sugar) and vanilla extract to sweeten the cream.
5. When the room temperature is high, you can whip the cream over an ice bath to make it easier to be whipped. 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.)
6. Beat the heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer on medium speed until your desired whipping stage. Whipped heavy cream can stay good in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 days.
- 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, check out my boba cake recipe, 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.)
Milk and Butter Ratio
In this recipe, you’ll notice that the milk and butter ratio is 1:1, which is higher than many other homemade heavy cream recipes.
If you find yourself without heavy cream but need to substitute it in a recipe that calls for 1 cup of heavy cream, you can use 3/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of melted butter instead. However, it’s important to note that this substitute won’t whip into soft or stiff peaks regardless of how long you continue to whip it.
This is because heavy cream has a higher fat content, typically around 36-40%, which allows it to capture air bubbles and create a stable foam when whipped.
On the other hand, milk only has 3% fat content, and butter typically contains around 80% fat. Let’s do some math, if we mix milk and butter in a ratio of 3:1, the mixture’s fat content will be (3% x 3 + 80% x 1)/4, which is around 22.25%.
Now if we mix milk and butter in a ratio of 1:1, the mixture’s fat content will be (3% x 1 + 80% x 1)/2, which is around 41.5%. Due to its high fat content, comparable to that of heavy cream, the milk butter mixture will have the ability to capture air bubbles and generate a stable foam when whipped.
To summarize, if a recipe calls for heavy cream in the batter, it can be substituted with a mixture of 75% milk and 25% butter. However, when it comes to whipped cream, a 1:1 ratio of butter and milk is required.
How to Make Butter with Heavy Cream
If you find yourself with excess heavy cream or accidentally over-whip it to the point where it forms clumps, a great alternative is to transform the heavy cream into homemade butter and buttermilk.
To make homemade butter from heavy whipping cream, pour the cream into a mixing bowl and whisk it with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until it thickens into whipped cream. Continue beating for about 15 minutes until the cream separates into solid butter and liquid buttermilk.
Once the butter forms into clumps and separates from the buttermilk, strain the buttermilk from the butter using a fine-mesh strainer, and wash the butter in iced water to remove any remaining buttermilk.
Gently squeeze out excess moisture from the butter, pat it dry with a kitchen paper, and shape it into a cuboid using a piece of parchment paper.
Homemade butter can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 2 to 3 weeks.
– Some Helpful Tips:
1. As the buttermilk separates from the heavy cream during whipping, it can splatter and create a mess on your countertop. To avoid this, you can place the mixing bowl in a sink to prevent splashing and keep kitchen walls clean.
2. If you don’t have a hand mixer, you can make butter with a jar. Pour the heavy cream into the jar, leaving some room for shaking. Seal the jar tightly. Shake the jar vigorously until the cream separates into solid butter and liquid buttermilk. The shaking process typically takes 20 minutes. You arms are going to get some exercise for sure.
3. Whipping cream into butter over an ice bath can make the process slightly easier. In warmer room temperatures, achieving the solidification and separation of butter from the heavy cream can be challenging. To solve it, you can place the mixing bowl containing heavy cream over a large bowl filled with ice water.
My recipes using heavy cream:
How to Make Heavy Cream with Milk and Butter
Equipment
- kitchen scale or measuring cups
- blender
- saucepan
- hand mixer
- mixing bowl
- Plastic Food Wrap
Ingredients
- 150 g unsalted butter (About 1⅓ sticks of butter; no need to soften before using.)
- 150 g whole milk (About ½ cup + 2 tbsps)
- 30 g powdered sugar (Or granulated sugar; optional)
- 5 g vanilla extract (1 tsp; optional)
Instructions
- Add butter and milk to a saucepan, cook and stir over medium low heat, turn off the heat right after the butter is fully melted. Do not bring the mixture to a boil.
- Pour the mixture into a blender. Blend on high speed (or juice mode) for 1 minute.
- Transfer the blended mixture to a large mixing bowl. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Cover the mixture with a piece of plastic food wrap. Tightly press the food wrap onto the surface of the mixture to prevent any water droplets from forming. Keep the mixture in the refrigerator overnight or until it's completely cooled. Keep the mixture in the refrigerator overnight or until it's completely cooled. Homemade heavy cream (unwhipped) can be stored in the refrigerator for about 5 days.
- Once you are ready to whip the cream. Take the mixing bowl out from the refrigerator, remove the plastic food wrap. Optionally, add powdered sugar (or granulated sugar) and vanilla extract to sweeten the cream.
- When the room temperature is high, you can whip the cream over an ice bath to make it easier to be whipped. 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.)
- Beat the heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer on medium speed until your desired whipping stage. (*See Note1 for different whipping stages) Whipped heavy cream can typically be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 days.
Video
Notes
1. Heavy 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, check out my boba cake recipe, 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.)2. Stabilized cream
By mixing 1 tsp of gelatin to your homemade or store-bought 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 detailed instructions in this post.
