• Choose your preferred stabilizer for the whipped cream. See recipe notes below for instant clearJel and instant vanilla pudding mix instructions.
  2 tsp instant clearjel, 1 tbsp instant vanilla pudding powder

Preparing gelatin

• Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the water placed in a small microwave-safe bowl. Stir to hydrate the gelatin and let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes until it fully blooms / hydrates.
  2 tsp gelatin powder, 2 tbsp water
• Then heat the gelatin in the microwave in 10 second bursts until the gelatin is dissolved. Don't let it boil, as it will melt very quickly. It takes me about 20 - 30 seconds to melt the gelatin.
• Stir the hot melted gelatin while slowly adding the cream, 1 tbsp at a time, to bring down the temperature of the gelatin mix. But it should still be liquid.
  30 - 45 mL heavy cream
• Place the chilled heavy cream in the mixer bowl, and then the mixer bowl in the stand mixer with a whisk attachment attached.
  480 mL heavy cream
• Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla to the cream.
  50 g white sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract, ⅛ tsp sea salt
• Start whisking the heavy cream while gradually increasing the speed to high.
• Steadily stream in the gelatin mixture, so that it immediately mixes into the cream. Be careful not to let it splash around the bowl, as the gelatin could immediately harden and clump.
• Once the gelatin is added, run the mixer for about 30 seconds to give the gelatin a chance to disperse and mix through the heavy cream.
• Then lower the speed to medium speed.

Whisking the heavy cream

• Now that the stabilizer is added, continuously whisk the cream while keeping an eye on its consistency.
• Ideally whisk the heavy cream on medium speed, but you can increase the speed to medium high if you like to speed up the process.
• The heavy cream will thicken first, and then reach soft peaks (where the peak completely folds over on itself). After soft peaks, the cream will quickly reach mid peaks, where the whipped cream peak folds over more than 90 degrees. (See the illustration in the post for reference.)
• Once the cream has reached mid peaks, then lower the whisking speed, or switch to manual whisking.
• Whisk on low speed as the whipped cream will quickly reach stiff-ish peaks, where the peak will be straight, with the very tip folding over slightly. The whipped cream should be thick, a little dense, creamy, and smooth. It's now ready to be used.
• If this stabilized whipped cream starts to "set" at any point, you can stir it with a spatula to make it smooth again.
• Only transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag just before you need to pipe the cream, as whipped cream will change texture slightly the longer it stands. But you can stir it back to the right consistency.