The Surprising Ingredient You Need To Start Adding To Your Whipped Cream

There's something about homemade whipped cream that makes it taste even better than the canned stuff. Maybe it's the fresh cream or the lack of an aerosol being involved, but regardless, it's an easy treat to pull together at home that can give any dessert a lift. While traditional whipped cream only calls for a cold bowl, heavy whipping cream, a touch of powdered sugar, and a hint of vanilla extract, those who are looking to switch up the tried-and-true recipe might turn to other flavorings. 

You might have gotten a dessert from a restaurant or bakery that included a flavored whipped cream such as chocolate or mint. But if you've never considered making your own flavored whipped cream at home, it is time to give it a try. According to Serious Eats, you can make incredible whipped cream flavors given you have the time or extracts on hand. For those without a lot of time, however, there's one secret ingredient people are using to flavor their whipped cream that is simple and will leave an impression.

According to Bon Appétit, bitters, as in the bottle you probably have stashed away on a shelf of your home bar, are the perfect accompaniment to whipped cream. Depending on what you have on hand, bitters can have warm spice notes or fruity citrus notes (via Lifehacker). No matter which you have, bitters are like a larger bottle of more complex extracts: a neutral liquor with aromatics added to it. But unlike the straight-forward single notes of most baking extracts, bitters have more complexity and can add subtle nuance to a dessert. 

While it might be an unexpected ingredient to try in your homemade whipped cream, it certainly isn't one you or your friends will forget. If you have the time before making whipped cream, you might even want to pick up a different kind of bitters to try, depending on the dessert you plan to serve with the whipped cream. Experiment with orange, grapefruit, cherry or even mint bitters for different results (via A Couple Cooks).