Not The Good Kind Of Imitatio

[naomichana]

Why do people keep posting about whipped cream on my friendslist? Admittedly, by "people" I mean maybe two of you, and by "keep posting about whipped cream" I mean mentioning it in passing in a strictly culinary context. But it is still deeply unfair, because all I have in the house is Cool Whip Light, and while it is all very well to say that

Comments

[darcydodo]

Why do people keep posting about whipped cream on my friendslist?

Another friend made a similar post to yours the other day about pit bulls, and asked if it was maybe National Pit Bull Day or something and she just didn't know. So my housemate decided to enlist several of us to make entirely innocent-seeming posts about pit bulls, filtered only to her. He changed the time on his post to coincide precisely with her original post. :)

[naomichana]

*checks flist suspiciously*

National Whipped Cream Week wouldn't be a half-bad idea, though. ;)

[ratcreature]

I had to look up what "Cool Whip" was (I don't think they sell that here), and it sounds disgusting. Fake whipped cream is just... I mean, I understand using some soy ersatz if you're vegan or allergic or something, but otherwise? ::shudder::

And why would an industrial product made from "water, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated coconut and palm kernel oil, < 2% sodium caseinate, natural and artificial flavorings, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 80, sorbitan monostearate, and beta carotene" (and I suspect the "light" variants will even be more disgusting as they probably substitute the corn syrup partially with some icky chemical sweetener and the coconut and palm oil with the bizarre things they put in food to make it pretend to taste like something without fat) be better for you than something as natural and delicious as whipped cream? I mean I get that it relatively high in fat but at least it doesn't come with all the sugary crap when you whip it yourself or with weird chemicals.

[naomichana]

Well, there are two factors at work here. One is the fat content; the other is long-term storability. I don't know offhand whether or not whipping cream freezes well, but if it does, one would certainly need several hours to thaw it before whipping it. Cool Whip, OTOH, can be frozen near-indefinitely, then sit out on the counter for an hour or so (or in the fridge for several hours) to reach proper scooping temperature/texture. All that said, if I were planning ahead for a dessert, I would certainly buy cream and whip it myself, but that doesn't work so well for random Sunday-night cravings.

Possibly I should look into the canned whipped cream they sell -- that's slightly more natural. Uh, I think.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, canned whipped cream is made of cream for the most part (well, here at least, I'm wary what might be done to it in the US with its strange ideas about food -- seeing that canned "cheese" abomination in an US supermarket was traumatizing). Though they usually add some kind of stabilizer I think and often sweeten it, and then there's the gas of course (I think laughing gas is usually used). I don't like its taste that much though, because the taste changes caused in milk products by the high temperature sterilization for longer storage. I can't stand the taste of UHT milk either.

[ljs]

Yay pudding and comfort reading! [sends whipped cream]

[naomichana]

Mmmm, whipped cream. And pudding. ;)

[loligo]

You have nine months of permission to eat whatever the hell your body wants you to eat. All those fats in whipped cream? They will go directly to your baby's brain!

[naomichana]

I know this, in theory. (Hey, I made myself bread pudding, didn't I? And not some kind of weird super-healthy variant, either, although I used skim milk because that's what I keep in the house.)

If I had had whipping cream on hand, I would have whipped it right up with some powdered sugar; unfortunately, I didn't, and it seemed drastically unfair to make my exam-grading husband run out to the store for what was not strictly an emergency. ;) If I'm still having whipped-cream issues in a day or two... well then.

[extraspecialk]

if the "light" is operative for you, i recommend Reddi-whip's spray can selection .
plus you can just spray them right into your mouth, saving you all the bother of pumpkin loaf or whatever.

[naomichana]

Well, I don't ordinarily have whipped-cream cravings -- even the Cool Whip in the freezer was a bit unusual. (In retrospect, I think it was because Cool Whip is awesome for Completely Artificial Except For The Bananas Pudding With Nilla Wafers.) If they continue, however, Reddi-Whip is probably the way to go.

Baking isn't much of a bother, and if you already have a spare loaf of pumpkin-pecan (or any other appropriate) bread, turning it into bread pudding takes maybe ten minutes plus an hour of cooking time. (You cube the bread, toss it in the pan along with some dried fruit if desired, then mix together milk, eggs, melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and preferred spices and pour the lot over the bread cubes before sliding the pan into the oven.) But it's cold and rainy here, which may be influencing my choice of pasttimes. ;)

[extraspecialk]

mmmm. bread pudding....
custard is really the topping of choice there, imho. or just plain liquid cream.
*homer simpson-like open mouth drooling on office keyboard*