What’s a caramel macchiato or hot chocolate…or any favorite cafe drink for that matter without a little (or a lot) of whipped cream topping? A slice of apple pie is just plain naked without a side of whipped cream. Let’s face it, sometimes trying to be “good” is no fun. But what if you can have a “whipped cream” that’s lighter, lower in fat, and best of all freshly made? While there are plenty of pre-made low fat, non-dairy options out on the market–varying in quality and price–nothing beats something that’s freshly made at home, where you can control the ingredients. With a few simple additions and a Whip-It! brand cream dispenser, you can make your own version of a “skinny whip.” Best of all, you can make not only great tasting lower fat aerated cream toppings for your beverages and desserts, but you can make them dairy-free…or even vegan.

The magic all begins with a Whip-It! brand cream dispenser and a couple of N2O chargers. For the basic low fat dispenser whipped cream the following formula, courtesy of Chef Steps, works well for everything from whole milk (use a lactose-free version if lactose is an issue) to coconut, soy, oat, or any kind of nut milk (cashew has a lovely creamy mouthfeel). It is important to note that the lower the fat content of your choice of milk, the more gelatin you will need to stabilized the whipped cream. Consequently, if you are using say 2% milk, which has a lighter viscosity than whole milk, try bumping up the gelatin to 5.5 grams. Due to the precise nature of the measurements, you will need a digital scale capable of scaling down to .1 g. You can find many reasonably priced models online for as low as $12.

Skinny Whipped Cream

Yield: enough for .5 ltr capacity cream dispenser

• 4.5 g powdered gelatin (i.e. Knox)
• 30 g cold water
• 30 g sugar
• .75 g salt
• .45 g xantham gum
• 300g milk (of your choice)*
• 1 t. vanilla extract or other flavoring
• 2 ea N2O cream chargers

1. Sprinkle the gelatin powder over cold water in small bowl and give it a stir to mix. Let it bloom for at least 5 mins.
2. Whisk together sugar, salt, and xantham gum to thoroughly combine.
3. Place half the milk in a saucepan and heat the mixture under medium heat until just scalding. Remove from heat and whisk in softened gelatin, then dry ingredients until incorporated.
4. Set pan on an ice bath to chill, stirring until mixture has thicken to a fluid heavy cream consistency. Don’t let it get too thick or it won’t aerate properly.
5. Stir in the vanilla and pour the mixture through a strainer/funnel into a .5 ltr capacity Whip-It! stainless steel dispenser bottle.
6. Secure the head, fitted with a decorator tip, and screw on one N2O charger, then shake the dispenser 2-3 times to disperse the gas before screwing on the second charger.
7. Holding the dispenser upside down, shake vigorously 8-10 times.
8. Chill the dispenser in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. To speed up the process, you can also set the dispenser in an ice bath for about 1 hour or until very cold.
9. Dispense to serve anytime. Mixture will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

*increase the gelatin for lower fat milks, like up to 5.5 grams.

To make a vegan whipped cream, you can substitute agar agar powder for the gelatin, However the amount and process will be slightly different given the textural difference between gelatin and agar, which tends to set up firmer. Use 2.5 g agar agar powder in place of gelatin to start. You can always adjust incrementally if you feel the mixture needs to be firmer.

1. Whisk together sugar, salt, and xantham gum to thoroughly combine.
2. Place half the milk in a saucepan and whisk in agar agar powder until completely incorporated.
3. On medium heat, bring the mixture to a full boil, whisking constantly. Continue whisking as the mixture boils for minimum 2 mins. Agar is heat activated so this step is very important!
4. Remove saucepan from the heat and whisk in the dry ingredients, then the remaining milk and vanilla. Agar sets very quickly at a higher temperature so be careful not to let it get too thick! Use a hand or immersion blender to smooth out the texture.
5. Pour the thicken mixture into a .5 ltr capacity Whip-It! stainless steel dispenser bottle.
6. Secure the head, fitted with a decorator tip, and screw on two N2O chargers one at a time.
7. Holding the dispenser upside down, shake vigorously 8-10 times.
8. Chill the dispenser in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. To speed up the process, you can also set the dispenser in an ice bath for about 1 hour or until very cold.
9. Dispense to serve anytime. Mixture will keep in the refrigerator for several days.