Product Code Database
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process is accelerated by using called "separators". In many countries, it is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. It can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets, and contains high levels of saturated fat.
Cream skimmed from milk may be called "sweet cream" to distinguish it from cream skimmed from whey, a by-product of cheese-making. Whey cream has a lower fat content and tastes more salty, tangy, and "cheesy". In many countries partially fermented cream is also sold as: sour cream, crème fraîche, and so on. Both forms have many culinary uses in both sweet and savoury dishes.
Cream produced by cattle (particularly Jersey cattle) grazing on natural pasture often contains some fat-soluble carotenoid pigments derived from the they eat; traces of these intensely coloured pigments concentrated during separation give cream a slightly yellow hue, hence the name of the yellow-tinged off-white colour cream. Carotenoids are also the origin of butter's yellow colour. Cream from goat's milk, water buffalo milk, or from cows fed indoors on grain or grain-based pellets, is white. (2025). 9780471238966 ISBN 9780471238966
Cream (usually light/single cream or half and half) may be added to coffee.
The French word crème denotes not only dairy cream but also other thick liquids such as sweet and savory , which are normally made with milk, not cream. Larousse Gastronomique, 1938, translated 1961, p. 337
Manufacturers labels may distinguish between different fat contents, a general guideline is as follows:
Regulations allow cream to contain acidity regulators and stabilizers. For whipping cream, allowed additives include skim milk powder (≤ 0.25%), glucose solids (≤ 0.1%), calcium sulphate (≤ 0.005%), and xanthan gum (≤ 0.02%). The content of milk fat in canned cream must be displayed as a percentage followed by "milk fat", "B.F", or "M.F".
| Manufacturing cream | 40 | Crème fraîche is also 40–45% but is an acidified cultured product rather than sweet cream. | Commercial production. |
| Whipping cream | 33–36 | Also as cooking or "thick" cream 35% with added stabilizers. Heavy cream must be at least 36%. In Francophone areas: crème à fouetter 35%; and for cooking, crème à cuisson 35%, crème à l'ancienne 35% or crème épaisse 35%. | Whips into a creamy and smooth topping that is used for pastries, fresh fruits, desserts, hot cocoa, etc. Cooking version is formulated to resist breaking when heated (as in sauces). |
| Table cream | 15–18 | Coffee cream. Also as cooking or "thick" cream 15% with added stabilizers. In Francophone areas: crème de table 15% or crème à café 18%; and for cooking, crème champêtre 15%, crème campagnarde (country cream) 15% or crème épaisse 15%. | Added as rich whitener to coffee. Ideal for soups, sauces and veloutés. Garnishing fruit and desserts. Cooking version is formulated to resist breaking when heated. |
| Half and half | 10 | Cereal cream. Product with the most butterfat in the light cream category. In Francophone areas: crème à café 10% and sometimes crème légère 10%. Approximately equal to a 50/50 blend of table cream (at 16–18%) and whole milk (at 3.25%), hence the common name in English. | Poured over hot cereal as a garnish. Ideal in sauces for vegetables, fish, meat, poultry, and pasta. Also in cream soups. |
| Light cream | 3–10 | Light cream 6%. In Francophone areas: mélange de lait et de crème pour café 5%, Crémette™ 5% or crème légère 3% to 10%. A mixture of milk and cream. | 5% product is similar to the richest Guernsey or Jersey milk. A lower fat alternative to table cream in coffee. |
| + !width=200px | Name !Milk fat % !Definition !Main uses | ||
| Without lactic ferments added (liquid texture) | |||
| Crème fraîche crue | 30-40 | Directly from the farm production. Local food circuits. No sterilisation and no Pasteurization. | |
| Crème fleurette | 30 | No sterilisation but Pasteurization. Liquid and soft the first days, it gets heavier and develops a more pronounced taste with time. | Commonly used by cooks in restaurants. |
| Crème entière liquide | 22-40 | UHT sterilised (in France, a cream can not legally be called "fraîche" if it has been UHT sterilised). | |
| Crème fraîche liquide: | 30-40 (usually 30%) | Pasteurised (can be called "fraîche"). | Mostly used for fruit desserts and to make Whipped cream or . Can also be used to make white sauces or added in soups or pastas. |
