They say the best inventions are born out of necessity!
And Stabilized Vegan Whipped Cream is so necessary!
But wait! I thought vegan whipped cream was more stable than cow cream from our past lives!??
While that is true of some vegan whipped creams but more recently I learned not all whipped creams!
Since I can only find Country Crock Vegan Whipping Cream near me where I live I have had to come up with a workaround so it is usable in all of my recipes!
That workaround is this new recipe for Agar Stabilizer for Vegan Whipping Creams!
New vegan products have been hitting the market for many years now but over the last year there seems to be an explosion and a serious race to get new products out!
This is great news for veganism, but also bad because what I have learned in my recent experience with testing all the vegan whipped creams, that this race doesn’t always mean great quality products!
For example my Chocolate Cream Pie Cake where I used Country Crock Whipping Cream for the first time.
Taste was great, whipped up like a charm but the stability as a filling inside my multi layered cake was a total fail!
And don’t even get me started about Califia Farms! I’ll never buy that brand again!
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ABOUT COMPARING ALL THE VEGAN WHIPPED CREAMS!
*not sponsored by any brands mentioned in this article!
Notes for Success:
The one main thing I have to point out especially if you did not watch my video for Comparing all the Vegan Whipped Creams is that not all vegan whipping creams need stabilizer!
I had always been a fan of SILK brand but can no longer get that where I live, and SILK does not need stabilizer!
My homemade recipe for Vegan Whipped Cream also does not need stabilizer!
Cans of coconut milk used for making vegan whipped cream do not need stabilizer!
So be sure your favorite brand or recipe for whipped cream actually needs this agar addition before proceeding and the only way to do that is to test your whipped cream ahead of time!
Pay attention to the strength of agar you are using in comparison to the one that author of the recipe is using, I typically use 900 strength in my recipes SPECIFICALLY THIS BRAND BY Landor Trading Co *not sponsored
The recipe below makes a BULK portion that you can store in your refrigerator for months until you need to use it
Each portion will be the perfect amount to remelt and use to stabilize 2 cups of liquid whipping cream
For a single recipe to whip 2 cups of liquid whipping cream simply divide the finished bulk stabilizer rubbery disc by 4 OR make a single batch of ¾ teaspoon agar : 3 Tablespoons water
In the video I mention that a high speed mixer with a whip attachment is crucial to the success of this stabilizer mixing in properly. What I mean by that is something that has the power similar to my Kitchen Aid stand mixer *not sponsored
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO WHERE I SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE THIS
Bulk Stabilizer for Vegan Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- Powdered Agar 3 teaspoons
- Water 12 Tablespoons
Instructions
- In a small sauce pot combine the powdered agar and warm water and whisk to dissolve the agar
- Over high heat stirring often bring the solution up to a rolling boil and allow to boil for 20 seconds while whisking constantly
- Pour this solution into a heat proof glass or bowl and allow to set to cold and firm
- It will feel like a very firm rubbery disc once it is set
- Unmold it from the vessel you have used and then cut it into 4 equal portions
- Store in a ziploc bag or clean container in the refrigerator until needed
- Once you need to stabilize 2 cups of liquid cream, you will melt 1 portion of the agar stabilizer (which is equal to ¾ teaspoon of powder agar and 3 Tablespoons of water) using a small saucepot or the microwave to melt it and then add it HOT to the high speed whipping cream just after it comes to the peaks you desire. I usually whip to medium firm peaks and then add the agar stabilizer to it and whip for another 30 seconds
- *Be sure you are using a high speed whip attachment for this or you may get chunks of agar in your cream since agar will set immediately upon touching cold ingredients
Notes
Bulk stabilizer will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the refrigerator. I place mine in a ziploc bag and store in the back of the refrigerator for when I need it in a moments notice
Couple of questions…
First, how do you know if you have a high speed whisk attachment? I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a whisk attachment and I have a handheld Kitchen Aid mixer with a whisk attachment. Will either or one of them work?
Second, you’ve had luck with Silk? I have bought it twice and both times I couldn’t get it to whip at all. I gave up on it. I did just see some at a local grocery store the other day so maybe I’ll give it another chance.
