French Chantilly Cream (Crème Chantilly)

With a few simple ingredients, French Chantilly cream or creme Chantilly is a real trap for gourmets. So enjoy it plain and accompanied with fresh berries, madeleines, scones, or ice cream. But before, learn a few tips to make it light and airy.

Often called Chantilly whipped cream, it is a pure delicacy that you never get tired of during dessert time.

Homemade Chantilly cream accompanies a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, fresh fruit, or chocolate fondant.

Jump to:

• What is Chantilly cream?
• Chantilly cream vs. whipped cream
• Ingredients
• Chantilly cream recipe variations
• How to make Chantilly cream
• Expert Tips
• Storage
• Troubleshooting
• What is Chantilly cream used for?
• FAQ
• Looking for frosting recipes? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

You will love it over French crepes, French toast, Dutch Baby pancake, waffles, chocolate mousse; you name it!

What is Chantilly cream?

Chantilly cream, crème Chantilly, or crème de Chantilly, is a sweetened whipped cream of French origin made with heavy cream, sugar (no less than 15%), and vanilla flavoring.

Nothing is more complicated than understanding the Chantilly definition. Sweet whipped cream is a literal translation for Chantilly in English.

According to a legend, its invention probably belongs to François Vatel, the butler of the Château de Chantilly (castle of Chantilly) in France in the middle of the 17th century. Although, the name "Chantilly cream" first appeared in the 19th century.

Chantilly cream vs. whipped cream

Chantilly cream is a French whipped cream with at least 30% fat, made without stabilizer, with added sugar, and natural flavorings. Whipped cream is made unsweetened and is called crème fouettée in French.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Cold ingredients are the key to making the perfect Chantilly frosting recipe.

• Heavy cream: Opt for a heavy cream (crème épaisse in French) or heavy whipping cream. Your cream must contain enough fat (30-36%) to be whipped effectively. But avoid the higher fat content; otherwise, you will end up with butter.

• Icing sugar or confectioners' sugar. Make it yourself using a coffee grinder or a food processor.

The recipe also works with caster or granulated sugar, but you may end up overbeating the cream trying to dissolve the sugar.

Chantilly cream recipe variations

• Mascarpone Chantilly cream frosting: Try adding some mascarpone for a firmer and creamier result. Use 1 part of mascarpone and 1.5 volume of whipping cream for the best results.

• Vanilla Chantilly cream: Add one sachet of vanilla sugar, ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract, or scraped seeds from the vanilla bean.

• Almond Chantilly cream: Add ¼ teaspoon of almond extract to the recipe.

• Orange Chantilly cream: Add ¼ orange blossom water to the cream.

• Milk chocolate Chantilly cream: Whisk melted milk chocolate with whipping cream in the bowl over an iced bain-marie.

• Coffee Chantilly cream: Add coffee extract or espresso to the cream.

• Biscoff Chantilly cream: Add Biscoff spread and use the cream to make the best Lotus Biscoff cake ever.

• Stabilized Chantilly cream: To help your cream hold better, add Dr. Oetker whipped cream stabilizer or Chantifix (the French version of the stabilizing agent for whipped cream).

For a lighter version, reduce the amount of sugar present in the recipe, using flavorings to compensate and bring even more taste. You can play with flavors such as:

• Liquor: amaretto liqueur, Kirsch, Grand Marnier, Irish cream, or rum;
• Extracts: almond or lemon extract, rose water, orange blossom water;
• Powders: cocoa or espresso powder, also freeze-dried fruit powders;
• Spices: powdered cinnamon or allspice. 

Do not hesitate to add a drop of food coloring to color your Chantilly cream.

How to make Chantilly cream

The key to successful Chantilly cream is to use very cold cream, a bowl, and whisks. Make sure to place them in the freezer for 10 minutes before you start.

Chill utensils

Put the bowl of your stand mixer and the whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Extra tip: You can use an electric hand mixer instead. In this case, place the electric beaters and a mixing bowl in the freezer.

To omit this chilling step, place the mixing bowl in a larger container filled with cold water up to half and ice cubes and proceed with the recipe.

