Making crème fraîche at home is an easy and cost-effective alternative to specialty store-bought versions.
The bacterial cultures in buttermilk and yogurt thicken and acidify the cream, while also preventing bad bacteria from taking over.
Adjusting the amount of buttermilk or yogurt and amount of time left at room temperature will determine the consistency of the finished product.
Finally, I found a plus side to the summer heat. It's currently sitting on my windowsill.
For all the hubbub made over crème fraîche—gourmet markets charge an arm and a leg for this creamier, milder cousin to sour cream, and chefs and television cooks mostly treat it as a specialty item, often naming a substitute for folks who can't find or afford it—it's shockingly easy to make at home, and half as expensive. Not to mention it's science-project-style fun.
As its name suggests, crème fraîche has roots in France. Historically, it was fresh cow's cream left out of refrigeration to become sour. The naturally occurring bacteria cultures would not only prevent it from spoiling, but would work to thicken and acidify the cream.
Since today, our dairy is pasteurized (if not ultra-pasteurized),we have to introduce outside lactic culture to make crème fraîche. Lucky for us, two inexpensive dairy-section neighbors have just what we need: buttermilk and yogurt.
How to Make Crème Fraîche
Crème fraîche is incredibly simple to make at home: You simply combine cream with a small amount of buttermilk and allow it to rest in a covered container at room temperature for about 12 hours. Within the day, the cream will have transformed into a thicker, tangier, and more spoonable version of itself.Then just store it in the fridge, where it will continue to mature. The ratio of cream to buttermilk doesn't really matter all that much; add more buttermilk and you'll need less time for the cream to thicken (but it'll be less creamy). Add less, and it takes longer, but tastes better. We found one tablespoon of buttermilk per cup of cream (that's a 1:16 ratio) to strike the best balance.
Even though some recipes recommend kickstarting the process by heating the cream mixture to take off the refrigerator chill, I found that using cold cream actually worked better. It made for a thicker, creamier result. Plus, after 12 to 24 hours at room temperature, the short amount of time you save by preheating the mixture is not that significant anyway over the long run.
Just as every brand of store-bought crème fraîche tastes different,yours will vary slightly depending on the flavor of your milk or yogurt, the butterfat content you can find, and how long you let it become sour.If you like a softer, runnier consistency, check your crème after 12 hours. I've left some batches as long as 36, especially when using yogurt, which I find produces a thinner version.Just keep in mind that the mixture will continue to thicken once you place it in the fridge.
This crème fraîche gets super rich and creamy at right about the 12-hour mark. You can also halt the process early by just refrigerating it to stop the bacterial action. This is useful if you want a thinner Mexican-style crema agria for drizzling over tacos or sopes. For those of you worried about cream spoiling at room temp, that's the idea: It's the good bacteria from the buttermilk multiplying in there that prevents the dangerous bacteria from taking over.
Notes on Shopping
When choosing ingredients,try to find pasteurized* (as opposed to ultra-pasteurized) heavy cream, yogurt and buttermilk.I used a locally produced cream and a full-fat plain yogurt fromRonnybrook. I could only find 1 percent buttermilk in the markets near me (which I was worried would be too diluted), but it worked swimmingly.
*Look out for wording on the packaging! I've read that ultra-pasteurized cream takes longer to sour, but I haven't actually tried it myself.
Your crème will keep for around seven to 10 days, plenty of time for you to dream up some fun ways to use it! Besides spooning some over fresh fruit, pancakes, cobblers or pies, you can use it in savory ways, too.Stir a little into pan sauces, soups or mashed potatoes—it tolerates heat better than milk or cream, and adds a richness and nutty flavor—or mix with lemon and herbs to serve with fish fillets. My favorite use to date: stirring it into scrambled eggs before cooking. Simply out of this world.
There'll be plenty of buttermilk left over, too (which is partly why making your own pays off).
February 2011
Recipe Details
How to Make Crème Fraîche (in One Easy Step!)
