Transient development of whipped cream properties

Commercially available UHT cream was tempered at 4 °C for 24 h and whipped for different times: 3, 6, 9 and 12 min. The following properties of cream were measured: rheological and interfacial properties, overrun and size distribution of air bubbles. The whipping process changes the properties of cream, which exhibits viscoelastic behaviour with a high influence of elastic component. The air bubbles incorporated during the process result in forming stronger foam containing smaller bubbles, and also give a higher overrun. These changes are observed around 9 min of whipping, when the amount of air is sufficient to create a stable structure. Further whipping reduces the overrun and the foam partly collapses; this may be caused by aggregation of fat droplets.