Creme Fraiche Substitute

"Crème fraîche: Heavy cream thickened and slightly soured with buttermilk and often served on fruit." ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Literally translating to "fresh cream" from French, in the US crème fraîche is concocted by fermenting pasteurized cream with sour cream or buttermilk. In France however, the cream used is unpasteurized and produces a velvet textured cream with a tarty and nutty flavor. A staple in French condiment recipes as it doesn't really curdle on a flame, it however, is not easily available everywhere and can cost a little too much for regular buying (7.5 oz. can cost you about USD 6). Besides, up to 90% of the calories in this cream comes from fat and only 15 grams has a saturated fat content of nearly 4 grams. To add to this alarming factor, 15 mg of cholesterol is also present in the same amount of crème fraîche. So, in such a case, you must either know how to make crème fraîche at home or be able to substitute crème fraîche with other alternatives. So, what makes for a suitable crème fraîche substitute? Read the following paragraphs and your query shall be satisfactorily answered.

Substitute for Crème Fraîche

Enounced "crem fresh", the variety of this cream with a lesser fat content does however curdle when heated. So, what can you substitute for crème fraîche?

• Can you substitute sour cream for crème fraîche? Yes, you totally can! When it comes to crème fraîche vs. sour cream, the former is different from sour cream in two ways - its smooth texture and a higher heat stability. So, if you do not have to do anything related to heating, and serve cream with some fruit, like strawberry or cherries, then beat ½ a cup sweet whipping cream and an equal amount of sour cream together to substitute for 1 cup of crème fraîche. After mixing the two, cover the mixture and set them aside to stand for 12 hours in a relatively warm place.
• You can also heat about a cup of pasteurized whipping cream at a temperature of 85 °F. Once the cream is lukewarm, remove it from the source of heat and pour 3 tablespoons of buttermilk into it. Mix it well, transfer the concoction into a glass bottle, cover it with wax paper with the help of a rubber band, and allow the concoction to stand unperturbed in a warm area for a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 48. The duration depends on how soon this mixture starts to clot. After that, stir the thickened cream, cover with a proper lid, and then refrigerate for 4 days to reach a good, thick creamy consistency. But make sure that you use this crème fraîche substitute within 10 days.
• For vegans, blending ½ a cup of any vegan cream cheese substitute with half a teaspoon of lemon juice and 1½ tablespoons of soy milk or almond milk will give you a satisfactory crème fraîche substitute. If using for a dessert recipe, just add a sweetener of your choice and voila!
• Mix 2 tablespoons of either sour cream or buttermilk with 2 cups of heavy cream. Store the mixture in a glass lidded glass container and let it stand unperturbed for at least 10 hours at room temperature. This should be followed with 4 hours of refrigeration and your crème fraîche alternative will be ready. Just take care to use pasteurized cream instead of the ultra-pasteurized variety.
• Try using Mexican crema or Mexican sour cream as a good and quick crème fraîche substitute.
• An equal part of mascarpone cheese, a soft mild Italian cream cheese, is a good crème fraîche substitute for baking.

Made from 28% milk fat, crème fraîche can very much be given a miss. However, crème fraîche does have a few good bacteria in it and it sure does not clabber when heated. And let's face it, there is nothing more delectable than a topping of crème fraîche over cobblers, be it a dried cherry and currant cobbler with ginger biscuit or a peach blackberry cobbler or a skillet peach cobbler. Now, for these once-in-a-while desserts, one can indulge in some crème fraîche. In order to battle the price and the health concerns, there are ways to make some of this velvety, white cream at home. However, for this particular method, you will need to get your hands on some crème fraîche available in the market. Maybe some leftover in the last jar you bought - just enough to make a culture. Now, here's how you employ that to make you a fresh batch of crème fraîche.

Homemade Crème Fraîche from Lactic Culture

Take 500 - 600 ml of cream, preferably raw, and place all of it in a clean, dry glass jar. To this, add one tablespoon of plain yogurt and the leftover crème fraîche. Now, cap the jar and shake it real hard. The ingredients inside should get mixed well. Next, wrap it in a cloth and place it in a warm place (25 - 30 °C) where it will be allowed to stand undisturbed for 24 - 72 hours. Of course you need to keep checking regularly after the first 24 hours to see whether the concoction has thickened all over. You can actually use this particular batch to reproduce two more generations of crème fraîche.

These crème fraîche substitutes are tried and tested and have worked well for everybody. Finally, if you have none of these things in your kitchen, then just use a cup of sour cream instead of crème fraîche. That alone will do the trick just as efficiently.