Soft peak stage

Take the cold bowl from the freezer and dry it because it may have taken on a little humidity.

Pour cold heavy cream into the bowl and start beating at low speed for 1 minute. At this stage, the cream begins to foam.

Continue to whisk: the cream will start to form soft peaks that barely maintain their structure, collapsing under the weight of the whisk.

Add icing sugar (flavorings and whipped cream stabilizer if used) and continue whisking.

Extra tip: The sweeteners and flavorings must be added at the stage of soft peaks for the proper thickening of the cream.

Medium peak stage

Change the speed from slow to high, increasing gradually every 30 seconds.

The cream will go through medium peaks that hold the shape but curl their tip on the lifted whisk.

Stiff peak stage

Finally, the cream will form stiff peaks that stand up straight. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes to firm the cream up and reach the stiff peak stage.

Monitor the cream's right consistency closely to avoid over-whisking! It will lead to the formation of irrecoverable lumps - the butter. The first sign of overbeating is yellow reflections over the very white cream.

Once you see a tiny point called a "bird's beak" (bec d'oiseau in French), stop your mixer. The French cream is also ready when the whisk leaves a well-defined trace that does not close. Transfer the cream to a piping bag and garnish your cooled dessert.

Expert Tips

1. For the best results, place the bowl and whisks in the fridge 1 hour before you start.
2. Make sure to keep whipping cream covered with plastic wrap in the fridge until ready to use.
3. Gradually whisk the whipping cream, increasing the speed as the cream sets.
4. When icing sugar is added, other flavorings or colorings should be added simultaneously. However, make sure to add them at the stage of soft peaks, not earlier.
5. Without a hand and stand mixer, use a balloon whisk to beat cream over an iced bain-marie. It takes about 7-11 minutes to make the Chantilly cream.

Storage

You can make the Chantilly icing ahead, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Take out only when ready to use.

Make sure to place the bowl with cream in the coldest part of the refrigerator and consume the cream within 24 hours of preparation.

If you use a siphon to make creme Chantilly, your cream can be kept for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. However, this is applicable on the condition that the internal pressure is intact.

Can you freeze Chantilly cream? Unfortunately, Chantilly cream cannot be frozen. The crystals will break the bonds, and the air will disappear.

Troubleshooting

Chantilly cream doesn't rise

If the whipping cream isn't cold enough, it won't rise.

Solution: Make sure to use very cold cream, and chill the bowl and whisks for at least 10 minutes, better 1 hour.

Chantilly cream is runny

The cream is runny if it isn't whipped enough. Another reason is that the whipping cream doesn't contain enough fat (at least 30%). 

Finally, the cream may fall with too much air in it: this is the case with Chantilly cream made in siphons.

Solution: Add a tablespoon of mascarpone and whisk again.

Chantilly cream turns into butter

The Chantilly cream may turn into butter when it is overwhipped. It happens gradually, little by little when you continue to whip. 

At first, the cream stops looking smooth and creamy. Then the cream will gradually solidify into a single fat mass, and the whey will separate from the lipids. 

Solution: Monitor your cream's consistency closely while whipping.

If the cream becomes lumpy, you can try to add 1-2 tablespoons of cold unwhipped heavy cream and whip again. You can use it to garnish but not to decorate. However, it is too late to save the cream if it turns into "butter" and separates.

What is Chantilly cream used for?

Chantilly cream is wildly used in the pastry world.

• It is a sweet, creamy topping for pies, cakes, crepes, waffles, rum baba, and sundaes.
• French cream frosting is the basis for mousses and filling for eclairs and cream puffs.
• Chantilly cream is sometimes used to make crème Diplomate or crème Madame - the cream of the Tropézienne tart.
• Victoria Sponge Cake and Pavlova don't exist without Chantilly cake frosting.
• Finally, it brings a little indulgence to coffee and hot chocolate.

FAQ

Looking for frosting recipes? Try these next!

• French Pastry Cream
• Sugar-free Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Whipped Cream
• Diplomat cream
• Crème Légère

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.