The Art of Whipped Cream Squirting

All of this ice cream talk got me hungry so I took a drive out to the farm market for homemade vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. Which of course wouldn't be complete without whipped cream so it was on to Skoogie's deli for a can of Welsh Farms.

I just want to say that Ann isn't the only former ice cream fountain worker on this blog. :) My first real job was at Friendly's (funny how my parents began to welcome non-Breyer's ice cream into their freezer after I started bringing home cartons of ice cream for free). But I had wanted to talk about whipped cream.

I've noticed that many, many well-meaninged folks have that whipped cream can handicap, and it has nothing to do with snorting from the nozzle (which some of our Friendly's dishwashers were caught doing instead of cleaning the dishes). The whipped cream handicap simply means that instead of a cloud-like puff of whipped cream floating atop your sundae as is only proper, some non-skill having fool came by and made ummm... well, it looks like a fire engine hose all tangled up on top of there.

The trick to a good whipped cream squirt is simply this: don't move the nozzle around so much. Hold the can perpendicular to the treat you plan to cover (not on the diagonal, and not sideways, either). Whilst hovering over the dish or cup, press your finger against the side of the nozzle and push in, without dragging the can or moving. DO NOT PULL THE CAN YET! Just hold it there, and as the whipped cream billows out, you can gradually start to move in a circular motion, but ONLY JUST SLIGHTLY. As you circle, move from the outside in and make a peak at the top.

You don't want to "draw" with the whipped cream can. You just want to make a big ruffly mountain of the stuff. To make ruffles, you actually push the can in toward whatever you're squirting at. It's really quite fun... almost as fun as squeegeeing the windshield of your car, but the good time doesn't last quite as long.

If you don't feel like wasting delicious whipped cream while you develop your squirting technique, I suggest you practice with a can of shaving cream in the bathroom sink.