Hand Mixer Not Whipping Properly: 8 Causes and Fixes

Whipped cream that collapses quickly was either under-whipped (soft peaks instead of stiff peaks), made from cream that was too warm, or the bowl contained fat residue. Fix: whip to genuine stiff peaks, when you lift the beaters, the peak holds its shape without drooping. For cream that must hold several hours: add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar per cup of cream (the sugar helps stabilize) and whip to stiff peaks. Alternatively, add 2 tablespoons of mascarpone per cup of cream before whipping, this produces stabilized whipped cream that holds in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.

Heavy cream that is whipped past stiff peaks begins to separate, the fat clumps together and the liquid (buttermilk) separates out. The texture becomes grainy and curdled, then progresses to actual butter if continued. At the grainy-but-not-separated stage: add 2 tablespoons of un-whipped cold cream and fold gently, this sometimes recovers the batch. Past that stage: the batch has become butter. Fix: keep whipping, drain the buttermilk, rinse the solids with cold water and knead, you have made accidental butter. It is edible; use it as compound butter.

Meringue that has been piped or spread and then collapsed or wept cannot be re-whipped, the sugar has dissolved into the liquid and the protein network has broken. Prevention is the only solution: use clean, grease-free equipment; add cream of tartar; do not over-fold meringue when combining with other ingredients; bake or use immediately after piping. Swiss or Italian meringue (cooked egg whites) are more stable than French meringue (uncooked) and less prone to weeping.