The high sped power of a Kitchen Aid STAND mixer is unmatched, so yes this is what I mean when I say that (I will update this post to make it more clear~ thank you for pointing that out)
I have had great success with SILK brand but cannot get it near me anymore. All of my local stores that carried it have all now switched to Country Crock.
The SILK did not need anything! It was so stable and would get more stable upon refrigeration!
Is this recipe Gluten free and Nut free?
yes
Hi Gretchen
I want to wipped cream my cake with coconut cream but I don’t know how long beat the cream
Hey there so I am not sure exactly which “coconut cream” you are talking about since there are several but I go in depth about all of them HERE in this video
Hello 👋🏿 how much do I add if I just need one cup of whipped cream ?
Or how exactly do I break down the math when the recipe calls for gelatin and I want to substitute for agar ? Thank you for this recipe !
Hi I’m not sure what recipe you are looking at that calls for gelatine so it’s not easy for me to answer that~ however here is more information on AGAR in general
Perhaps I have been unclear in my instruction here, but I write:: For a single recipe to whip 2 cups of liquid whipping cream simply divide the finished bulk stabilizer rubbery disc by 4 OR make a single batch of ¾ teaspoon agar : 3 Tablespoons water
For 1 cup of whipping cream it will be 1/3 teaspoon agar : 1½Tb water which is a difficult amount to boil it will probably disintegrate and evaporate into nothing making it really hard to mix into 1 cup of cream.
Which is why I advise to make the BULK recipe which will give you 4 applications (of 2 cups whipped cream each time you are whipping the cream)
Sorry for the confusion but it really just makes things easier in the long run
Hi, have you ever tried powdered modified corn/food starch? I had some years ago and it worked perfectly just by sprinkling the powder into the cream. But I haven’t been able to find it recently.
I have not tried that in Whipped Cream but it’s a great idea! I’m going to pick some up since that ingredient is a blast from my past! We used to use it in so many things! here is a link in case you want to grab it CLEAR JEL
I remember using it in my earliest videos and no one could get it or had ever heard of it since it (was) primarily a commercial ingredient
test out instant pudding mix as well!
Hi Gretchen!! HELP!!! I need to make GF vegan cupcakes (a batch of vanilla with lemon filling, and a batch of chocolate with raspberry filling) for my daughter’s wedding guests with various food allergies on AUGUST 3 2024!!. The single local vegan bakery can no longer make vegan cakes as their supplier can’t get the ingredients they need, so it is down to Mom!
Can you provide me with ideas for the frosting on the cupcakes? I CAN get Silk brand soy milk locally, is that what you use for your whipped cream frosting without stabilizers or am I looking for a Soy CREAM? Any other advice or tips would be SO APPRECIATED!!
Hey there, so I am not sure if you are looking JUST for the icing? Or if you need cake recipes too?
In which cakes both of these work GREAT with a 1:1 GF mix like Bob’s Red Mill
CHOCOLATE CAKE
VANILLA CAKE
AS for the icing question, If you are making scratch whipped cream from this recipe here I use WESTSOY brand, it is soy milk in a carton Shelf Stable, not in the refrigerated section
Otherwise I would recommend using an American Buttercream recipe (* it is the easiest of all the BC recipes & very versatile to adding flavors!)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Are we talking cow’s milk cream here? I’m not a vegan and not familiar with the lingo.
All the recipes found here on Gretchen’s VEGAN Bakery website are 100% Vegan
If you read the first few sentences of the blog post you could probably work that out since I say “Vegan” about 5 times LOL
It reads:
They say the best inventions are born out of necessity!
And Stabilized Vegan Whipped Cream is so necessary!
But wait! I thought vegan whipped cream was more stable than cow cream from our past lives!??
While that is true of some vegan whipped creams but more recently I learned not all whipped creams!
Since I can only find Country Crock Vegan Whipping Cream near me where I live I have had to come up with a workaround so it is usable in all of my recipes!
That workaround is this new recipe for Agar Stabilizer for Vegan Whipping Creams!
Thanks for stopping by I hope you will try out the recipe
I’m loving your recipes! What cream did you use ? Can I just use regular coconut milk ? And if I’m using the full recipe ? How many cups of milk would I use ?