It didn’t work. I don’t know why. I did what u said. Also after I put it in the refrigerator overnight the next morning it had this thick layer on top. The texture was like condensed milk. when I tried to turn it into whipping cream it didn’t work. Please help!!!
I almost made the same mistake the first time I made it. It does only work by blending the mixture on high speed. Maybe it was not fast enough or long enough. After you put the mixture in the fridge, be sure to check whether the butter doesn’t start to separate itself from the milk. If so, blend it again. If not, then it’s a success!
It’s fake, that’s why. Butter will not re-combine with milk to form whippable cream. It’s a good substitute for cream in cooking, but not for whipping! The butter cannot become tiny homogeneous particles simply from melting and agitating, this would require an industrial process to distribute them evenly back into milk.
Will this work with non dairy milks like soy? Please let me know
Think for 2 seconds and you’ll know the answer
Rude
Not by themselves definitely not. I would look up some vegan whipped cream recipes for guidance. You will likely need a stabilizer like aquafaba(the juice from chick peas!). A plain dairy free recipe might have you use gelatin if that’s not a restriction. It’s definitely possible to make dairy free whipped cream though!!
No. For the same reason you cannot make Buttermilk out of fake “milks” like Soy or Almond stuff.
Thanks for the recipe. Could I melt the butter with a microwave instead?
Yes!
Can the recipe be doubled exactly?
Yes~
Can this work with crisco?
Maybe Beef Tallow would work??? I’ve got a bunch of rendered Bacon fat – that would certainly give your Whipped Whatever a new taste. It also wouldn’t work.
Your website is lovely! Thank you for this recipe. I just made this today since I was out of heavy cream. Just a note for you, when heavy cream is over whipped and begins to turn to butter, the liquid that separates from the solid butter is whey, not buttermilk. Buttermilk is cultured tangy milk.
Actually, the mixture that separates from the butter is actually buttermilk, hence the name. Commercial versions add in cultures to create the sourness or tang you get from modern day buttermilk. Whey is the liquid byproduct of cheese making once you separate the solid mass aka the curds.
The Buttermilk you get from making butter is a whole different critter for the cultured fake stuff at the local grocery store. It’s quite good as drink on a hot summer day when it is well chilled. If you decide to do this and save the Buttermilk do not strain it – those little “clumps” in there are butter which is something the man-made stuff lacks.
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Would I be able to use a plant based butter for this recipe?
I made this for the first time 2 days ago. It was so simple and came out great! No more going to multiple grocery stores to find heavy cream. Thank you.
Hi!
I made this today and everything turned out great!! After whipping I had stored it in an airtight container in the fridge. But after few hours noticed liquid coming out from the cream. What can be the reason?
Tyfs! I needed this so much! Saving costs for buying heavy cream these prices oh my $4.00 for 16 oz😲 I’m making homemade butter and that can be expensive, right?!
I loved the information breakdown it was great! I appreciate you and your working knowledge! Be Blessed Always 😁❤👩🏻🍳
Can this heavy whipping cream then be made into homemade butter?
Many of the negative replies seen here and elsewhere are produced by people who think they can read a recipe on the wbe and they’ll instantly turn intoo the World’s Greatest Cook. Those of us who spend real time cooking and baking know it doesn’t work that way.
I believe that was pretty well covered by the author is this post. Sometimes you have to read things a second time…S L O W L Y.
Thank you so much for the excellent recipe, it’s incredible. Just like chemistry in the kitchen, detailed and spot on. I wish this recipe had more ratings and more substantive reviews besides the bots/spammers.
I love your videos! Yours was one of the first true recipes I saw featured on Ann Reardons how to cook that channel and she tried your recipe and it worked! I tried another recipe with a lower fat content and it would not whip! After I read what you wrote about the higher fat content it makes sense. I see another blogger has copied your recipe too but I won’t name names. Thank you for this recipe and the scientific explanations behind how it works 🙂
Hello there! I never knew that making heavy whipping cream was so easy to make! Thank u for your help!
To no avail, I’ve been trying for months now to find a good recipe for a lactose free coffee creamer. I wanted a good rich, full-bodied heavy creamer. When I found your recipe, I realized it was for the whipping cream, but I decided to give it a try and adjusted it for three parts of milk and one part butter and follow the directions with the blender, etc. I am ecstatic. It turned out perfectly! Now I can’t wait to try the whipping cream. Thank you so much. This has been a godsend.
So did you use lactose 2% milk and Basel butter? I assume you are lactose intolerant
Actually, I think she used normal whole milk and butter
Great recipe
Hi can u use this to make Butter???
i did it but it has like a buble layer on top and a milk layer down idk about it
It’s probably because you didn’t blend it thoroughly enough
I love the many ways how you can use butter and milk. Thank you for the hack.