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Aerosol Cream
Many people will dismiss "spray whip cream" out of hand. Dismissing it comes as part of a phase you go through as you are developing as a "foodie" -- dismissing certain food items on a "status level", it seems, helps to counter-increase one's own status. Some people never pass out of this stage to reach the next one, which is called... "RELAX". Culturally and socially, the lowly spray cream in a can always remains beneath them. Let's first understand, though, what it is.
The cream that is used is UHT (ultra high temperature) treated. Stabilizers and sugar (up to 13%) are added to -- well, stabilize and sweeten it. Then, when it is packaged into the can, gas propellants are added that make it foam out of the can when used. See, what's not to like?
To use it, give the can a few gentle shakes. Turn the can completely upside down, so that the nozzle points straight down -- the manufacturers say that using the can at an angle causes the pressurized gas to leak out, which in turn causes the problem people have most frequently, which is that they can tell there is cream left in the can, but there isn't enough gas left to bring it out. Wipe the nozzle off after use -- don't lick it, as bacteria from your mouth can cause the cream in the can to spoil faster when you put it back in the fridge.
Apply to items just before serving, as it has a tendency to "melt" or rather collapse in a few minutes after it comes into contact with air. I can live with that -- as an "instant" product, it is meant for use right away.
In case you think only Anglo-Saxons would produce something like Aerosol Cream, you should know that in France you have been able to buy Crème Chantilly (flavoured with natural vanilla pods from Madagascar) in aerosol cans since the early 1970s.
Reddi-wip
In North America, there are many companies that produce aerosol cream, but chances are no one will know what you mean unless you say "Reddi-wip", which is a brand name that has become synonymous with the product. People who know their stuff, however, will maintain that Reddi-wip is heads and tails above the others, anyway. There is one food writer who says that her cat won't eat any other kind (sic).
Reddi-wip has iconic status. People who can't enjoy Reddi-wip sometimes for what it is may have general life enjoyment issues. Think about it: if you're absolutely unwilling to conceive of using spray-can whipping cream under any circumstances, then all I can say is, you've just admitted to the rest of us something about your sex life. You've truly never thought about greeting your significant other at the door sporting only a gun holster with two cans of Reddi-wip primed and ready?
That being said, it is what it is, a fun product, useful at times in a jiffy, with a cachet of trailer-trash chic about it. None of which explains one mind-boggling chat board posting on the Internet a few years back: "Can anyone give me any advice to the best aerosol whipping creams. I don't mind if they are really expensive, I want organic and healthy." Some people will just never get it.
Cooking Tips
- Extremely useful as a picnicking dessert topping;
- Jazz up a store-bought pie by piping spray-can whipping cream around the edges;
- Real whipped cream just can't compete when it comes to how spray-can whipping cream melts on top of food.
Substitutes
I suppose you could try real whipped cream, but it's just not the same, is it?
Equivalents
1 7oz (200ml) can of aeresol cream = 3 cups (750ml) whipped cream
Storage
Even though it's treated and packaged, it doesn't have a very long shelf life. Keep it refrigerated, and once opened, use within a few days.
History
It all started, as do so many things, by accident.
A student at the University of Illinois in the early 1940s was testing the preservation of cream with carbon dioxide under pressure. His problem was that the cream would foam out of the can in a whipped state every time he opened it to take a sample. A faculty member pointed out that the student's problem might actually be an opportunity. They experimented a bit, and switched to using nitrous oxide as it impacted the flavour less than carbon dioxide. Together with another faculty member, the three of them took out a US patent for this idea (the university released the patent to them, figuring it had no commercial value.) They formed a company called Aerated Products Corporation in 1946 and began marketing the product. Americans returning home from the war had a fun, new food item waiting for them.
Aerated Products' whipped cream came in a refillable container that had to be returned to be refilled. By 1948, their main competitor, Reddi-wip, was born with a more convenient disposable, single-use container and a better nozzle. The driving force behind Reddi-wip was a man named Aaron "Bunny" Lapin (born 5 January 1914 in St Louis, Missouri.) Reddi-Wip overtook the market quickly, and to this day half of all the spray-can whipped cream sold in North America is Reddi-wip. All Reddi-wip is made and packaged in Holland, Michigan (as of 2004.) Bunny Lapin also tried to market Reddi-shave, a spray can shaving cream, but he found he could make more money selling the can mechanisms to other shaving cream manufacturers, and so discontinued the product. His later attempts at spray-can cinnamon-flavoured margarine and spray-can pancake batter didn't take off. According to Aerosol Age magazine, Lapin lived in Hollywood in the mansion that formerly belonged to Gloria Swanson; he died in 1999, age 85.
His wife, Sondra Lapin (now Metzger), a Canadian, remarried in 1996 to a Lee Metzger (died 2005) and moved to San Clemente, California, where she became a watercolour artist.
Other entries for Cream
Aerosol Cream, Chantilly Cream, Clabber Cream, Clotted Cream, Coffee Cream, Crema Agria, Crème Fraîche, Double Cream, Extra Thick Double Cream, Extra Thick Single Cream, Frozen Whip Topping, Half & Half Cream, Heavy Cream, Ice Cream, Light Whipping Cream, Non-Dairy Creamer, Single Cream, Sour Cream, Whipping Cream
Other entries for Milk
Buttermilk, Clabbered Milk, Crème de Brebis, Evaporated Milk, Goat's Milk, Gold Top Milk, Kefir, Koumiss, Powdered Milk, Raw Milk, Whey, Yoghurt
Other entries for Dairy
Butterfat, Butter, Cheese, Nondairy Topping
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| | | Bunny Lapin, the inventor of Aerosol Cream, also invented spray-can cinnamon-flavoured margarine and spray-can pancake batter. |
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