Prep5 mins
Active1 min
Resting Time12 hrs
Total12 hrs 5 mins
Serves16 servings
Makes2 cups
Ingredients
1 pint (16 ounces) heavy cream
2tablespoons (1 ounce) cultured buttermilk
Directions
Combine buttermilk and heavy cream in a non-reactive container. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until thickened to desired texture, about 12 hours. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
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What is crème fraîche? A classic French ingredient (the literal translation is 'fresh cream') made from dairy cream that's been soured using bacteria in the form of a starter culture, to slightly thicken and acidify it. Crème fraîche is usually made with cream that has at least a 30% fat content.
Creme fraiche is thicker, richer (see: fat content), and less tangy than sour cream, and since it won't curdle if you boil it, it's great to use in soups and sauces.
Sour cream (which has less fat) is the best and easiest substitute, but it's not as rich or tangy as crème fraîche. Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is another substitute, but it doesn't have the same smooth texture or mild flavor.
A In a nutshell, soured cream is single cream that has been given a sharp, sour edge by adding a bacterial culture; creme fraiche is double cream similarly cultured but made from cream with a high fat content and is richer and thicker.
Crème fraîche is incredibly simple to make at home: You simply combine cream with a small amount of buttermilk and allow it to rest in a covered container at room temperature for about 12 hours. Within the day, the cream will have transformed into a thicker, tangier, and more spoonable version of itself.
You can think of crème fraîche as being somewhere between yogurt and sour cream. It generally has a higher fat content than either, so its flavor is much richer and its texture is much creamier. Good quality crème fraîche is usually less aggressively tangy than sour cream.
Sour cream is probably the closest match to crème frâiche, and can be substituted using a 1:1 ratio in most recipes. Both are cultured creams with a silky texture and tangy flavour, both have enough acidity to work as a raising agent, and both can be heated without curdling.
If you can't find crème fraîche at your local grocery store, sour cream can be used as a 1:1 substitute, and vice versa. Just keep in mind that sour cream is a bit more sour in flavor and less rich than crème fraîche. "Crème fraîche can substitute in any recipe that calls for sour cream," suggests Druart.
Sour cream may contain thickening agents like gelatin or polysaccharides to create a smooth texture, while creme fraiche's fermentation process naturally produces a thicker texture than sour cream. Plus, sour cream has a tangier taste than creme fraiche, which has a rich and creamy taste.
Sour cream is the most common substitute for crème fraîche, since both have a slightly sour taste and are cultured. You can substitute an equal amount of sour cream for crème fraîche in just about any type of recipe.
Crème fraîche is essentially the European equivalent of sour cream. It's used widely throughout Europe but less commonly in the United States and Canada. Crème fraîche is a dairy product much like sour cream but it has a higher fat content.
Double cream has a higher fat content – around 48-50 per cent, and it's not commonly available here. Crème fraîche, on the other hand, is cream that's had a culture added, making it slightly sour in flavour. It's around 40 per cent fat. If you're trying to cook healthily, however, cream is not an everyday ingredient.
In a way, creme fraiche is just soured heavy cream, but soured in a very precise way that can be controlled by whomever is making it. That would be you, we hope, because it's easier to make at home than yogurt, ice cream or even a simple salad dressing.
It can also be whipped, and when sweetened with a little sugar and vanilla, it can be used in place of whipped cream. Or you can stir a little into your savoury sauces to thicken and enrich. Place a dollop on your baked potato, on scrambled eggs, or as an accompaniment to fish or poultry.
Double cream has a higher fat content – around 48-50 per cent, and it's not commonly available here. Crème fraîche, on the other hand, is cream that's had a culture added, making it slightly sour in flavour.It's around 40 per cent fat. If you're trying to cook healthily, however, cream is not an everyday ingredient.
The main difference between Cream and Crème FraÎche is that the former is made from the higher-fat layer that appears on top of the milk, while the latter is a type of Cream that is made after fermenting the Cream. It is done so by using lactobacillus, a kind of bacteria.
Rich in calcium and probiotics, crème fraîche can help to promote gut health, but its high-fat content might not align with everyone's dietary goals. The best way to make informed choices when incorporating crème fraîche into your meals is by understanding what your body wants and needs.
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