French Chantilly Cream (Crème Chantilly)

Quick Summary: French Chantilly cream (crème Chantilly) is a lightly sweetened, vanilla-scented whipped cream made from just heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. It whips up in about 10 minutes into soft, airy peaks, ready to fill, pipe, or spoon over almost any dessert.

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 of the French term Chantilly.

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.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Just three ingredients. Heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla are all you need for a bakery-quality result.
• Ready in minutes. It whips up in about 10 minutes, with no cooking required.
• Endlessly versatile. Use it as a topping, a filling, or the base for a French diplomat cream and other pastry creams.
• Naturally light. Unlike heavy buttercreams or a rich mascarpone frosting, Chantilly cream stays airy and delicate.
• Easy to flavor. Switch up the vanilla for cocoa to make a chocolate whipped cream frosting, or add liqueurs and citrus zest.

Ingredients

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

Cold ingredients are key to making the perfect Chantilly frosting.

• 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 mascarpone for a firmer, creamier result. Use 1 part of mascarpone and 1.5 volumes 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 into whipped cream in a 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 in the recipe, using flavorings to compensate and add even more flavor. 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.

Step 1: Soft peak stage: Put the bowl of your stand mixer and the whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. To omit this chilling step, place the mixing bowl in a larger container filled with cold water up to half full, plus ice cubes, and proceed with the recipe.

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

Step 2: Take the chilled bowl out of the freezer and dry it, as it may have absorbed a little humidity. Pour the cold heavy cream into the bowl and beat at low speed for 1 minute. At this stage, the cream begins to foam.

Continue whisking: the cream will start to form soft peaks that barely hold their shape, collapsing under the whisk's weight.

Step 3: Add icing sugar (flavorings and whipped cream stabilizer if used) and continue whisking.

Extra tip: Add the sweeteners and flavorings at the soft peak stage for proper thickening of the cream.

Step 4: Medium peak stage: Increase the speed from slow to high gradually every 30 seconds. The cream will go through medium peaks that hold the shape but curl their tip on the lifted whisk.

Step 5: Stiff peak stage: The cream will form stiff peaks that stand up straight. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes for the cream to firm 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, aka 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 pipe it onto 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 soft peak stage, not earlier.
5. Without a hand mixer, use a balloon whisk to beat the cream over an iced bain-marie. It takes about 7-11 minutes to make the Chantilly cream.

How to stabilize Chantilly cream

Chantilly cream softens over time, so stabilize it if you need it to hold for hours or pipe cleanly. Whisk in a tablespoon of mascarpone for extra body, add a store-bought whipped cream stabilizer, or fold in a little gelatin bloomed in cold water. For a sturdier filling, turn it into a French diplomat cream by combining it with pastry cream.

Storing & freezing

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

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

If you use a siphon to make crème Chantilly, your cream can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days. However, this applies only if the internal pressure remains intact.

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

Troubleshooting tips

Chantilly cream doesn't rise

Reason: If the whipping cream isn't cold enough, it won't rise.
Solution: Use very cold cream, and chill the bowl and whisks for at least 10 minutes; better, 1 hour.

Chantilly cream is runny

Reason: 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 if it contains too much air: this is the case with Chantilly cream made in siphons.
Solution: Add a tablespoon of mascarpone and whisk again.

Reason: 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 as you whip. If the cream becomes lumpy, you can try adding 1-2 tablespoons of cold, unwhipped heavy cream and whipping 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?

• 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.
• It also pairs beautifully with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and shines over French crepes, French toast, Dutch Baby pancake, waffles, or chocolate mousse.
• Victoria Sponge Cake and Pavlova don't exist without Chantilly cake frosting.
• Finally, it brings a little indulgence to coffee and hot chocolate.

FAQ

What is Chantilly cream made of?
French classic Chantilly cream is made with heavy cream containing at least 30% milk fat, sugar, and vanilla flavor (vanilla bean, vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste).

What is the difference between whipped cream and Chantilly?
Chantilly cream is a French sweetened whipped cream made with heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla, while whipped cream is unsweetened and made with only heavy cream.

What is the difference between cream and creme?
These words mean the same: crème in French (crème is the correct spelling) is translated as cream in English.

What does Chantilly mean?
Chantilly refers to the town and château of Chantilly in France, where this sweetened whipped cream is said to have originated. Today, "Chantilly" simply signals lightly sweetened, vanilla-flavored whipped cream.

Can you make Chantilly cream ahead of time?
Yes. Whip it up to a few hours ahead, cover the bowl, and keep it in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Give it a quick whisk before serving if it softens.

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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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.