Well, it's okay in a pinch...you can't use it to make a mousse it brakes down to quickly.
Real whipped cream is very easy to make. Plus it tastes so good!!!

Linda

The ones that are real cream in an aerosol can are just fine...It's coming up on the time that I need to always have one in the refrig.....a quick squirt makes morning coffee into a lovely treat!
There is nothing at all to whipping cream....put cold cream into a cold bowl and beat!!....add a little sugar and a little vanilla...and there you are!
If you do use the whipped cream in a can....hide it from the kids...there have been whipped cream wars at this house!!

I do not care for whipped cream, real or canned. However, last year I was at a friends house about this time of year. She had made a wonderful pumpkin cake roll, She topped it with aerosol brown-sugar whipped cream. It was out of this world. I could have eaten that whipped cream by itself, it was so good. I think it was from Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

Whipped cream in all its many forms is wonderful IMHO!!! What's not to like??
Joann

No big deal. Canned whipped cream tastes good.

However, give this simple trick a try:

Cut the plastic tip of the can a little, so that it makes a different squirt. This way no one knows it's from a can.

dcarch

According to Dylan the Foo-Foo Dog, it is the best thing in the whole world. All I have to do is pop the cap off and bolts out of a sound sleep for his squirt on the floor.

Well - if Dylan says so then no need to get any further opinions!

Hahahaa Peppi! That is so cute!
Why make him lick it off the floor though? Squirt right into his eager mouth. (foo-foo dog) is so funny.

So funny - my Aussies can hear that whipped cream canister from the living room and they run to the kitchen. I make them sit and I squirt some on top of their noses and make them wait until I tell them it's ok to lick it off!

seagrass

Personally we can't stand the stuff. It's light whipping cream, not heavy.

We use an organic heavy whipping cream that is so rich a spoon can almost stand up straight in it, BEFORE it is whipped. And it's that wonderful high-butterfat, pale yellow, not bleached white.

Easier to whip, needs less sweetening, and you can use less of it, because it has far more flavor.

If you're only going to use a little cream at a time but often, buy a carton of Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. Seal it up tightly in between uses, and use a spoonful at a time.

Oh Seagrass!
You can't possibly make a comment like that without a picture! Pretty please?

I'm with Joann! :)

I also think the real whipped cream in a can is OK.

If I whip cream, I eat/use way too much of it, because it'll go flat in a day. Yeah, that's my story. I can flavor it with cinnamon or brown sugar or whatever I like, cinnamon whipped cream is yummy with pumpkin pie.

But everyone in the family likes the stuff in the can just fine, so I try to save myself the fat and calories and just use the canned stuff. There's no excuse that it'll spoil, it lasts from Thanksgiving through Christmas!

Annie
Annie

Yes, the real stuff is okay but not as good as heavy cream that you whip yourself. On the other hand, I love squirting it directly in my mouth and exhaling a puff of smoke.

Well, for putting on desserts that we're going to eat--ONLY the real whipped cream, made from the highest butterfat cream available (preferably over 40%) will do.

However, that being said, we do always have the canned stuff in the fridge. DH keeps it in the house because our cat loves it, and knows exactly when it's 9PM--at which time she pesters him until he puts a nice rosette of the stuff on a plater for her. I will say, I think there's a benefit to the preservatives in it--he's been doing that for many years for our cat, and she's going to be 21 on her next birthday--that's almost TWICE the average lifespan of a cat of her age, so I think the whipped cream's preserved her well.

Of course, if you have teens in the house I'd NEVER have the canned stuff in -- they use the cartridges for huffing, very dangersous, no point in tempting fate or a teenager.

Well, of course it's not as good, that's the point, LOL. The real stuff is just too good, I have to eat it up before it goes flat.

My cat wouldn't touch any of it, or any other milk product and Cooper will eat the real stuff but not the canned stuff. He won't touch Cool Whip either and I don't blame him!

Annie

I can't say I keep a can of it in the fridge, but I have used it when I've taken a dessert to work for a party. It's so portable, and people could serve as much as they want. It's fun, too. That being said, I love the home made stuff, too. Like Annie, way too much! Yesterday I was watching an episode of Jaques Pepin Essentials I had taped, where he was making desserts. Nearly everything he made, I commented, "That would be good with whipped cream!"

Sally

I don't mind whipped cream in a can. Don't use it often, but it is convenient in some cases. I always have a carton of real cream in my fridge and it only takes a couple of minutes to whip some up if I need it, so that is my preference.

Anything is better than Cool Whip in my humble opinion. I'd rather eat "naked" dessert than top anything with Cool Whip!

Linda

As to quantity--you don't have to make a lot of whipped cream. Sometimes I whip up only 1/4 cup of heavy cream, just to make enough for us for dessert. There's no rule that says you have to do an entire 8 or 16 ounce container at once. Just put a little cream in a small bowl or even a mug, and whip with your hand mixer (in a cup, I just put one beater in the mixer and it works just fine)--

The brown sugar whipped cream is amazing.

