🥛 Cream
Also known as: whipping cream, heavy cream, crème
The fatty part of milk (10–35%).
Cream is the fatty part of milk that separates from the skimmed part. Milk fat is lighter than water, so when whole milk is left to stand it rises to the top: that is how gravity-separated cream is obtained. In industry cream is separated with a centrifugal separator, then standardised for fat content, pasteurised or sterilised, and sometimes homogenised.
By fat content, cream is usually divided into single or coffee cream (about 10%), table cream (about 20%) and whipping cream (roughly 30–35% and above). Fat content determines the use: light cream is added to coffee and tea, while stable whipped foam needs cream with around 30% fat or more. Cream is made into butter, sour cream, ice cream, cream cheese and many sauces.
Unlike sour cream, cream is not fermented: it tastes sweetish rather than tangy. It is high in saturated fat, so it is usually used as an addition rather than drunk on its own.
Composition per 100 g
| Fat | 19.1 g |
|---|---|
| Protein | 2.96 g |
| Carbohydrates | 3.66 g |
| Energy | 195 kcal |
| Calcium | 91 mg |
Source: USDA FoodData Central: Cream, fluid, light (coffee cream or table cream)
How it connects to milk
Links
- Served in
- 🥣 Creamer
- Made from
- 🥛 Milk
- What is made from it
- 🧈 Butter, 🥣 Sour cream, 🍦 Ice cream, 🧀 Cream cheese, 🧀 Buttermilk, 🥣 Rømme
- How it is made
- 🔄 Separation
- Used in
- ☕ Coffee
- Who works with it
- 🧑🍳 Pastry chef
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat
- Product type
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products
- Part of
- 🧈 Cream and butter
- Wine and milk
- 🍷 Diacetyl, 🍷 Syllabub
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cream and sour cream?
Cream is the unfermented, sweetish fatty part of milk. Sour cream is made from cream by fermenting it with lactic acid bacteria, so it is thicker and more sour.
What cream is best for whipping?
Cream with about 30–35% fat or more is usually used for whipping: the fat stabilises the air bubbles. Light cream (10–20%) hardly holds a foam.
How is cream made from milk?
In the past milk was left to stand and the fatty top layer was skimmed off. Today cream is separated in a separator, then pasteurised and standardised for fat content.
Comparisons
Recipes
History
Similar
🧈 Ghee · 🥛 Öröm · 🧈 Niter kibbeh · 🧈 Butter · 🫕 Smen · 🫖 Clotted cream
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.