Jan. 5 Is National Whipped Cream Day

Jan. 5 celebrates one of the food related holidays in the United States -- the National Whipped Cream Day.

This day commemorates the birthday of Aaron 'Bunny' Lapin, a Jew who came up with the ingenious idea to dispense cream from gas canisters that we have come to know today and is also the founder of Reddi-wip. He was born in 1914, invented the pressure containers that dispense light and fluffy sweetener in 1948. The product became popular in 1954. Later on, he had to sell his company in 1963 that still exists up to this date. The inventor passed away on July 10, 1999. And Reddi-wip is currently owned by ConAgra, a leading company of packaged foods.

Whipped cream is one of the many great addition to the world of desserts. Ice cream sundaes, milk shakes, hot beverages, cakes and other delightful treats won't be complete without the whipped cream. The whipped cream being a crucial ingredient to any sweet delight is mainly attributed to its fluffy look. Not only does the whipped cream improve the taste of a certain dessert, it also acts as a finishing touch to the dessert's aesthetics. It is mostly used as a sweetener but it is also used to add a unique zing because some are flavoured with vanilla, chocolate, fruits and even alcohol.

Variants of the whipped cream existed during the 1500s where aside from it being sweetened, it was also aromatised. The foam was produced by whipping the cream with branches, and it was referred to as 'snow cream' or 'milk snow' back then. Now, the cream is sometimes called crème Chantilly or Chantilly cream. People started to call it 'whipped cream' in 1673 although some mainly call it 'snow cream' during the 1600s.

Imitations of the light and fluffy stuff is being sold everywhere in the world and are described as squirty cream or whipped topping.