I always keep a can of the best quality whipped cream I can find, in the fridge. You MUST be prepared for a whipped cream emergency, they come up often.

As a treat, we have the kids tip their heads back, open their mouth and we squirt in some whipped cream from the can. It's a long-standing family tradition. One of the cats knows the sound of the shaking can and comes yowling in to the kitchen for her share.

One Christmas....at one of the famous...or infamous spoon hanging occasions, someone(!!??) got a can of whipped cream out of the frig....and the contest, among the kids and grand kids was to see how full they could fill their mouth with the stuff and still be able to close it....
The appeal with the stuff in the can is that it squirts!!
AND....they also make a do it yourself whipped cream canister....and you can put any cream and flavorings you want in it....and squirt it out!!
But be aware....they are charged with nitrous oxide...not an issue with normal use....but I suppose it does have possibilities for abuse....but it's not regulated...soooo....?

Here is a link that might be useful: cream whippers

Precious grandson loves whipped cream on any dessert or in the mouth; obviously he isn't picky about canned or homemade. Two years ago I invested in a cream whipper like LindaC linked to. It has been a good investment because it pleases DGS to always have WC on hand. The taste and flexibility of adding flavorings pleases me and impresses non-cooking guests so I am happy with this single-purpose gadget.

IDC what the food police say... an Aldi pecan pie and a can or two of the whipped cream is good holiday fare around here. A little dab don't do ya here. Being lighter is an advantage AFAIC. You can have more of it. The pie is plenty sweet and rich, so the cool, light creaminess compliments it just fine. I'm not a whipped cream snob. Haven't made my own. Maybe if I made my own I'd like it better but no incentive because the ones that I've had that make their own, well, I'll take the canned stuff. For that matter, a couple of them... I'll take Cool Whip, or any store's generic for that matter over the stuff they whipped up. I'm going to get a sign made "Homemade ain't always better"

"IDC what the food police say... an Aldi pecan pie and a can or two of the whipped cream is good holiday fare around here."

OMG that made me laugh! Thanks for a kick start to my day Cynic!

Westsider - I guess I could've added that I am of no opinion on whipped cream in a can. I don't care for sweets and I don't think I've had any whipped cream since I was a little kid in the 50's.

I like home made, but I also don't object to real whipped cream (not artifical) in a can. It's convenient and stores well, and can be used quickly in small doses. I keep a can around during hot chocolate season and a backup (hidden downstairs) all through the holiday season. If it's out where the kids can see it, they're prone to take a squirt directly as a snack. :-p The most abuse I've seen is that they put the can back as close to empty as it can be without ACTUALLY being empty, so that the next time I need it I get a splutter instead of a squirt. I'm not sure if they're trying not to be wasteful or just in denial that yes, they really *did* just eat a whole can of whipped cream. :-p
(OK, yes, I do know...)
Cj

Never have it in the house.

Much better to whip my own if I really need some. I can get better cream to whip and more importantly, I can sweeten it the way I want - the can stuff is way too sweet IMO. Finally, you can whip your own to the degree you want - sometimes you want it softly whipped and other times much more.

Always home made is better...Always....whipped cream, soup, mashed potatoes, bread, pie crust, salad dressing you name it. Home made trumps all....BUT for the squirt factor!!....and the always ready in the refrigerator thing.`

What I find amazing is the number of people on a cooking forum who have never made whipped cream!...I recommend it! Buy a half pint of whipping cream...put into a bowl ( cold is better) beat with either a whisk or a hand held beater...it's hardly worth getting out the stand mixer. When it looks like whipped cream, add a couple of teaspoons of powdered sugar and some vanilla.
Eat......repeat!!
Linda C

Of course home made is better, but it's not always as convenient, and having a can of whipped cream ready for those whipped cream emergencies that always seem to come up at the most inopportune times is essential. And it never goes bad, because it goes pretty quickly.

When it's part of a planned dessert, I always make my own, and now I add brown sugar instead of white. It's wonderful.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The can will be fine. I will have lots of other priorities.

This is a funny thread. When I was in college a friend from LI and I were making ambrosia for a dorm party. It required whipped cream - so I bought some cream and a whisk. The fact that we made whipped cream from scratch flabbergasted my friend. I heard about it for months - I felt like I was the holder of exotic and archaic skills. Meanwhile any food made with marshmallows and canned fruit seemed pretty exotic to me.

I try to save my whipped cream for Strawberry Shortcake season - I prefer homemade but have no arguments with the canned at all. Yum! Now you all have me thinking of hot chocolate and a squirt. And a squirt for the puppy...

Lindac if I am one of the people you are referring to - I never said that I had never made whipped cream from scratch. I've done it a number of times including last May for one of my great nephew's birthday cakes. One of those white cakes soaked in red jello, chilled and frosted with whipped cream.
I just did not eat any cake or whipped cream. Sweets don't appeal to me.