Easy step by step guide to making vegan whipped cream using canned coconut cream. Better than any whipped cream you’ve had before!
Vegan whipped cream – ooh la la.
Whipped cream has so many uses and when you find yourself going vegan or dairy-free, you might be worried about what there is to replace it!
Whipped coconut cream is it.
Making your own vegan whipped cream is an essential skill when it comes to making vegan desserts.
And I’m going to show you two ways of making it, the plain delicious whipped cream way, or the sweetened whipped cream way.
Really depends on what you’re eating it with. Eating it with a super sweet dessert? Then there is no need to sweeten your cream. Eating it on something relatively plain? Then you may want to sweeten your cream!
Wherever you would have used regular whipped cream – use this instead!
Vegan whipped coconut cream can be piped onto cakes, cupcakes or vegan pies. In these photos I’ve demonstrated a couple of different types of piping tips to show you how it can look on top of a delicious vegan apple cake (and vegan brownies in our video).
Ingredient Notes
- Coconut cream – canned coconut cream is the best for making vegan whipped cream, better than coconut milk. Coconut cream has a lower water content, so basically you’ll get more bang for your buck. Full fat canned coconut milk can also work but the best results are generally going to come from using coconut cream. If you’re in the USA then Savoy brand works well.
- Powdered sugar – is only needed if you want to sweeten your cream. Powdered sugar works best since it dissolves into the cream really easily.
- Vanilla extract – this is also an optional ingredient, but if you’re adding powdered sugar then adding some vanilla extract tops it off beautifully.
How To Make Vegan Whipped Cream
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- First you need to refrigerate a can of coconut cream overnight. Place it into the coldest part of your refrigerator and leave it there at least overnight.
- After your coconut cream has chilled in the fridge for at least 12 hours, then remove the can from the fridge, being careful not to shake it. Open it up and you’ll see the cream should have all risen to the top and hardened.
- Depending on the brand of coconut cream you’re using, whether the cream is super hard, or just slightly firmed up, can be quite variable.
- Scoop only the cream part out into the bowl of your stand mixer, leaving the watery part behind.
- As you can see above, the cream in this can was very solid, and once scooped out, it leaves a fair bit of the separated water section behind.
- Once scooped into your stand mixer, start off on slow speed and then gradually increase speed until you have a nice thick whipped cream consistency.
Tips For Making The Best Vegan Whipped Cream
If the cream is really hard once it’s separated from the water in the can, it can sometimes create more of a thick cream cheese consistency than a whipped cream consistency. You can add a little of the water from the can back into the cream to thin it out ever so slightly and create a better whipped cream consistency.
Some brands of coconut cream can over-whip if you go too long and start to separate. If your cream is quite thick to start off with, you might not need to whip it for long at all, as with the batch you see pictured above.
If your cream is very floppy and barely firm at all when it separates from the water in the can, then it might not whip well at all. In this case, whip it for a longer time to see how firm you can get it, and once you’ve got it as firm as possible, you can add in ¼ – ½ tsp xantham gum and whip that in, it will thicken it up fast and can save it from being a dud batch.
Experiment with different brands until you find a good one. Unfortunately sometimes you find a great one and then the manufacturers change the formula slightly and then it doesn’t work so great anymore (happened to me recently!). If you find a brand of coconut cream that works great for making vegan whipped cream, then just leave a few cans in the top of your fridge permanently. This is what I do, so I’m always ready to whip up a batch of whipped cream on short notice.
Some brands just don’t work well at all. Some might look like they’re going to work but then when you try and whip them, they start to separate and look all grainy. Experiment until you find a brand that works great for you.
Coconut creams in a carton won’t work for this at all.
Another option you have if you can’t be bothered with experimenting to find a good brand to use is just to get a can of coconut whipping cream. It also needs to be chilled before it will work, but it works great every time!
Storing and Freezing
Whipped coconut cream can be stored in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week. It’s not at all freezer friendly so I don’t recommend freezing this at all.
Serve This Coconut Whipped Cream On:
- Vegan Waffles
- Vegan Brownies
- Vegan Hot Chocolate
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Vegan Scones
- Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 14 ounce Can Coconut Cream (400ml) 1 Can, Unsweetened
- 3 Tbsp Powdered Sugar Optional
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Optional
Instructions
- Place the can of coconut cream into the coldest part of your refrigerator and leave it there overnight.
- The next day, take it out and carefully open it (don’t shake it around!).
- You’ll see that the cream part has separated from the water and risen to the top.
- Scoop that out into the bowl of an electric mixer, leaving the water behind. You can use the water in a smoothie or throw it out.
- Starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until you achieve a whipped cream consistency.
- The harder the consistency of the cream when you scoop it out, the quicker this will be.
- Once you have whipped cream consistency, you can stop right there. You're done! OR:
- Add some powdered sugar and vanilla for a sweetened cream.
- Whisk again until mixed in.
Video
Notes
- I have heard of cases where the coconut cream and water doesn’t separate and it’s still very liquid inside the can, this would mean you got a dud can. For this reason, have a back up can in the refrigerator – you can always use the dud for making a creamy sauce.
