Whipping cream after heating

[phlox]

Does cream become somehow unwhippable if it's heated and then allowed to cool again? I wanted to make mint whipped cream tonight and thought, hey, I'll heat the cream with mint leaves and then let it cool and strain out the mint, and then whip it. It wouldn't whip!

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Edited June 3, 2009 by heidih (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Errr... this may sound a bit obvious but... ummm... did you happen to re-chill the cream before you attempted to whip it?

Side note that is irrelevant for this case but may help down the road: you can blanch your mint for 30 seconds or so, drop it in some ice water, drain it, mix it with the cream and toss it in the fridge overnight or so to infuse without heating. Works great and has a really fresh flavor.

[gfron1]

If you chilled it, it should have worked -but also make sure you have heavy whipping cream. I bought some organic heavy cream a while back that wouldn't whip for the life of me.

[tim]

Hi,

Ultra pasteurized (heated to about 160) whipped cream is notoriously hard to whip. My guess is that you heated the cream to a level above that level.

The easiest way to infuse flavor into whipped cream is to make a simple syrup with mint, cool then strain. Use the flavored syrup to sweeten the whipped cream.

Tim

[phlox]

I did chill it again after heating, but tim, I think you are right that I probably heated it too much before cooling it back down.

I will try the syrup method next time - thanks!

[Tri2Cook]

The syrup was a good suggestion but, just for fun and experimental purposes, you should try cold infusing sometime as well. You may not go back to hot infusions (unless the cream needs to be heated anyway for a ganache or something or the flavor you're infusing works better with heat) or syrups if you do. Takes planning ahead by a day but the flavors are so clean and fresh that it's well worth it. I cold infused some cream and milk with fresh ginger recently for a parfait per a Michael Laiskonis recipe and that was the most intense dairy-based ginger experience I've ever tasted.

[tim]

T I cold infused some cream and milk with fresh ginger recently for a parfait per a Michael Laiskonis recipe and that was the most intense dairy-based ginger experience I've ever tasted.

←

Hi,

Ginger is perfect ofr cold infusion because of the high level of juice. Run ginger through a juicer and you will have a lot of hot, hot ginger.

Mint needs the heat to extract the flavors.

Tim

[Kayakado]

I would think crushing the mint like they do for Mojitos (muddling) it with some of the cold cream would be sufficient to release enough flavor. Strain it and then add it to the rest of the cream and whip. We always cold infuse mint into our ice tea, too.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Kayakado (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Mint needs the heat to extract the flavors.

←

I respectfully disagree.

[tan319]

I wouldn't add an infused syrup.

Scale your cream in grams.

Add a bunch of mint to your cream, bring just the boil.

Off the heat, cover with plastic and let infuse refrigerated over night ( at least 12).

With a bowel on a scale strain the infusion, pressing on solids.

If the cream weigh's less then what you started with, replace until you reach the original amount.

It should whip.

The cold infusion would work swell too.

Edited June 1, 2009 by tan319 (log)

[Sethro]

Tan is right.

Adding a water-based syrup to cream is NEVER going to help the whipping process.

Cold infusions are nice, but I would blanch the mint first and puree it into the cream (then strain and filter). If its mint then why not take advantage of the beautiful green.

[Tri2Cook]

Nope, syrup won't help the whipping process but a couple spoons once the foam base is going doesn't really do any harm either.

[slkinsey]

Not only does mint not need to be heated and/or pureed to release its flavors, this is actually detrimental in both cases and will result in the infusion of bitter and vegetal flavors. Most of the minty oils are produced near the surface of the leaf. Light presure at most is all that is needed to release these oils.

Once you start large-scale breaking of cell walls, you release undesired flavor compounds. This is why Mojitos, Juleps and other cocktails made by really crushing the mint can be brown, bitter and brackish and need a lot of sugar to balance out those otherwise unpleasant flavors.

Cooking the mint has other undesirable effects, notably in driving off or otherwise altering the volatile oils that convey that wonderfuk "fresh minty-ness." Some people swear by hot-infused (and often pureed) mint-flavored simple syrup, but most people I know think it has an off-flavor and most anyone can immediately tell the difference between a drink made with hot-infused mint syrup and fresh mint.

I don't know how well mint oils infuse into something fatty such as cream, but I would experiment with using a large amount of mint leaves, lightly pressing (not to the point of crushing!) them in the cream, and leaving that to infuse overnight.

[DanM]

I recently had this problem when I made a whipped chocolate ganache for a cake. It said to chill the ganache before whipping. It did not say how cold to chill it though... What temps does everyone recommend? Back to fridge temp... approx 40f?

Thanks

Dan