While whipping cream takes just minutes, a whisk, and a bowl to prepare, we’ve found some tips that help to make the thickest, richest whipped cream:
Chilling Equipment
Whipped cream is a foam of air, water, and fat. As air is incorporated into the cream, water bubbles encasing tiny drops of fat are formed. As more air is beaten into the cream, the film around the bubbles gets thinner, and the fat droplets eventually touch each other and stick together. The cream sets and thickens when all of the droplets have adhered to one another. Because the droplets need to be firm if they are to stick together, the cream must be very cold—-as soon as the fat begins to warm up, it melts, and the structure begins to collapse. Chilling the bowl and the beaters as well as the cream provides extra insurance that the cream will stay cold enough to remain firm.
Avoid Overwhipping
If you whip the cream too long, it can curdle and separate—or turn to butter. If beating via an electric mixer, we recommend beating the cream to soft peaks, turning off the machine, and finishing the final few strokes by hand.
Adding Sugar
For sweetening whipped cream, the test kitchen has found granulated sugar to be the best sweetener for whipped cream. It takes twice as much confectioners' sugar to equal the sweetness of granulated sugar, and using so much inevitably lends a faint chalkiness to the end product.
As for timing, we recommend adding the sugar at the beginning so that the granules have a chance to dissolve. When the sugar is added late in the process, the whipped cream has a slightly grainy texture.
Storing Whipped Cream
While some recipes suggest that acidic ingredients may help to stabilize whipped cream so that it can be stored for longer, we have found that they don’t really do much. We’ve found that heavy cream will maintain its whip for a few hours in the refrigerator. For longer storage, we recommend placing the whipped ream in a wire-mesh strainer set over a mixing bowl, which allows any seepage to drip away from the whipped cream.
Source: Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen, Published April 23, 2003