Make a delicious dairy-free, vegan, and paleo whipped cream for all your topping needs. Coconut whipped cream is a perfect foil for pudding, pie, hot chocolate, and ice cream sundaes.
Refrigerate a can of coconut milk or cream overnight. When you are ready to whip the cream, take it out of the refrigerator and turn the can upside down. Open it and pour off the coconut milk. You should have approximately 1 cup of coconut cream, but this amount will vary from brand to brand.
Using a hand beater or a stand mixer and whip the coconut cream on medium for a minute until it is smooth. Then increase the speed to medium-high, whipping the cream until fluffy and smooth. If the cream you are using is too thick, add a little of the coconut milk until you get the texture you are looking for.
Add any sweetener or flavoring you prefer and whip the cream just until combined. If any milk separates from the cream, simply drain it off.
Keep the whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Let the coconut cream come to room temperature before using, because it becomes quite firm. Re-whip the cream as needed. The whipped coconut cream will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
Look for coconut milk with the highest fat content. The brands known to work well are Native Forest, Trader Joe’s milk or cream, Savoy coconut cream, Whole Food’s 365 full-fat coconut milk, and Aroy-D coconut milk.
Whether you are using coconut milk or cream, in order to successfully whip the cream it must be cold. Ideally your bowl is cold as well.
It is best to avoid coconut milk that is sold in cartons or tetra packs because they normally contain stablizers. Also, coconut milk that has gums, like guar gum, are formulated to emulsify the milk and cream, which is working against what you are trying to do. Having said that, I have had luck with Native Forest organic coconut milk “classic,” which does have guar gum.
if your kitchen is warm, an hour ahead of the time you are planning to whip the coconut milk, place the mixing bowl in the freezer. Or, if you are like me and have no room in the freezer, chill in the refrigerator.
If you sweeten coconut whipped cream with Stevia or another sugar substitute, you will not only have a dairy-free, keto, vegan, and paleo recipe, but a sugar-free one as well.