- Some brands of coconut cream are all hard cream with very little water left behind after chilling, this is great! If it also whips well then make a note of the brand and stick with that one.
- The best results come about in this recipe when the cream is very firm to start off with. If your cream is floppier when you start, you’ll have to whip it for longer, and even then, it might not reach your desired firmness. If you need a ‘fix’ for a batch that won’t firm up enough, you can add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of xanthum gum, just be careful because this can sometimes firm it up more than you want it to! But this works as a fix.
- I’ve done it with a hand whisk (no electric mixer) and it is possible, but generally only in cases where the cream is quite firm and hard to start with. Even then it uses a lot of arm power.
- The cake in the photos with the whipped cream on top is our vegan apple cake and the brownies in the recipe video are our simple vegan brownies.
I have made coconut whipped cream with different brands of whipping cream that do NOT have any extra thickeners in them. And I’ve never needed to separate the cream from the little bit of water (if you are using coconut milk you will need to do this extra step). I have always refrigerated over night and then just dumped the can into a bowl, added sweetener and vanilla and then used my cheap hand mixer and gotten fluffy whipped cream every single time.
Hi Nancy, if you’re using a brand of coconut whipping cream (different from canned coconut cream) then that definitely works differently. A brand I love is Nature’s Charm and you don’t have to do any separating of the cream in those, but that is a different thing entirely to regular canned coconut cream.
Can I freeze the can? My fridge doesn’t seem to be cold enough :/
Oh darn, sorry to hear that! The freezer doesn’t work great at all for this, it tends to make it grainy if it freezes. But I guess if you were careful to just put it in the freezer for just a few hours and don’t forget it in there, it ‘might’ be okay. The Coconut Whipping Cream from Nature’s Charm (you can get it on Amazon) is much more forgiving than regular coconut cream, so that is a good option as well.
If I’m short on time, can I put the can in the freezer for 8 hours?
I tried this once and didn’t have success with it. The texture of the cream went very grainy. Maybe it was the brand I used, so you can always try it and see, but it didn’t work for me.
Hi! what can be done with the liquid that is left in the can?
You can use it in a smoothie. 🙂
ive had trouble with that and what i think would work is leaving it out to warm up or i just grabbed gloves and basically squished it until it was all meltedish then stuck it in the fridge for 10 minutes and it was good, though its probably easier just to take the cream out then leave it out for 20 minutes or so
I made this with trader joes coco cream and it separated and looks like cottage cheese after several minutes of hand mixing. I’ve tried this twice and never achieve your consistency. Also, how can I infused it with a flavor or tea?
Hi Heather, I have had this happen before when I mixed for too long. If it’s pretty thick to start with, you can get away with quite a quick whip. It might also be an idea to try a different brand.
How much does this yield?
Around 1 and 1/2 cups.
Have been experimenting so much with whipped cream, and have come to find out that the Trader Joe’s brand is just the oddest texture. Then, found out they recently (sometime in the last year?) changed their formula or something and is now grainy. Use it for something else and switch to another brand. I’ve been like Whole Foods’s coconut cream and coconut whipping cream.
I made this with Thai Kitchen unsweetened coconut milk. I followed the directions exactly as written. It was so very good! I put it on the chocolate cake. I might make more and use it in my coffee!
It was amazing! Every one of your recipes are cool and your page is awesome. Thanks for working hard everyday and sharing this in your pages and instagram, facebook, videos… wow!
Thanks so much Elisabeth! 🙂
I use this all the time now! It’s just genius, will never miss the dairy cream again!
I know right? It really is amazing! 🙂
I know this is all about the whipped cream, but what is it shown atop, in several of the pictures above? (My guess is it must be some sort of streusel-y coffeecake, but I’m not sure.) I can almost taste it, both fluffy and crisp with sugar, and is that cinnamon I also see?
Hi Nicola, it’s an apple cake! You can get the recipe here. I will update the recipe card with a note about that, thanks for asking! 🙂
Can you recommend a brand that you use. I’ve been trying with a brand from Dischem and none of the times I’ve tried has the coconut cream separated, no matter how long I let it stand in the fridge. Please help.
Hi Hawa, it can be tricky because sometimes you find a brand that works great and then they change their formulation and it no longer does. There was a brand from Checkers that worked so well, it was bliss, but then they changed something and it no longer did. Lately I have been using a brand called Trumps in a blue can, you can get it from Spar. It is VERY firm so needs very little whipping. Otherwise the Dischem Lifestyle brand works, but ONLY the Lifestyle brand, none of the others from there.
How stable is this , eg using on vegan meringues will it loose texture and go sloppy
How long would you say the whipped cream can be stored for before use?
For up to a week definitely (tried and tested), perhaps even longer, but I haven’t tested it past a week.
Thank you for sharing this recipe , I was doing a vegan wedding cake and had no idea what to use for a whipped cream frosting . I love this I think I’ll be using it in more recipes. P.s. I’m even thinking about doing your 14 day cleanse, Sherri Hansen Stratford Sd
That’s awesome Sherri! Thanks for posting!
Will this taste like coconut?
Definitely yes.