This homemade strawberry whipped cream is my easy mascarpone whipped cream recipe flavored with sweet, crushed freeze-dried strawberries. Mascarpone creates a richer, more stabilized whipped cream with a mild savoriness, like the filling in a strawberry cheesecake. Dollop this strawberry whipped topping onto pancakes, or pipe it onto cakes and cupcakes!
Swirl this whipped cream onto my strawberry cheesecake bars, or use it to make strawberry desserts and tiramisu.
I don’t mean to knock store-bought whipped cream, but if you’ve never made your own, I recommend you do so ASAP. It’s much easier than you would imagine, and the flavor possibilities are endless. This strawberry whipped cream recipe is a fresh spin on homemade mascarpone whipped cream with crushed freeze-dried strawberries for flavor. Whipped mascarpone is more stable than traditional whipped cream, with a subtle savoriness and rich, pipeable texture.
Grinding freeze-dried strawberries adds wonderful, concentrated sweet-tangy flavor to this whipped cream and my strawberry buttercream recipe. It doesn’t water down the whipped cream like fresh strawberries do, and the taste is more authentic than what you’d get from an extract. This strawberry whipped cream tastes like the filling in a strawberry cheesecake! It’s great for dolloping onto pancakes, pies, cakes, and more.
Ingredient Notes
Scroll to the recipe card for the complete ingredients list, plus exact measurements.
- Freeze-dried Strawberries – I love the ones from Trader Joe’s. You can also find freeze-dried fruit at Target and major grocery stores, or online.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – Full-fat heavy whipping cream (and not pouring cream) is best for whipping. Make sure it’s cold from the fridge.
- Mascarpone Cheese – Also cold. Mascarpone is a type of soft, mild Italian cream cheese. If you’d like, you can substitute regular cream cheese instead for a strawberry-flavored take on my whipped cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Strawberry Mascarpone Whipped Cream
Ready to make the best strawberry whipped cream? Here are the steps along with photos.
Julianne’s Tip: Ensure Your Tools Are Very Cold
Make sure your ingredients like heavy cream and mascarpone are cold, cold, cold. Leave them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. Also, place your mixing bowl and whisks in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill before making your whipped cream. This helps keeps the ingredients cold, which is a crucial step.
- Crush up the strawberries. To begin, add the freeze-dried strawberries to a blender or food processor. Pulse a few times to grind them into a fine powder. You could also do this the old-fashioned way, using a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin.
- Combine the mascarpone and heavy cream. Next, slowly beat cold heavy cream with the mascarpone until it reaches a liquid consistency. This helps to prevent lumps in the whipped cream.
- Beat into soft peaks. Once all the cream has been added, beat at high speed until the whipped cream holds its shape, but gently falls over itself when you run a spatula through it. These are soft peaks.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Now, slowly mix in the powdered sugar and freeze-dried strawberry powder.
- Beat until stiff peaks form. Increase the mixer speed and beat the strawberry whipped cream until it stands upright on the end of the whisk, i.e., stiff peaks. It’s ready to use right away.
FAQ
Yes. If you’d prefer to skip the mascarpone altogether, you’ll end up with a more traditional whipped cream that’s lighter in texture. It won’t be as stable for frosting cakes or cupcakes, but it still makes a delicious whipped topping for baked goods. You can also make this with cream cheese, which has a tangier flavor than mascarpone. It’s a 1:1 substitution.
If you don’t have freeze-dried strawberries, I recommend substituting 2-3 tablespoons of instant strawberry Jell-O powder. The whipped cream will have a much thicker, mousse-like texture. I suggest reducing the powdered sugar by 1-2 tablespoons, too, as the Jell-O is sweeter than freeze-dried berries.
Ways to Use Strawberry Whipped Cream
Once you have a batch of fresh strawberry mascarpone whipped cream ready to use, there are so many delicious ways to use it. These are some of my favorites so far:
- As a breakfast topping: Dollop this over a stack of buttermilk pancakes or waffles.
- Ice cream sundaes: Add whipped cream on top of ice cream or a brownie sundae for a refreshing summer treat. Brownies topped with strawberry ice cream and strawberry whipped cream are one of my favorite combos!
- As a frosting: This strawberry whipped cream is stable enough to pipe onto cupcakes or frost a layer cake.
- Pies and crisps: Serve this in place of classic whipped cream on top of a slice of pie or berry crisp.
- Icebox cakes: Try strawberry whipped cream in a no-bake recipe that calls for whipped cream or Cool Whip.
How to Store
I don’t recommend making this whipped cream in advance. It’s really best when used right away. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to an hour, but I find that the longer it sits in a bowl, the weaker it becomes. If you’re using this as frosting, use it right away, and store the frosted dessert in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
More Homemade Whipped Cream Recipes
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Strawberry Whipped Cream
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1/4 cups
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Mixer
- Cuisine: American
Description
This light, airy stabilized strawberry whipped cream takes 5 ingredients and minutes to make with creamy Italian mascarpone and freeze-dried strawberries.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup freeze-dried strawberry (1/4 cup powder)
- 4 ounces (113g) mascarpone cheese, cold
- 1 1/4 cups (295ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (65g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pulse the freeze-dried strawberries to a food processor and grind into a powder.
- Place your mixing bowl in the freezer or refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before starting.
- Spoon the mascarpone cream into your bowl and beat on a medium-low speed (speed 3 on your stand mixer). Slowly pour in the heavy cream, allowing the mascarpone cheese to turn to a liquid consistency.
- Once all the cream has been added, increase the mixing speed to high (speed 8-10) and beat it until soft peaks form.
- Add the powdered strawberries, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat until stiff peaks form. Use immediately.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 348
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 28mg
- Fat: 21g
- Carbohydrates: 14,7g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 2.5g
- Cholesterol: 95mg
Hands down my new favorite frosting!! I just made it with freeze dried raspberries to fill a dark chocolate cake roll for Valentine’s Day… my husband can’t get enough!!
I first tried out the recipe last month for my niece’s birthday cake and it was a huge hit at the party! But I had adjusted the recipe some to have enough to frost an 8” three-layer cake so I wanted to try it again as written. Definitely going to be my go-to frosting now 🙂
That’s amazing Paula! Thank you so much for sharing!
Is it okay to use fresh strawberries instead of frozen ones?
These are not frozen, these are freeze-dried. I don’t have a recommendation for using fresh or frozen berries. Due to the liquid in fresh or frozen berries, it changes the consistency of the whipped cream. Whereas the freeze-dried strawberries in the powder form helps to thicken the whipped cream.
Can this be stored frozen and used later or piped and froze for decorations?
I have not tested either of these methods. Sorry!
This sounds amazing! I’m planning on making it next week for some cupcakes. I was wondering if it would turn out okay consistency wise (just less sweet) if I halved the powdered sugar amount? The people I’m making these for aren’t big fans of frosting in general because of the sweetness so if I could tone it down a bit and really bring out the creaminess and fruit flavors I think it would be a big hit.
Hi Christian, you can reduce the powdered sugar for yes, it will effect the thickness a little bit. I don’t think this is overly sweet, but start with 1/4 cup and add additional to control the consistency.
Se ve increíble. Y muy buena idea al utilizar así la fresa. Me gustó y le da muuuucho sabor. Saludos desde México en Puerto Vallarta …..hasta pronto: Juliane.
gracias Selene
Try adding a small package of instant white chocolate pudding to half pint heavy /whipping cream , then beat until whipped you don’t need to add anything else, or you can add vanilla if you want.
Yes I’ve used this before, it tastes amazing and it’s nice and thick for frosting