I made a tasty Strawberry Pie for Sunday’s dessert. However, my whipped topping deflated and didn’t hold its shape.
Imagine the horror of seeing my pie with its billowy peaks suddenly fall flat within a few short hours.
My initial instinct as a novice chef of adding something as simple as gelatin or cream of tartar would have definitely paid off had I went with it.
Nevertheless, here are a few basic ingredients that might help your next whipped pie stabilize at least for more than 24 hours.
•Gelatin – Dissolve and bloom gelatin in cold water for a few minutes. Then warm up gelatin in microwave for 15 seconds. Let cool. Add cooled gelatin to soft peaked whipped topping and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
• Cornstarch – Add cornstarch to powdered sugar. Gently fold into whipped cream and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
• Pudding Mix- Mix the instant vanilla pudding mix with the cold cream, in place of sugar, until stiff peaks form.
• Cream of Tartar – Add about an 1/8 teaspoon of this to the cream first before whipping. Then whip up the cream and follow by gradually adding in the powdered sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
• Cream Cheese – Using softened cream cheese, add to the already soft peaked whipped cream and continue mixing until just combined and stiff peaks are formed.
• Powdered Milk – Combine powdered milk with powdered sugar and gradually add or fold it into the already soft peaked whipped cream being careful to not deflate. Continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
• Powdered Sugar – Whip cream first, then ‘gradually’ add powdered sugar while whipping until stiff peaks form.
However, this is where I errored in using the powdered sugar, as I did not follow this step properly. Rather I simply added the sugar all at once being in a rush, and this undoubtedly caused my whipped topping to eventually deflate, evaporate and or curdle.
So the moral of this story is to take your time and do not rush, being careful to also not over mix, and by doing so your whipped cream will beautifully come together and stabilize for at least a couple of days—that is, if your delicious dessert masterpiece last that long with all of the hungry mouths.
