How to rescue overwhipped cream, redo your floors

Q: Is there a way to save overwhipped cream? — Valerie Harrison, Spokane, Washington

A: If you’ve gone too far and your glorious pie topping starts to look grainy or curdled, don’t panic. Just slowly fold in more unwhipped heavy cream, a tablespoon at atime,un til you regain a silky consistency. Here are a few more secrets for success:

Start cold

A chilled bowl helps heavy cream whip up quickly, so refrigerate a metal one — which gets cool fast and stays that way lo ngest—for20min- utes before pouring in your cream and beating.

Firm it up

To sweeten whipped cream for topping tarts and such, beat in a tablespoon of powdered sugar for every cup of heavy creamtohelpitholdits shape better. This type of sugar contains added starch, which delivers extra stability.

Boost its flavor

If you are serving it with fruit or chocolate desserts, add a dollop of vanilla paste to the heavy cream before whipping.

Expert advice: wood you rather?

Redoing your floors canb e a daunting proposition when options like mahogany and maple arebey ond your budget. But high-quality engineered wood is a smart alternative. Manufactured from multiple layers of wood, it stands up well to heavy traffic, as well as fluctuations in temperature and humidity. It can also be glued to or in some cases just placed over concrete, or nailed to a wood subfloor, so it’s ideal for basements.

However, s omevarieties — particularly those with th intop layers — can’t be repeatedly sanded, restained and refinished like their hard- wood counterparts can, so regular maintenance is a must. According to the National Wood Flooring Association, all wood floors should be vacuumed (using the hardsurface setting) once a week; cleaned with a neutral-pH product once amonth,usingadamp but not soaking-wet mop; and spot-cleaned as needed. For a list of engineered woods sorted by price, appearance and durability, see the guide at the NWFA’s website (woodfloors.org). Email your questions to askmartha@ marthastewart.com, or send them to Ask Martha, c/o Letters Department, Martha Stewart Living, 805 Third Avenue, 25th floor ,N ew York, NY 10022. Please include your full name, address and daytime phone number. Letters and messages become the property of Meredith Corp. and may be published, broadcast, edited or otherwise used in any of itsmed ia. By submitting your questions to Ask Martha, you are agreeing to let us use your name and hometown in connection with our publication of your questions.