[Beth Danae]

I need dairy education. In the states I used fat free half n' half to thin out cream sauces.. Here in many grocery stores they do not import many short shelf life dairy products from the US but I am not familiar with terminology such as creme fresh, double cream, light cream, etc...

And what would one use 'whipping cream' for? To make a whipped topping for desert?

[PDLM]

Whipping cream is cream from cows that is of the right consistency to be whipped up for toppings etc. From my experience that isn't stuff you see in the US very often. The US equivalent would be the synthetic muck that gets squirted out of an aerosol can and has never seen the inside of a cow.

cf Miracle Whip vs mayonnaise

By the way, double cream is the really thick stuff that only just pours.

Roughly in increasing thickness: pouring cream, single cream, whipping cream, double cream, clotted cream.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream

[ontheroad]

you can use light cream to replace half and half, it's perfect for sauces, like carbonara or other any other sauce... it's the best kind for cooking.
thick cream ("heavy cream" or "double cream") is used for thicker sauces and deserts, or whipped cream... they take all the water out of the cream...
whipping cream is just used to make whipped cream! I think it's got added sugar in it...

[Krad]

creme fraiche = sour cream

single cream = light cream

double cream = heavy cream

whipping cream = slightly heavier than heavy cream. And yes, you actually have to whip it. And yes, it is actually in the US, not everyone there takes it out of an aerosol can. :P

If you're thinning out a cream sauce, you should probably try either milk or light cream. Or a pouring cream like PDLM said, though I've never seen that in supermarkets here. Condensed milk could work too.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by Krad

creme fraiche = sour cream

Well sort of - it seems to be treated that way here, but sour cream can be quite different, depending on where you come from and how the cream is soured. Personally I really like the Russian/Eastern European "smetana" which isn't really like creme fraiche and is much better than it with caviar... Hard to find in HK though.

[ontheroad]

I agree, crème fraiche isn't sour cream... it's similar but it's not, (not as sour, not as thick) although you can interchange them if you really need to...

[eat_drink]

double/heavy cream: 48% fat content. used as rich pouring cream, and whipping or floating.

whipping cream: 35% fat content. will double in volume when whipped. use e.g. to fill sponge cakes or cream puffs.

single/light cream: 18% fat content. use e.g. in cream soups (cannot be whipped)

sour cream: 18% fat content. made via adding a culture of bacteria which converts lactose (natural sugar in the milk) to lactic acid, which gives it its flavour.

creme fraiche: a traditional ingredient in french cooking, made in a way similar to sour cream, but less sour.

(source: larousse gastronomique, (2001) english ed.)

fat content usually denotes the thickness of the cream and can vary a little from the standards given above.

half and half ranges 10.5-18% butter fat, so I suppose single/light cream would be a good substitute.

UHT whipping cream is widely available in supermarkets too if you can't find any (non-UHT) in the fridge section.

You may also find thickened cream in the fridge section, which is actually whipping cream with vegetable gum (a bit like gelatine) in it, used to stabilise the air pockets when the cream is whipped, giving a more sturdy result.

hope this helps!

[goodkarma]

PDLM, shame on you for showing your bad mood online !!

You know very well we have cream in the US to make our own whipped cream. The aerosol you refer to is just for fun......

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by goodkarma

The aerosol you refer to is just for fun......

Maybe you could show me how some time?

[Beth Danae]

Thanks all for clearing that up Helps to have the fat percentages for all so I can easily swap out based on what I see on the shelf...