Hello, thankyou! In the video I explained that I was using Country Crock since that is the only one I can get near me nowadays. In the past I was able to get SILK brand which I prefer 100X more, but cannot get it anymore.
That said coconut milk will not whip, but COCONUT FAT will CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE INFO ABOUT VEGAN WHIPPED CREAM
That said COCONUT FAT does NOT NEED stabilizer since it gets very thick on it’s own
However is step #7 in the recipe it says::
Once you need to stabilize 2 cups of liquid cream, you will melt 1 portion of the agar stabilizer (which is equal to ¾ teaspoon of powder agar and 3 Tablespoons of water) using a small saucepot or the microwave to melt it and then add it HOT to the high speed whipping cream just after it comes to the peaks you desire. I usually whip to medium firm peaks and then add the agar stabilizer to it and whip for another 30 seconds
I think the video explanation does a great job of clarifying all of this information
Hello,
I can’t believe how thick the cream turns out!
I’ve seen that xantham gum can be used as a substitute for agar agar. Do you think xantham gum powder would work here?
Yes I use xantham in my Homemade Recipe CLICK HERE
Would this stabilizer would work for a Vegan Ermine Frosting?
I bake my daughter’s birthday cakes due to many severe food allergies. She loves the Ermine frosting but it’s very heat sensitive. We do 1/2 vegan sticks and 1/2 shortening (Crsico without trans fats since we’re in California). I usually have to keep the cake in the fridge until it’s time to serve. And even then, it’s melting by the time people start eating.
Yes it’s true it is the most fragile Buttercream recipe
I think it would work! Could be added hot to the custard
That’s great news! I will try it for my daughter’s birthday party this Saturday. Can you tell me how much I should use for recipe that would yield enough for one 8-9” cake with 2-3 layers?
SO I see the recipe (without the video tutorial) can seem confusing since I make a bulk recipe.
But if you read step 7 it says: Once you need to stabilize 2 cups of liquid cream, you will melt 1 portion of the agar stabilizer (which is equal to ¾ teaspoon of powder agar and 3 Tablespoons of water) using a small saucepot or the microwave to melt it and then add it HOT to the high speed whipping cream just after it comes to the peaks you desire. I usually whip to medium firm peaks and then add the agar stabilizer to it and whip for another 30 seconds
That 2 cups of liquid cream should be enough (once whipped) to cover a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake
Would this amount be the same for vegan Ermine frosting? I wasn’t sure if it would be the same as they yield the same prepared amount or if I’d need to adjust for the different ingredients and process.
Since I have not tried it in Ermine icing I would be guessing the same as you. I would probably start with a full teaspoon of agar added to the custard
In the video you mentioned stabilizing I think the country crock with chocolate, would vegan white chocolate also work and how had you gone about it ? I’m making a vegan gf Swedish princess cake and want to insure the whip cream can hold up
So I add cooled ganache to my whipped cream for an instant chocolate whipped. You can do the same thing with white chocolate! Just add about 1/2-1/2 cup COOLED white choco ganache to the whipped cream just at the last monment
If I do not have a stand mixer, could I do this using an electric hand mixer?
Thank you!
I would have to say probably not. Unfortunately this one is tricky even with ALL THE PERFECT CONDITIONS!
First off, I love ALL your recipes, Gretchen! Thank you for your hard work of putting them together and making them available for us Vegans everywhere!! I really appreciate you.
I love making your soy/coconut oil whip cream, but when it touches powdered sugar, it starts weeping and melts all the powdered sugar. Do you think if I add this agar stabilizer to it, it would help with that? Have you tried adding it to your own whip cream recipe?
Hey there, thank you too! so I am not sure what you mean by “when it touches powdered sugar’ Do you mean the addition to the base whipping cream to sweeten it?
If so, this is new information for me, since this does not happen for me. The sugar typically dissolves in the base liquid cream, then gets all whipped up together
This agar stabilizer is great for any whipped cream (storebought or my recipe) to help with stablization
Could you use jello as well instead of agar?
I have both but I was wondering since jello has flavorings.
Thank you so much for sharing all this with us!
