5 types of dairy cream
5 Types of Dairy Cream
By Renee Shelton
Cream is a basic component in many pastry recipes - from a light textured mousse with a whipped cream base to a smooth ganache made with melted chocolate and cream.
Here are five different types of dairy cream, how much milkfat they each contain, and what applications they are typically used for.
Heavy Cream, or Heavy Whipping Cream
Heavy cream has a milkfat of not less than 36%, may be pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and the cream may be homogenized. This cream is thick and produces firm peaks when whipped.
Whipping Cream or Light Whipping Cream
Whipping cream contains between 30 – 36% milkfat, may be pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and the cream may be homogenized. Whipping cream contains enough milkfat to, as the name suggests, be whipped to peaks although softer than heavy cream due to the lesser amount of milkfat than heavy cream.
Light Cream or Table Cream
Light cream contains not less than 18 and up to 30% milkfat, is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and the cream may be homogenized. It is used for coffee and warm beverages and a topping for breakfast cereals. It is also used to enrich soups and sauces having more milkfat than half and half but less than traditional whipping cream. Unless cream has at least 30% milkfat it won’t whip up, so this cream is mostly for cooking and serving as is.
Half and Half
Half and half is as the name suggests a mixture of equal parts cream and milk with a milkfat of between 10.5 and 18%, is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized,and may be homogenized. Half and half is much less rich than light cream, and is usually added to beverages or can be used as a lighter table cream for breakfast cereals, a lighter liquid topping for baked desserts and for cooking.
Sour Cream
Sour cream is the souring of pasteurized cream by the addition of lactic acid producing bacteria. This soured cream is thick and used as a condiment and a cooking ingredient. This cream has a milk fat of not less than 18% with a total acidity of not less than .5%. Acidified sour cream is souring of pasteurized cream with acidifiers, with or without bacteria that produces lactic acid.
Source:
Food and Drug Administration. CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. 1 Apr. 2020. Site accessed 7 January, 2021.
This article was first published on pastrysampler.com on January 7, 2021.
Images: pixabay and unsplash.
