Comparing Vegan Whipped Cream + homemade recipe for whipped cream 

I've said it once and I'll say it again, you are very underrated when it comes to vegan baking. There is just so much effort put into these recipes and experiments, so thank you. I've always wanted a video breaking down things like this because, to be quite frank, vegan baking is an exercise in discipline. Dairy has had centuries to master its tried and true variations among its sub-categories and products; vegan alternatives need all sorts of work around-but it's not impossible. Case in point, this entire channel, lol. The hardest part of all of this is that dairy more or less is the same across brands because after all a cow is a cow is a cow, but vegan companies/brands have their own unique proprietary formulations with their own strengths and weaknesses. Which leaves you very vulnerable when these brands go as quickly as they come, or when new information comes to light such as the Thai coconut industry *. Vegan cream cheeses and egg-replaces are also serious offender of this phenomenon, but at least those are a bit more manageable/intuitive as you've demonstrated over the years. * Interestingly enough, A Taste of Thai on their website FAQ claims that they do not "knowingly" source their coconuts from plantations that use monkey labor. Whether or not you believe them is another matter entirely but I just wanted to point that out. Anyway that section of the video had me FLOORED because I had never heard of such a thing before. It's almost comedic how horrible we as a species can be when we really don't have to resort to such things. Talk about "they're taking our jobs" smh.

Thank you Gretchen for the monkey slave note. It's never ok to exploit animals. ❤ I did not know which brand it was.

This was a VERY comprehensive analysis that I find useful, and I'm very grateful for it. I especially appreciate that you took the trouble to mention that many coconut product companies use monkey slaves, rendering those brands not really vegan even though the product alone is. Thanks so much for posting this; I hope you can find your fav brands of commercial vegan whipping cream with more ease in future!

Gretchen, nobody does vegan whipped cream better than you.

Gretchen's videos get a like even before I begin watching because you just know she's awesome ❤😂

Great video! For coconut cream I recommend Kara brand (Indonesian brand), it’s very high in fat. It comes in a box, and most of it is usable for whipping. It is very smooth and easy to use, probably thanks to the guar gum. Takes a bit more time to whip than usual, but I think it’s very good.

I have great success with stabilizing Country Crock. I use 1 tablespoon agar agar and 2 tablespoons of clear piping gel for the entire container. I'm going to test it out without the piping gel soon. Maybe it is not needed. It was stable for days until we finished it! And it has the best flavor. *I use powdered agar and just add it in the beginning. No need to heat it up. I also use powdered vanilla extract. Not sure if that has an effect but I didn't want to add any liquid.

The natures charm whipping cream is amazing, it is sold in asian supermarkets here in Ireland along with the other products from that company

Gretchen, seriously we have come so far with vegan whipped cream!! I love your recipes and thank you for your work! I’ve made several of your recipes and love them all! I’m making another Chantilly cake for Easter, luckily we still have the silk brand in Chicago. Thanks again, happy Easter!

This video was amazing! Thank you so much!

Thank you Gretchen!❤

Excellent deep dive!!! I still love your homemade whipped cream recipe the best!

Thanks for this video...I really appreciate it!

Thorough and educational! Thanks for the info! I can't find any of the refrigerated vegan whipping creams either now, so this was really informative.

Fantastic review Gretchen!!

Wow! Thank you for putting so much effort in this video! Really helps, and I hope I can find the products u mentioned.

Thank you so much for this helpful video! I hope someone makes a video someday on how they all bake up in custards as well.

What a let down with the califia cream! I find that I don’t like many of their products😩 thanks for doing such extensive research👍🏼

Fantastic informative useful video. The visuals translate to everyone.

Hi Gretchen, Thank you so much for doing such a wonderful job comparing the vegan whipping creams! It was excellent to see how you used each in action & Exactly what it looked like when things went wrong. It was so helpful for me to see the Coconut Milks as I have never been sure how to use correctly. Oh Gretchen, 😢 I didn't know about the Monkey Slaves. It makes me sick to my stomach and breaks my heart to even write it. I am schocked. Thank you for your knowledge. Happy Easter! I am making your Carrot Cake With Vegan Butter Cream Frosting. It smells wonderful! Happy Easter ❤

Thank you for such thorough explanations and the info regarding monkeys ❤

This was great! My store was out of Silk whipping Cream and thanks to Gretchen, I knew to look for Country Crock! A non vegetarian guest loved it!!

I was really pleasantly surprised by the Silk whipping cream! I'd done the homemade recipe from a can of coconut milk in the past and am not a fan as I couldn't get it to whip up light and it tastes strongly of coconut (no surprise) but even though the Silk is made from coconut cream, it is much better, whips up easily and yes has a coconut flavour but it's a lot milder. I'll definitely be getting it again!

What a talented lady! And vegan! Instant subscriber! Keep it up ❤❤❤

I will try the home made recipe this weekend! I am cutting out palm oil from my home made goods because of what it does to the rain forest, but all vegan whipping cream I can get have palm oil in it .... I have tried the coconut milk version, but I rather use my coconut milk for curries.

