With its signature tangy bite and milky richness, crème fraîche brightens many of our favorite dishes. It has a custard consistency that exists somewhere between heavy cream and sour cream, and we love adding a dollop alongside tacos and even a fresh bowl of berries.
Sure, you can buy it in the store, but where's the fun in that?! Especially when it's just as easy--and most certainly cheaper--to make it at home.
DIY Crème Fraîche
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tablespoons buttermilk
Stir the buttermilk into heavy cream in a non-reactive container (like glass or stainless steel) that has a lid. Personally, we like a leftover quart canning jar!
Leave the container partially covered, and let it sit at room temperature until it's as thick as you like it--about 8 - 24 hours.
Stir the contents and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
How does this work? Bacteria in the milk convert sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. The acid lowers the pH of the liquid and prevents the formation of any illness-causing microbes. At the same time, the liquid thickens and develops the pleasant tart flavor we love. Cooks love chemistry!
Has anyone experimented with substitutions like yogurt instead of buttermilk or using a lower-fat milk?
(Image Credit: Cooking Light)
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Who knew how easy this is to make? Thanks!
what if you don't keep buttermilk on hand? I would hate to have to buy buttermilk just to use 2 tbsp.
I've been keeping buttermilk in the house ever since I learned it's the secret behind awesome muffins and pancakes. Great to learn one more use for it!
Doppelganger: Do you just substitute it in for regular milk?
this item is so hard to find i am super excited to try this. thanks for the great idea!!
Perhaps a credit to Julia Child is in order?
Mastering The Art of French Cooking
ISBN 0375413405
If you use buttermilk instead of milk you have to substitute some baking soda in for some of the baking powder.
I thought that you couldn't use ultrapasturized cream to make this? Where do you find non-ultrapasturized?
leftover buttermilk also makes a great facial when combined with baby oatmeal flakes (originally i would pulverize regular oatmeal in a food processor), and a couple of drops of honey.
helps to soothe (oatmeal) and is a mild exfoliator because of the lactic acid. great for break-outs...
can be stored in fridge, but write date on it and discard after a week if not used.
read about this years ago; formulated by andie mcDowell's esthetician.
I've made this and it was delicious.
I usually make ranch or buttermilk blue cheese dressing with the remaining buttermilk. If you don't thicken with mayonnaise (leave it thin, or use yogurt to thicken) it's very light.
Buttermilk also makes a great marinade for chicken.
I've given up trying to make it like this. Mine never thickened no matter how long I left it out. I've tried different brands cream like TJ's and different cultured buttermilks but I've never had any luck.
Actually Julia Child's suggestion of using buttermilk and cream came from Mastering Volume I
By the time Julia wrote from Julia's Kitchen she suggested buttermilk was a nuisance unless you needed it for something else and she now preferred sour cream as the fermenting agent.........and found it less acidic
Also, she said it worked with both pasteurized and unpasteurized creme
for 1 1/2 pints of creme fraiche you use:
1/2 pint commercially soured creme
1 pint heavy cream
Here is the gist of it.
You combine the two in a saucepan and heat gently not going over 85 degrees - let sit in a partially covered container until thickened.......
By the way you can find detailed directions and an enlightening conversation about Creme Fraiche in :
From Julia Child's Kitchen
published by Alfred A Knopf 1977
ISBN 0-394-48071-6
Can I use powdered buttermilk?