Here's How To Easily Revitalize Your Over-Whipped Cream

It's hard to imagine a world without the wonder of whipped cream. The light, airy topping crowns all sorts of delicious desserts and beverages. It's hard to believe there ever could have been a slice of pumpkin pie unadorned with a healthy dollop of whipped cream.

This delicious confection was supposedly invented some time in the 16th century in Europe. The earliest recorded mentions of whipped cream actually refer to it as either "neve di latte" in Italian or "neige de lait" in French, which both translate to "snow of milk."

Nothing beats making whipped cream fresh at home, but even with the invention of stand mixers and electric whisks, it still comes with some challenges. Whipped cream is a demanding topping and deserves total attention or else it will break. The reason for this is that the fats in the cream are trapping air inside as it is being whisked. That air becomes bubbles which give whipped cream its light texture, but there is a very fine line between stiff peaks and a broken mess. Thankfully, there is an easy method to fix this disaster, and it won't even require any new ingredients. 

If you've made the fatal mistake of stepping away from your stand mixer while making whipped cream, and end up with a broken mess — don't panic. The easiest way to fix it is to simply add more cream to the mix.

If you're working with a stand mixer, you can slowly add more heavy whipping cream — about a tablespoon at a time — while you continue to mix the cream on the lowest setting. This won't make for perfect whipped cream, but it will salvage the broken batch, and save you from starting over. It might also help to do this task by hand. This ensures you won't make the same mistake again and will help you retrieve the best texture possible.

Another way to also avoid this problem entirely is to switch to hand mixing earlier on. Once the whisk starts to leave lines behind in the cream, it can help to either switch to the lowest possible setting or take over whisking by hand to ensure that you don't break the cream's structure. Slowing down just might save you a lot more work in the long run.

If you managed to completely forget about your whipped cream and stepped away for a while (we've all done it), then this trick might not be enough to save this batch. Once the milk fats and buttermilk start to separate, your cream is too far gone. The solids in the cream will start to take on a yellowish hue at this point, and might even resemble butter. That's because you're actually closer to making butter at this point than whipped cream, and so your best option might be to simply embrace it.

All you have to do to turn your ugly mess into a delicious spread is keep whipping it. Then, use a cheesecloth or colander to separate the solids from the liquids and give them a squeeze to get out as much moisture as possible. From there, you can work in some salt to help preserve it and add flavor, or just put it into an airtight container and refrigerate.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When you screw up a batch of whipped cream, just make irresistible homemade butter perfect for cooking with.