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This chocolate whipped cream recipe has been made hundreds of thousands of times. When you follow my easy 3 ingredient recipe, you’ll become a chocolate whipped cream expert!
This is hands down the BEST chocolate whipped cream I have ever tasted! It is so great for cakes! The instructions were so well written! I am such a visual person that the video made it super easy as well!
-Olivia
Chocolate Whipped Cream
Can I make a confession? I like cool whip.
I know.. I’m a dessert blogger. I should probably like homemade whipped cream more than cool whip. But cool whip is easy.
However, everything changed when I tried homemade CHOCOLATE whipped cream.
I’m obsessed. You can put it on everything. Peanut butter cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, use as a topping for brownies, on pancakes or waffles, as a fruit dip for strawberries… eat it with a spoon!
Of course everything is better with chocolate. It’s SUPER good with chocolate pudding.
Why you’ll love this Chocolate Whipped Cream Recipe
- 3 ingredients
- ready in 5 minutes or less
- the perfect frosting or topping for any dessert
- will be your new favorite whipped cream flavor
I used to think whipped cream was too complicated. If you can hold a hand mixer while scrolling tiktok, you can make this recipe!
Even better if you have a stand mixer, set it to medium-high speed and walk away for a few minutes and you’ll come to the the most magical whipped topping.
You can use it to top a pie, in hot cocoa, use it to ice cupcakes or a cake, or use it as the filling in cookies sandwiches. Chocolate whipped cream is a staple recipe that every home baker should know how to make.
Chocolate Whip Cream Frosting Ingredients
- heavy whipping cream (36% milk fat)
- natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- powdered sugar (also called confectioners sugar)
What is heavy whipping cream?
Heavy whipping cream, also known as heavy cream or simply whipping cream, is a dairy product that is rich in fat and is used primarily in cooking and baking. It is made by separating the high-fat content from fresh cow’s milk.
Heavy whipping cream contains a minimum of 36% milk fat, although it can sometimes have a slightly higher fat content depending on the brand and region. The high fat content gives it a thick and creamy texture, making it ideal for various culinary applications.
Types of Cocoa Powder
When it comes to baking, there are primarily two types of cocoa powder: natural cocoa powder and Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
- Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This type of cocoa powder is made from roasted cocoa beans that have been ground into a fine powder. It is acidic in nature and has a lighter color and slightly fruity, tangy flavor.
- Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: Dutch-processed cocoa powder, also known as alkalized cocoa powder, undergoes additional processing. It is treated with an alkali solution to neutralize its acidity. This process results in a darker color and a milder, smoother flavor compared to natural cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa powder has a less pronounced acidic taste and often offers a deeper, more complex chocolate flavor.
- Black Cocoa Powder: Black cocoa powder, also known as black cocoa or ultra-Dutch cocoa, is a highly processed and strongly alkalized cocoa powder. It undergoes an extensive Dutch-processed treatment to reduce its acidity and intensify its flavor and color.
What’s the best cocoa powder for chocolate whipped cream?
Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder or Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder will both taste great. Unsweetened will give the whipped cream a traditional chocolate flavor and dutch-processed will offer a deeper, richer chocolate flavor.
How To Make Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Place a metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer. Add the heavy cream, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar, and beat with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, or until stiff peaks form / it’s scoop-able with a spoon and holds its shape.
What are Stiff Peaks
Stiff peaks in whipped cream refer to a stage where the cream holds its shape firmly and stands upright when the beaters are lifted, with the peaks maintaining their sharpness and not drooping over. It is a crucial point of whipping, indicating that the cream is thick, fluffy, and ready to be used for piping or topping desserts.
Chocolate Whip Cream Frosting Tips
Freeze Your Bowl Before Making Whipped Cream
Chill a metal or glass mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.
You’re wondering if this step is necessary. I have made whipped cream by sort of chilling the bowl ahead of time.. meaning last minute I stick it in the freezer or I pull it out of the freezer too early and by the time I actually whip the cream, the bowl isn’t chilled anymore.
Here’s what I’ve observed – chilling the bowl and beaters ahead of time produces whipped cream that has stiffer peaks, that’s a fancy way of saying it’s more stable.
How to make Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting without Gelatin
If you want to make stabilized chocolate whipped cream, all you have to do is add in 2 oz of room temperature cream cheese! This will help to thicken and stabilize the whipped cream, making it firm.
Instructions for Stabilized Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Place a metal or glass mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar, beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute or until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the heavy whipping cream, cocoa powder and vanilla extract, beat with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form / it’s scoop-able with a spoon and holds its shape.
Troubleshooting Chocolate Whipped Cream
Doesn’t hold its shape / too soft: You probably haven’t whipped it long enough. Set a timer and continue to beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes.
Over whipped / curdling: This is when it starts to look gross. You can try to remedy it by adding a small amount of heavy whipping cream while beating, but honestly, it’s better to start over.
The taste is off: First, let’s remember taste is a personal preference. If it doesn’t taste chocolate-y enough, try using dutch-processed cocoa next time. Too sweet or not sweet enough? You can subtract or add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Chocolate Whipping Cream Frosting FAQs
I prefer to use a stand mixer or hand mixer. Using this preparation method, it will take about 4-6 minutes for the heavy cream to produce stiff peaks.
Homemade whipped cream lasts up to 1 day. It will keep its shape for about 2-3 hours depending on the weather. In warm weather, it will lose its shape faster.
