There are three types of cream to know, and the differences between them come down to their milk fat content, and we want cream with a higher fat content for making whipped cream. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream both contain 36% milk fat, making them ideal for whipped cream. Whipping cream contains less milk fat (just 30%), which is not a high enough fat content for whipped cream. Be sure you're using heavy cream or heavy whipping cream to make homemade whipped cream.