2TablespoonsDried meadowsweet flours (it's ok if there's a few stems)you can also use a small handful of fresh meadowsweet or elderflowers.
1Tablespoon maple sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup to taste or confectioners sugar
Instructions
Infusion
Tie the meadowsweet flowers in a small piece of cheesecloth.
Warm the cream and sugar in a small pot such as a butter warmer, or in the microwave until it's hot or roughly 150F.
Add the flowers and allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the sachet of flowers, squeezing out any cream the cloth has absorbed.
Whipping
Pour the cream into a metal bowl of about 2 quart capacity. Preferably using a hand-beater, whip the cream until soft peaks form. I like to do this with the metal bowl placed over a larger bowl with ice mixed with a good pinch of salt.
Do not overbeat the cream-it should be soft, pillowy and should gently cascade off of the cake as it's spooned on. Refrigerate the whipped cream until needed. If it loosens as it sits, beat it lightly again to fluff it up before serving.
Stabilized whipped cream
If you really want to get professional and make whipped cream that holds it's shape for days, warm ¼ cup of the cream with ½ teaspoon of gelatin until dissolved, then mix into the cold cream before beating it in a metal bowl placed on top of another bowl filled with ice.
I like to keep this in a pastry bag with a fluted tip. Stabilized whipped cream will keep for a couple days in the fridge.