Add in 2 oz of room temperature cream cheese for a thicker, more stable whipped cream.
Yes. If you whip the whipped cream past the stiff peak stage, the whipped cream will deflate and start to look curd-like in texture.
Homemade whipped cream will stay fluffy for up to 1 day when stored properly in the refrigerator.
If you’re making whipped cream and it goes flat, it could be from whipping it too much, using low-fat cream, or it getting warm while you’re whipping. Storing it wrong, like leaving it out, can also deflate it. Whipping too long breaks down the fats, making it grainy, and low-fat cream doesn’t hold up well. Warm spots mess with getting those nice peaks, and leaving it out doesn’t help either.
If your whipped cream isn’t getting fluffy, a few things might be happening. Perhaps the cream isn’t cold enough or the bowl and whisk you’re using aren’t chilled. Another possibility is that you’re not whipping it long enough to reach stiff peaks
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Chocolate Whip Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place a metal or glass mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer. Add the heavy cream, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 4-5 minutes, or until stiff peaks form / it’s scoop-able with a spoon and holds its shape.
- Use on cakes, cupcakes, pies, hot cocoa, etc. Place leftovers in a container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
- Place a metal or glass mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar, beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute or until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the heavy whipping cream, cocoa powder and vanilla extract, beat with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form / it’s scoop-able with a spoon and holds its shape.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Any tips on what to do if it won’t stay whipped? I froze the bowl and whisk for about an hour before making, all my ingredients were cold. I whipped for a while and it had stiff peaks, as soon as I went to put it on my cake it deflated :(
More powdered sugar!
Can i use unsweetened cocoa powder?
Yes!
I had the same thing happened. Went to work it and it got all soupy even after 3 hours in fridge. Switched to wire beaters and rewhipped it. Yeah! It worked. Used 1.5 pints of cream so I was on the high side technically with .25 cups cocoa (Hershey’s) and .5 cup powdered sugar. Tried Splenda once…not the same. Love this frosting!
I’m wanting to make a chocolate pavlova. Would this work as a layer between the pavlova and the fresh fruit or is it too light/delicate to hold up?
Hi Janine! I’m not sure because I haven’t made a pavlova before, but I would see what other people use on top on theres, maybe it will work!
why do I need to put the bowl and beaters/whisk attachment in the freezer for 15 minutes. couldn’t I just put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes instead? wouldn’t that get them cold enough without freezing ?
please let me know soon.
The colder the bowl, the easier it will be to whip the heavy cream into stiff peaks.
I doubled this recipe to make a two layer cake and 24 cup cakes . Let me just say this was the best whipped icing I have ever tasted . It was easy to make and wasn’t over the top sweet like a lot of cake or cup cake icing . It was the perfect of sweet and chocolate. I will never use store bought or any other recipe again for my cakes or cup cakes . I would like your regular white whip cream recipe if you have one .
I’m so glad you loved it!! I could eat this stuff by the spoon! I don’t have a regular whipped cream recipe – but I would do heavy cream + powered sugar!
Pulled up your recipe for the chocolate whipped cream frosting, made it and used it to frost a German Chocolate cake, my husband and I aren’t big fans of coconut or pecans, so I was looking for something to use except store bought frosting which is usually way too sweet, this was perfect for the German Chocolate cake, I did have a little bit left over and found my husband eating it the next day like a mouse, he loved it. I was reading some of the posts by some of the people and found a few really good ideas, like the one putting dollops on a cookie sheet and freezing them, then using the frozen chocolate dollops in hot cocoa, what a great idea, I will be doing that for sure, I will put them in a plastic freezer bag and keep some on hand for those hot cocoa days, and putting it on waffles or pancakes, oh yum! Thanks for the recipe, and thanks to your readers for some awesome ideas, keep making and posting wonderful recipes
LOL I’ve eaten this as mousse just like your husband did! Glad you guys enjoyed it!
Making this today for our Fathers day GF cupcakes! I am excited to try it. I have Organic Alkalized Cocoa Powder and plan on increasing the Powered Sugar slightly so it will hold up and be a tad bit sweeter. I’ll let you know how it goes. :)
This would be so good on cupcakes!
This is amazing! If I didn’t have a cake to frost, I’d eat it by itself! I also found your strawberry whipped cream, which I’ll need to find an excuse to make!
Hi Beth, My mother used to make a chocolate cake with a kind of light fluffy chocolate frosting then the whole cake was covered with chopped pecans. We kept it in the freezer. It was one of my very favorite cakes and unfortunately my mother doesn’t remember it or the recipe. (Old age :( sucks) Anyway, I am hoping to try and recreate her cake using your recipe. Crossing my fingers and hope it will taste half as good as what Mom used to make.
Thanks for your recipe, it sounds really really good. :)
That cake your mom makes sounds really good!!
Is this a pipable whipped cream or do you recommend adding Knox gelatin to help stabilize so it can be piped on cupcakes?
It’s pipable for sure! Best to pipe the whipped cream on the cupcakes right before serving.
This is hands down the BEST chocolate whipped cream I have ever tasted! It is so great for cakes! The instructions were so well written! I am such a visual person that the video made it super easy as well! The comments about not making it on the cake was what sold me on giving it a try. I have to agree I probably had one too many spoon full of the whipped cream. Thanks
If you are on Pinterest I would love