Sprouts Farmers market carries the silk brand! Idk where in Fl you live, but I'm in North of Orlando, near Sanford area, and I go to Sprouts in Oviedo!

If you talk to the manager of the store, they can probably start getting the Silk brand that you love so much back into the stores.

Here in Latin America we used splendid or ambiente topping from the brand puratos, they are vegetable base creams and are really nice in flavor and stability And vegan friendly

Garbanzo bean juice from the can makes a great whipped cream with sugar added

funny thing about whipping coconut milk. I live in Europe and when I started playing with vegan baking, I was living in Poland. the only vegan icing/filling at that time (way over 12 years ago) people talked about was actually whipping some coconut milk. the thing that worked best for me was Goya brand HOWEVER only bought at one specific store. it whipped even unrefrigerated, I could not believe this! I do not really buy Goya products anymore for various reasons, nor do I live in Poland, but wanted to try whipping up some on a whim one day, and it didn't work at all. If you ever find Aroy-D brand over in the States, try it out. it's a go-to brand for many people regarding Asian cuisines, plenty if their products like curry pastes and sauces are also vegan-friendly.

Thanks for such a thorough review, this is exactly what I was looking for! I will use Silk when baking cakes and Country Crock when cooking soups, sauces etc., since I don't want any coconut taste with them! Have you tried the Violife heavy whipping cream?

Violife heavy cream is by far the best I have found.

The best by a mile is Flora plant cream made in Germany

For your own whipped cream recipe, can we use tigernut milk/:almond milk or coconut milk in place of the soy milk?

Yes, chocolate fixes everything

Awesome video Gretchen! So very helpful! Thank you for the information about monkey slaves, I’ll avoid the products from Thailand. I’m keen to try the Silk whipping cream- it’s the only option I can find right now in my small town in eastern Ontario, Canada, besides the coconut cream… I’ve used both the Let’s Do Organic and Natures Charm whipping creams- both are really good and like you mentioned, there’s no ‘waste’ as the entire can is useable. One thing I found when using the Let’s Do Organic in my lemon curd, is that it doesn’t become that lovely bright yellow ‘translucent’ colour. It’s more of an opaque yellow. Is it possible that it’s due to the higher fat content?

Hi Gretchen! I am just wondering about adding xanthan gum or guar gum to whipped cream, would it help with the stability? Have you tested it? Thank you for all the recipe testing you do for us 😊

Awesomeanalyses!

Have you ever tried Oatly whipping cream, Gretchen? I found a box of it while on vacation in Iceland and whipped it up when I got home and it seemed great. Was very stable and tasted great with a little sugar and vanilla. But now in the US I can't find it, though other Oatly products are available. Just wondering if you've ever encountered that brand. Thanks for this video. I will definitely try Silk next!

GREAT VIDEO. I use Sour cream in one of my cake recipients for the high fat and moisture components. What can I use that is vegan instead that isn’t very liquidity , that provides the same outcome. I’d REALLY appreciate your thoughts aa I am new to vegan baking

Gretchen, could you add 2 tsp of agar-agar combined with 4 tsp of water, heated in the microwave until dissolved, then cooled to room temp to the Country Crock? I know you can add this to regular whipping cream to get it to stabilize.

Dear Gretchen, you use enough that you could ask a local store to order a case of Silk HWC for you. 😉

Have you ever used the Country Crock cream in your caramel sauce recipe in place of the coconut cream? Do you think it would have a similar result?

We can get it cheap here and we can buy coconut cream

Can you use these for putting on top of pies? If so can I store it in the fridge for later?

can you mix the creams to cut the taste if the coconut and to add stability?

I came to your video looking for what I did wrong when making the Califie cream, I bought 2 and they were a disaster!! At least I know I will never buy that cream again.

maybe it is best to save the ones that do not stabilize for cream sauces or puddings. I never had a good result with the coconut milk whipped cream and it never tasted right either.

I live in NC and I can’t find silk brand at all and I got lucky at Walmart last week and found 1 carton of country crock ..and now I’m bummed because I want more ! And can’t find it!

The monkey slave info is so heart breaking :(

Ahhh darn wish I would have seen this before picking up califia farms. It was on sale though and I haven't opened them. I wonder if I can make something else with it ?

They all I have now

Can you please teach me how to bake a spongy cake? I couldn’t get it right not sure what I’m doing wrong!

I actually ended up whipping the Country Crock brand longer and it separated. Any fixes for that?

Has anyone tried the trades joes whipping cream?

My gosh the cakes in the opening of the video! I just made the country crock. There's something in mouth feel/taste that feels almost slightly numbing in a weird way. Doesn't pass.

Would agar agar make it more stable?

We are allergic to soy and xanthan gum. Have you tried your recipe without these ?

All our cream even dairy here is shelf safe if that where you look for it

Anyone find that whipped Silk has a metallic taste to it? I like it otherwise

would be better to figure out making it from scratch. oil, thickener

I bought the Califia in an act of desperation. I couldn’t find anything else. What an awful and disappointing product.

should’ve seen this before getting califia 😭🥲