The Store-Bought Dessert Staple Ina Garten Can't Stand

When it comes to holiday cooking and baking, sometimes store-bought is the way to go. From canned cranberry sauce to boxed mashed potatoes, these alternatives can save you so much time if you're up against the clock. They require little prep and often just one or two additional ingredients, making the cooking process a total breeze. Even the holiday queen herself, Ina Garten, has a handful of favorites when it comes to store-bought ingredients, including stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pie crust. There are a few ingredients, however, that make it onto her "homemade-only" list, one of which is whipped cream. While store-bought whipped cream makes dessert prep easier, Garten has firm opinions on it, and she made them clear in an Instagram Reel by Williams Sonoma.

"Store-bought is not fine," she said. "Whipped cream is so easy to make yourself — don't buy it store-bought in a can. I have no idea what's in there!" We do: A bunch of nonsense like maltodextrin, cellulose gum, and dextrose. If you think about it, it makes sense that canned whipped cream has all those ingredients: To give you that perfect, airy swirl and mouthfeel, there are bound to be stabilizers and emulsifiers. But homemade whipped cream has none of that. "It's just heavy cream. You whip it until it's a little, lind of soft peaks, add some sugar, vanilla ... It's so much better," Garten said. Not only is it incredibly easy to make, but homemade whipped cream is so satisfying, and after making it from scratch, you'll never go back to store-bought.

There are many ways to make whipped cream. Some require a physical workout, while others require a push of a button — literally. You can get good results with any method, so long as you don't over- or under-mix your heavy cream. To begin, gather your ingredients. A typical homemade whipped cream recipe calls for just a few: Cold heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract (or even a fresh vanilla bean). Of course, you can omit the sugar and vanilla extract, but your whipped cream won't be sweet. Next, decide what method you want to use. We think that the absolute best method for whipping cream is doing it by hand with a whisk, but you could also use an electric hand mixer, a stand mixer, a blender, or even a mason jar. Doing it by hand just lets you have more control over the consistency of your whipped cream.

Once you've decided on a method, begin whipping the heavy cream. If you're planning to fold it into a mousse or a batter of some sort, you'll want to aim for soft peaks. That means the peaks that form on your whisk will soften pretty quickly when you hold the whisk up. Medium peaks will be soft but will possess more of a solid structure; the peaks themselves will remain intact when you hold the whisk up. This consistency works well if you're dolloping whipped cream on desserts. Finally, stiff, or firm, peaks work well for dipping and spreading. When you hold the whisk up, the peaks should hold their shape perfectly.