Food and Recipes Recipes Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream Homemade whipped cream will always taste better than store-bought. By John Somerall John Somerall John Somerall is a highly trained professional chef with over a decade of cooking and recipe writing experience. John has a passion for all things related to food. He has a profound understanding of what makes food taste great and look amazing, while also being able to translate difficult recipes into manageable feats for the home cook. Although John is no longer testing and writing recipes for Dotdash Meredith brands, he is still an active private chef and freelance recipe tester and developer. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on April 18, 2022 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Active Time: 5 mins Total Time: 5 mins Yield: 2 cups Jump to recipe Whipped cream is one of the simplest things to make from scratch—and once you try our Test Kitchen's homemade vanilla bean version, you'll never go back to the canned or frozen stuff. We use this Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream to top three of our newest variations on Banana Pudding—New-Fashioned Banana Pudding, Banana Pudding Pie, and Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars—but its lightly sweet flavor would pair well with any number of desserts, especially strawberry shortcake, fruit pies, and pound cakes. You'll want to bookmark this recipe: This vanilla whipped cream is a recipe you'll come back to again and again. Using a real vanilla bean pod makes all the difference in this recipe, providing true vanilla flavor as well as those lovely dark specks to the fluffy whipped cream. If you can't find vanilla pods, look for vanilla bean paste—don't turn to vanilla extract unless it's a last resort. Powdered sugar keeps this whipped cream extra soft and plush—be sure to sift it before adding it to the bowl, as this variety of sugar has a tendency to clump up. You can substitute granulated sugar in a pinch. Ingredients 1 vanilla bean pod 1 cup heavy whipping cream ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt 3 tablespoons powdered sugar Directions Cut vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise. Using back of a paring knife or edge of a small spoon, scrape vanilla seeds from 1 pod half into bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Reserve remaining pod half for another use. Add heavy whipping cream, kosher salt, and powdered sugar to bowl. Beat on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high, and beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Use immediately, or store in refrigerator until ready to use (up to 4 hours). Print