,
Hi Sarah thanks & you are welcome too! 🙂
It’s worth a try but since I don’t use Jell-O (It is made from gelatin which is made from the skin & bones of animals) I wouldn’t be able to test that
Hi it is possible to store the stabilized cream in the freezer?
Hi there, so stabilized OR NOT stabilized whipped cream does not do well in the freezer~ so that would be a NO
Thank you❤️
Hi! I just tried your recipie and I wanted to ask, while I was cooking the agar agar powder it got a lot thicker than yours was in the video, it was like a paste, is that okay?
Hmm, I suspect all brands will vary on consistency & more importantly strength. You definitely don’t want it to be chunky though in which case I would remelt it & add more water so it is more like the way I show on the video
The cool thing about agar is that you can remelt it more than 1 time
The key is when you are streaming it into the whipping cream it goes in very FAST! So a think stream of pourable liquid is what you are going for
I have been combing over your whipped cream recipes as I need to make a very stable black forest cake and want to use whipped cream as the dam in between layers as well. In the past i had to use buttercream as my whipped cream was only solid enough to cover outside layers. I am keen to use either the super thick part of coconut cream cans or Alpro Soya whipping cream which will be lower in fat. I am about to try it with coconut cream, adding per 2 cans of hard cream 6T powder sugar, 2 packets vanilla sugar, 2T cornstarch, 2T instant pudding powder, 1/4tsp cream of tartar, and 1/2 tsp xanthum gum. Any thoughts on this please? I already have all of this in stock (as well as agar agar) but am trying to avoid preparing the agar agar if not necessary. THANKS! Love your recipes! xxx
Hey there, so it sounds like you have a pretty good recipe locked & loaded for this part as you named here, I wonder have you tried this yet or is this just something you made up or saw somewhere?
At any rate I always wonder why people use cornstarch in recipes that are not cooked because cornstarch does NOT thicken unless it is cooked to a certain temperature where the starch molecules are activated causing the gelling.
The instant pudding on the other hand uses MODIFIED cornstarch which WILL thicken hence the name “instant”
Here are my thoughts: A cake like Black Forest is a super soft filled cake with the combination of whipped cream & “wet” cherries making for a disaster waiting to happen so I understand your concern & the use of buttercream in your previous attempt(s) which is a great idea by the way
In my experience with many variations of Vegan Whipped Cream I have found SILK brand to be the most stable, thick & durable however I cannot get that anymore near me. I’m not even sure they even make it anymore??
Alternatively MY HOMEMADE RECIPE was used in my Original Black Forest Cake recipe with NO Stabilizer used & it was very strong & held up for days
I am guessing though that you do not have THOSE ingredients? or are not ready to try the homemade recipe?
I will say the recipe can be tricky & finicky causing frustration not to mention I recommend to prepare the base cream a day in advance & always have a backup on hand in case it doesn’t cooperate!
Although if you read the comments on that recipe so many people have great success with it!
All this being said I feel I am not being too helpful for you becasue ultimately you have to find what is best for you based on the ingredients you can get, time you have, level of frustration you are willing to deal with etc….
In the end I have been using country crock because it is all I can get near me – I do not love it as stated here in Comparing all the Vegan Whipped Cream & why I created the stabilizer for it
I now just add a bit of ganache to it (making it chocolate whipped cream) & this makes it VERY STABLE without using the agar
Again sorry if I am not being very helpful!
Thanks a lot Gretchen for your speedy thorough response! I am so glad you educated me on the cornstarch. I saw it somewhere else and thought I’d give it a try on the recipe I’d NOT attempted yet. I’ll make it this evening. I will remove the cornstarch since it didn’t make sense to me for the same reason you mentioned. oops! I will try it first with coconut cream with all ingredients I wrote – minus cornstarch. I did want to try yours but here in Belgium coconut oil is super expensive. But if my coconut cream mix doesn’t work, I’ll whip up a batch of yours. So glad to know that almost everyone has had luck first time around with it. And thanks so very much for your tip on adding ganache to it for chocolate whipped cream! Looking forward to trying this as well. Thanks again!!!!
Oh great & you’re welcome! Make no mistake coconut oil & (and EVERYTHING) is super expensive here too … another reason why I go with Country Crock it’s just $3.50 per pint