Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream

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Every fall dessert (or drink!) needs a fall topping! Make your own pumpkin spice whipped cream to garnish all of your favorite fall desserts. It tastes way better than anything you can buy at the store and you only need 4 simple ingredients to make it.

Fresh, homemade whipped cream is one of those things that sounds difficult and like something you would never think to try making at home since you can so easily buy it at the store.

But if you’ve been here any amount of time as a reader of mine, you’ve definitely seen my homemade whipped cream recipe and tutorial many times and may already know how easy it is to make.

I preach “homemade whipped cream or bust” just as often as I preach “scratch brownies or bust,” so it’s only fitting we turn that fluffy deliciousness into a pumpkin version for the fall and subsequent holiday season.

And guess what? Turning traditional whipped cream into pumpkin spiced whipped cream is so incredibly simple that it really is as basic as adding pumpkin pie spice to the ingredient list.

Do you think we can handle this? I do. This is going to be easy and tasty. What more could you ask for?

Just four ingredients short.

First, you’ll need some whipping cream which can go by the name heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Let me break this down because, evidently, dairy can be unnecessarily confusing sometimes.

To put it simply: fat content varies a bit among the contents of these oddly labeled cartons.

Whipping cream is typically around 30% milk fat while heavy cream and heavy whipping cream sits at around 36%.

Any of these options will work perfectly fine, just don’t try to make whipped cream with milk or even half-and-half. They simply don’t contain enough fat to be stable at a whipped state. I usually just buy whatever is available and don’t prefer one over the other.

Whatever you can find will work great for this recipe for pumpkin whipped cream.

You will also need a bit of sugar (granulated or powdered– check the recipe for tips on this), a generous dose of pumpkin pie spice, and a splash of vanilla extract making one of the simplest “recipes” ever.

Though not as simple as my fruit dip recipe. That one… I’ve always called a “sticky note for fruit dip” as opposed to a full blown “recipe.”

I DIGRESS. Dessert makes me do that sometimes.

NO PUMPKIN PUREE?

You’ll notice that this pumpkin whipped cream does not actually have pure pumpkin purée in it, and there’s a reason for that.

Pumpkin puree is a very wet and, thereupon, heavy.

Since we don’t want to totally weigh down our whipped cream with wet and heavy ingredients, we’re just using pumpkin pie spice to bring all the pumpkin flavor.

If you’re looking for a pumpkin whipped cream situation that does have actual pumpkin in it, for say maybeeeee some homemade pumpkin spice lattes or something of the like, consider checking out my pumpkin cream cold brew coffee recipe.

You can use that cold foam by itself for anything you want, including your favorite desserts!

You have two options here (and you’ll see both options reflected in the included photos). You can use a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer here. Keep in mind, my instructions heavily reflect the use of a stand mixer, which is typically much stronger than a handheld one, but the process and photos will look exactly the same.

It is the times that will vary when you use a handheld mixer.

I go back and forth between my stand mixer and handheld mixer depending on what equipment I do or don’t already have out, and I don’t find that one works better than the other.

Whipped cream is whipped cream and as long as the Cool Whip stays at the grocery store or in the trash, we’re all set!

REMINDER!
When in doubt, it’s not about how long to beat the whipping cream, but rather what stages to beat whipping cream through to achieve the desired result.

Pour the cream, sugar of choice, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla extract into the bowl of your stand mixer (or large bowl, if you’re using a handheld mixer) and attach the whisk attachment.

Turn the mixer to medium speed (KitchenAid stand mixer speed 4 or 5, handheld mixer speed 2 or 3). The mixture will start to get frothy and bubbly.

After about 2 to 3 minutes, the mixture will start to thicken.

Once it appears thick (the trail of the whisk will start to become visible), increase the speed to medium-high (KitchenAid speed 7 or 8, handheld mixer speed 4 or 5) and beat for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.

At this point, your pumpkin spice whipped cream will start to look “billowy” and the trails from your whisk will be quite distinct.

For your final product, you want the whipped cream in the bowl to have formed what are called “stiff peaks.” This is just a fancy term for “the whipped cream stays standing up when you pull something out of it.”

You can double check that your whipped cream is done by removing the whisk and flipping it upside down. If the peak stays tall without drooping off, it’s done.

If it’s still a bit droopy, put the whisk attachment back on the mixer and beat for just 10-15 seconds on medium-high (KitchenAid speed 7 or 8, handheld speed 4 or 5) until stiff peaks form, checking after each 10-15 second increment.

You’d be surprised how much just 10 seconds at a slightly slower speed can do to home whipped cream that is close to being finished, so keep a close eye on what’s happening in that bowl.

And just like that… You’ve made your own pumpkin spice whipped cream in the comfort of your own cinnamon-scented kitchen!

If you’re just spreading or dropping dollops onto a slice of pie, you may not need it to be as stable as whipped cream that you’re going to pipe.

You’ll get more familiar with the texture of whipped cream that you prefer the more you make it (sounds like a great excuse to do so!).

Use that 10-15 seconds at medium-high speed rule to adjust. And remember– you can always make it stiffer, but you can’t make it lighter.