Multipurpose Almond Whipped Cream

This multipurpose almond whipped cream not only works great as a topping on cakes, pies, or a stack of pancakes; it can transform a seemingly banal tea sandwich to the status of  heavenly. And, YES,  you can definitely enjoy this cream with sweet, luscious strawberries.

Whipped cream, the name itself evokes many images: strawberries with cream, the white silky icing on a cake, a topping for all kinds of pies and pancakes, and much more. But if you are vegan and or don't/can't eat dairy like me, all the aforementioned images start to wane and blur. The good news is that as a vegan you don't have to miss out on the experience of relishing whipped cream with your favorite desserts. The best feature of this cream is its ability to multitask. For those who love and enjoy dairy whipped cream, give this vegan, gluten-free almond whipped cream a try to add the nutrition of almonds to your food as well as bring variety to your desserts.

A note of caution! While this cream offers a somewhat comparable experience, it does not compare in its creaminess, taste, and texture to the dairy whipped cream. And it doen't intend to. This multipurpose almond whipped cream has a slightly nutty taste and grainy texture. When whipped, it does not form perfectly stiff peaks as its dairy counterpart. However, this almond whipped cream holds well to forms round- or oval-shaped dollops on your pancake or pie. You can surely scoop it with a strawberry or any other fruit or veggies you want to scoop it with.

Please note that this cream is made with almonds, which are high in fat. Even though almonds contain healthy kind of fat, it is best to keep the overall fat intake contained within certain limits specially if you are avoiding fat for health reasons (more on this later). Therefore, like other desserts, enjoy this cream in moderation (please see the suggested serving size in the nutrition panel).

Here is how to make it:

The star ingredient of this recipe is almonds. The first step in making this cream is to make sure that almonds are not stale. The rancid taste and smell of stale almonds not only results in foul-tasting cream, it can potentially also harm your health.

To sweeten the almond whipped cream, you can either use only dates or a combination of dates and maple syrup (can sub with honey). If you decide the use the date and maple syrup combination, be aware that maple syrup adds a very faint maple-ish taste to the cream. If you plan on using the cream where you don't want the maple taste to show up, use only dates to sweeten the cream. I find dates to be the best choice of sweetener in this almond whipped cream, as it adds body to the cream and does not interfere with the taste.

Choice of flavoring agents such as vanilla or ground cinnamon is totally optional. If you know in advance how you are going to use the cream, it is best to add it before the blending process ; you can also add flavors during the whipping process depending upon the end use of the cream. With my chocolate cake (see the pic below), I added 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla to the cream. In making tea sandwiches, I added 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

The most important step in making this multipurpose almond whipped cream is to blanch the almonds. Normally, you would not soak almonds to blanch them. But in making this cream it is best to soak almonds overnight. If you are short on time, you can soak the almonds in hot (not boiling) water for at least four hours. Greater almond soak time results in creamier almond whipped cream.

Once the soaking process if over, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Drain and rinse almonds and boil for 60-75 seconds. If you have not soaked almonds overnight, you can boil up to 120 seconds (2 minutes). Immediately drain almonds in a colander and rinse with room temperature water. Draining and rinsing almonds at both stages helps to get rid of  anti-nutritents such as phytates  in almonds (more on this later). Peel the almonds by squeezing between thumb and fingers.

Add the blanched and peeled almonds to a blender with water, dates, and maple syrup (if using). If you know the choice of flavor-such as vanilla, ground cinnamon, etc.-you want to use, you can add that as well. Blend on high speed till well-mixed and creamy in texture.

Transfer the creamy almond mixture to a big bowl and use either a whisk or a hand mixer to whip the cream. Whip on medium speed till you see some soft peaks forming on the surface. The whipping process aerates the cream and makes it a little lighter as ell. You can use the cream immediately, but it tastes betters once refrigerated for at least 20-30 minutes. Enjoy this cream with strawberries, on a stack of pancakes, cakes, pies, and in tea sandwiches, and more.

Multiple uses of almond whipped cream

• Fruit dip
• Pancake topping
• Dress cakes and pastries
• Creamy sandwich filling (omit dates in almond whipped cream)

NOTE: If you use metric system for measuring ingredients, please click on "Metric" in the recipe box.