Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly (French: [kʁɛm ʃɑ̃tiji]), is high-fat dairy cream, known as heavy cream, whipping cream or double cream, that is aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-solid colloid. It is commonly sweetened with white sugar and often flavored with vanilla. Whipped cream is often served on desserts and hot beverages and used as an ingredient in desserts.
History
A dish called αφρόγαλo (aphrogalo) 'frothy milk' is mentioned by Galen but with no further information. One modern author calls it a "popular milk foam" and suggests that it was "possibly a forerunner of whipped cream". The earliest clear evidence for whipped cream, often sweetened and aromatised, comes in the 16th century, under the name milk or cream snow (neve di latte, neige de lait, neige de crème). It was mentioned in the writings of Rabelais (Paris, 1531) and recipes are found in Cristoforo di Messisbugo (Ferrara, 1549), Bartolomeo Scappi (Rome, 1570), and Lancelot de Casteau (Liège, 1604). A recipe for sneeu 'snow', is found in a manuscript from the Netherlands from circa 1525–1575. It consists of cream, rosewater, and sugar beaten with a woody switch split at the end. The resulting froth was drained on a sieve. The recipe "A Dyschefull of Snow" in A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye (London, 1545) is made of a mixture of egg whites and cream. Flavored with rosewater and sugar, it was served over a "thick bush of rosemary", and sometimes gilded, as a centerpiece for banquets. Later, this dish was called "cream with snow", "snow cream" (not the same as the snow-based dish snow cream), and "blanched cream". In these recipes, and until the end of the 19th century, naturally separated cream is whipped, typically with willow or rush branches, and the resulting foam ("snow") on the surface is from time to time skimmed off and drained. By the end of the 19th century, centrifuge separation was used to rapidly produce high-fat cream suitable for whipping. The French name crème fouettée for whipped cream is attested in 1629, and the English name "whipped cream" in 1673. The name "snow cream" continued to be used in the 17th century. At the end of the 18th century, "whisked cream" could mean both whipped cream as well as cream curdled with wine and lemon to make a syllabub. Various desserts consisting of whipped cream in pyramidal shapes with coffee, liqueurs, chocolate, fruits, and so on either in the mixture or poured on top were called crème en mousse (cream in a foam), crème fouettée, crème mousseuse (foamy cream), mousse (foam), and fromage à la Chantilly (Chantilly-style molded cream), as early as 1768. Modern mousses, including mousse au chocolat, are a continuation of this tradition. Cream whipped in a whipping siphon with nitrous oxide was invented in the 1930s by both Charles Getz, working with G. Frederick Smith, and Marshall Reinecke. Both filed patents, which were later litigated. The Getz patents were originally deemed invalid, but were upheld on appeal.
Crème Chantilly
Crème Chantilly is another name for whipped cream. Sometimes the two are distinguished clearly, with crème Chantilly being whipped cream that has been sweetened. Other times, they are treated as synonyms, with both being sweetened or neither being sweetened, or indeed with sweetening unspecified or optional. Many authors use only one of the two names (for the sweetened or unsweetened version), so it is not clear whether they distinguish the two. Escoffier's Guide culinaire defines "whipped or chantilly cream" as flavored with vanilla sugar, but includes many savory recipes with unsweetened "whipped cream", never called "chantilly cream". Vanilla or fruit essences are often added. The invention of crème Chantilly is often credited incorrectly, and without evidence, to François Vatel, maître d'hôtel at the Château de Chantilly in the mid-17th century. The name Chantilly, though, is first connected with whipped cream in the mid-18th century, around the time that the Baronne d'Oberkirch praised the "cream" served at a lunch at the Hameau de Chantilly—but did not say what exactly it was, or call it Chantilly cream. The names crème Chantilly, crème de Chantilly, crème à la Chantilly, or crème fouettée à la Chantilly only become common in the 19th century. In 1806, the first edition of Viard's Cuisinier Impérial mentions neither "whipped" nor "Chantilly" cream, but the 1820 edition mentions both. The name Chantilly was probably used because the château had become a symbol of refined food; the word Chantilly by itself has since become a culinary shorthand for whipped cream.
Physical properties Cream with high butterfat content—typically 30%–36%—is used for whipping, as fat globules contribute to forming stable air bubbles. During whipping, partially coalesced fat molecules create a stabilized network that traps air bubbles. The resulting colloid has about twice the volume of the original cream. If whipping is prolonged further, the fat droplets stick together, destroying the colloid and forming butter. Low-fat cream, or milk, does not have enough fat to whip effectively.
Production
Manual Cream is usually whipped with a whisk, an electric hand mixer, or a food processor. Results are best when the equipment and ingredients are chilled. The bubbles in the whipped cream immediately start to pop, and it begins to liquefy, giving it a useful lifetime of one to two hours. Many 19th-century recipes recommend adding gum tragacanth to stabilize whipped cream, while a few include whipped egg whites. Various other substances, including gelatin and diphosphate, are used in commercial stabilizers.
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