Chill the cream, a metal bowl and the whisks for atleast 15 mins.

Add the cream, vanilla, sugar (start with a less amount and make it suit to your taste later on). If using an electric beater, start with a slow speed and gradually increase when the mixture starts becoming foamy. Beat till soft or stiff peaks depending on what you need it for.

The cream should always be smooth, if you start seeing a grainy texture, immediately stop (you are close to turning it to butter). But if you overbeat by accident, you can add a little more cream and beat again till soft peaks.

If you keep the cream in the refrigerator for a few hours, it might breakdown and separate. You can easily rewhip it to get the same texture back.

The amount mentioned here can make about double the amount of whipped cream.

For chocolate whipped cream, add to this about 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and to balance that, 1 tablespoon of sugar. Follow the same procedure.