How to Make Heavy Cream with Milk and Gelatin
This milk and gelatin “heavy cream” is a light, low-calorie alternative to traditional heavy cream. Smooth and pudding-like, it’s perfect for piping, filling, or topping desserts—and can even be made dairy-free with plant-based milk.
Equipment
- small bowl (for blooming gelatin)
- medium saucepan (for heating milk)
- Whisk or spoon (for stirring)
- Plastic wrap (to cover while chilling)
- Hand mixer or stand mixer (for whipping)
- piping bag (optional, for decorating cakes or filling)
Ingredients
- 1½ cup milk (Or plant based milk)
- 7 g gelatin powder (1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin)
- 2 tbsps sugar (Optional, for sweetened cream. Add 2–3 tablespoons of sugar, or adjust to your preferred sweetness. You can also substitute with other sweeteners, such as Stevia.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Pour ¼ cup of milk (or plant based milk) into a small bowl.
- Sprinkle a pack of gelatin over the milk and stir well. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to bloom.
- In a medium pot, add the remaining 1 ¼ cups milk.
- If you’d like sweetened cream, stir in the sugar and vanilla extract.
- Heat over medium-low, stirring often, until small bubbles appear around the edges (do not boil).
- Add the bloomed gelatin to the pot. Stir until fully dissolved.
- Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let cool to room temperature.
- If using the same day: place in the freezer for 30 minutes, until set. If using later: refrigerate overnight until firm.
- Once set, remove from the fridge/freezer. Whip with a hand or stand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
- If the mixture softens too much in warm weather, place it back in the freezer for 10 minutes to reset, then whip again until it reaches a texture similar to stiff peaks.
- Once whipped, transfer to a piping bag for cake filling or decoration, just like heavy cream.
Video
Notes
Notes
- The taste and texture are closer to milk pudding than traditional heavy cream, but this method makes a lighter, lower-calorie alternative.
- If you want a heavy cream that tastes just like store-bought, check out my butter-and-milk heavy cream recipe, which shows you how to make classic heavy cream using only butter and milk.
- You can substitute cow’s milk with plant-based milk (soy, coconut, etc.) for a dairy-free version.