🥛 Cream

Cream is the fat-rich part of milk, separated by skimming or with a separator. ³ Under the Codex Alimentarius standard it is a fluid milk product comparatively rich in fat, an emulsion of fat in skimmed milk with at least 10% milk fat. ¹ Plain cream tastes slightly sweet, while fermented cream is made from it with lactic acid bacteria. ¹

How it is made. In industry, cream is separated by a centrifugal separator: 100 kg of milk with 4% fat gives 9.65 kg of cream at 40% and 90.35 kg of skim milk. ⁹ The fat content is usually set at 35–40% for whipping cream, or at another level for butter and other products. ⁴ Cream is used to make butter, soured cream, ice cream and cream cheese.

Types under the Codex. The Codex distinguishes prepackaged liquid cream, whipping cream, cream packed under pressure, whipped cream, cream fermented by bacteria and cream acidified with acids. ¹ Cream may also be reconstituted or recombined from butter, milk or cream powders and water, provided the end product has the same characteristics. Stabilisers and thickeners are added only when needed to keep the emulsion stable. ¹

A protected name. In the EU the word "cream" may be used only for milk products, like "butter" and "buttermilk". ² An exception covers products whose nature is clear from traditional usage. An ordinary plant-based substitute may not be called cream. ²

Coffee and whipping cream. Cream with 10–18% fat is called coffee cream and is increasingly used for desserts and cooking. At 35–40% it is considerably thicker and suitable for whipping. ⁴

Whipping. Fat is what holds the froth. Cream with 40% fat is easy to whip, while at 30% and below it gets harder; about 25% can be whipped only with additives such as lecithin-rich sweet buttermilk powder. Before whipping, cream is stored at 4–6 °C for a long time so the fat crystallises, since liquid fat makes whipping impossible. The best result comes below 6 °C, and whipping too long may produce butter. ⁴

Composition. According to USDA, 100 g of coffee cream has 195 kcal, 19 g of fat, 10 g of it saturated, and 3.7 g of lactose. ⁶ Whipping cream has 340 kcal, 36 g of fat, 23 g of it saturated, and 2.9 g of lactose. ⁷

Cream or soured cream? Cream is the plain, unfermented fat-rich part of milk; soured cream is made from it with lactic acid bacteria, so it is thicker and more sour. Cream or heavy cream? It is mainly a question of fat: the Codex sets a minimum of 10% milk fat, coffee cream sits at 10–18% and whipping cream at 35–40%, so read the percentage rather than the name. Cream or milk? Cream is only the fatty part taken from milk: 100 kg of 4% milk yields 9.65 kg of 40% cream.

On the pack, look for the word cream and a fat percentage: 10–18% is coffee cream, 35–40% is whipping cream. Whipped cream and cream in a spray can are separate types, and a plant-based product may not be sold as cream in the EU. In shops it sits in the chilled dairy section of a supermarket or corner shop, in cartons or bottles; pregnant readers should check for the word pasteurised.

Why it matters to you. For froth, take cream with 35–40% fat and chill it well. ⁴ The NHS advises eating cream less often and in small amounts, and replacing some of it in recipes with lower-fat plain yoghurt or fromage frais. ⁵ In pregnancy, choose pasteurised cream. ⁸