Ingredients :

• Cream cheese — Get a whole block, not the low-fat version or the spreadable fresh cheese in a tub. Classic Philadelphia does the job perfectly. The key: it must be completely softened at room temperature. A cold block will create lumps that the mixer won’t catch, even with five extra minutes.
• Heavy cream — It must come out of the fridge at the last moment, very cold. A cream with 30-35% fat whips correctly and holds its shape over time. Low-fat versions don’t make worthy whipped creams — avoid them.
• Vanilla wafers — The original recipe uses American vanilla wafers which aren’t found everywhere. Shortbread, Petit-Beurre, or Spritz cookies do exactly the same job. The idea: the biscuit will soften in contact with the cream during refrigeration and become melting, not crunchy — that’s intentional.
• Fruit topping — Canned cherries in syrup, slightly sweetened fresh strawberries, or homemade lemon curd. One rule: place it on the cream just before serving if you want visually sharp layers. Otherwise, the juice migrates into the white and everything gets tinted.