What is Crème Fraiche?
Crème Fraiche is simply cultured (fermented) cream. But its thickness, its creaminess, and its mild tartness is anything but simple. It is a wonderful, traditional fermented food similar to sour cream, but with a higher fat content.
Crème fraîche is great for cooking because it won’t curdle the way cream sometimes does when you cook with it, or when you add an acid like lemon juice or vinegar.
How to Use Crème Fraiche
Fermented Crème fraîche can be used in both sweet and savory recipes:
- to thicken or garnish soups and stews
- on desserts instead of whipped cream (it’s more stable than whipped cream and is wonderful sweetened with a little maple syrup)
- to make creamy dips
- on baked potatoes
- in salad dressings
- on fish or seafood
- and can even be used to make ice cream
 | Seedling Heat Mat for fermenting dairy |
More Posts You’ll Love
Two Ways to Make Yogurt Without a Yogurt Maker
Five Ways to Make Homemade Sour Cream
Creamy Raw Milk Cottage Cheese
Can Good Bacteria Destroy Bad Bacteria? A Raw Cheese Maker Weighs In
Raw Milk Cultured Cream – Crème Fraiche
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cream pasteurized may be used but may take longer to ferment
- 4 tablespoons starter such as yogurt, kefir, whey, or cultured buttermilk or previous batch of creme fraiche
Instructions
- Place your starter in a quart Mason jar.
- Add the raw cream.
- Close the jar and shake it so that the starter mixes well with the cream.
- Keeping the lid loose, place the jar somewhere warm for about 12 hours.
- Check the cream. If it has not yet thickened, leave it for another 6 – 12 hours until thick. Tip: place the jar on a seedling heat mat if your kitchen is cool.
- When it has thickened, store it in the refrigerator, where it will keep for a week or two.
- Crème fraîche is great for cooking because it won’t curdle the way cream sometimes does when you heat it or add an acid like lemon juice or vinegar.
Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Leave a Reply