| Crème fraîche légère liquide | 12-21 (usually 15) | Pasteurised (can be called "fraîche"). Less fat. | Can be used for the same recipes as the non diet one but sometimes considered as less tasty and/or less convenient to cook with. |
| With lactic ferments added (heavy texture) | |||
| Crème crue maturée | 30-40 | Directly from the farm production. Local food circuits. No sterilisation and no Pasteurization. | |
| Crème entière épaisse | 22-40 | UHT sterilised (in France, a cream can not legally be called "fraîche" if it has been UHT sterilised). | |
| Crème fraîche épaisse | 30-40 (usually 30) | Pasteurised (can be called "fraîche"). | Suits best for cooking especially reductions and liaisons (used as a binding agent). Also used to cook (such as quiche Lorraine). |
| Crème fraîche légère épaisse | 12-21 (usually 15) | Pasteurised (can be called "fraîche"). Less fat. | Can be used for the same recipes as the non diet one but sometimes considered as less tasty and/or less convenient to cook with. |
| Crème aigre | 16-21 | More acidic taste. | Same product as the American sour cream or the Canadian crème sure, but rarely used in France. |
| 10% |
| 15–20 |
| 33–35 |
| 48 |
Mellangrädde (27%) is, nowadays, a less common variant. Gräddfil (usually 12%) and Creme Fraiche (usually around 35%) are two common sour cream products.
| 45 |
| 35 |
| 15 |
| 15 |
Sour cream and crème fraîche (German: Sauerrahm, Crème fraîche; French: crème acidulée, crème fraîche; Italian: panna acidula, crème fraîche) are defined as cream soured by bacterial cultures.
Thick cream (German: verdickter Rahm; French: crème épaissie; Italian: panna addensata) is defined as cream thickened using thickening agents.
| Clotted cream | 55 | is clotted (by heat treatment) | Clotted cream is the thickest cream available and a traditional part of a cream tea and is spread onto scones like butter. |
| Extra-thick double cream | 48 | is heat-treated, then quickly cooled | Extra-thick double cream is the second thickest cream available. It is spooned onto pies, puddings, and desserts due to its heavy consistency. |
| Double cream | 48 | Double cream whips easily and produces heavy whipped cream for puddings and desserts. | |
| Whipping cream | 35 | Whipping cream whips well and produces lighter whipped cream than double cream. | |
| Whipped cream | 35 | has been whipped | Whipped cream is used for decorations on cakes, topping for ice cream, and fruit. |
| Sterilized cream | 23 | is sterilized | |
| Cream or single cream | 18 | is not sterilized | Single cream is poured over puddings, used in sauces, and added to coffee. |
| Extra-thick single cream | 18 | not sterilized; homogenised for consistency like double cream | |
| Sterilized half cream | 12 | is sterilized | |
| Half cream | 12 | Uncommon. Used in some cocktails. |
Not all grades are defined by all jurisdictions, and the exact fat content ranges vary. The above figures, except for "manufacturer's cream", are based on the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 131.
Other processing may be carried out. For example, cream has a tendency to produce oily globules (called "feathering") when added to coffee. The stability of the cream may be increased by increasing the non-fat solids content, which can be done by partial demineralisation and addition of sodium caseinate, although this is expensive.
Regulations in many jurisdictions restrict the use of the word cream for foods. Words such as creme, kreme, creame, or whipped topping (e.g., Cool Whip) are often used for products which cannot legally be called cream, though in some jurisdictions even these spellings may be disallowed, for example under the doctrine of idem sonans.1952 Idaho Op. Atty. Gen. 20, cited in Oreo and Hydrox cookies are a type of sandwich cookie in which two biscuits have a soft, sweet filling between them that is called "crème filling." In some cases, foods can be described as cream although they do not contain predominantly milk fats; for example, in Britain, "ice cream" can contain non-milk fat (declared on the label) in addition to or instead of cream, and salad cream is the customary name for a non-dairy condiment that has been produced since the 1920s.
In other languages, cognates of "cream" are also sometimes used for non-food products, such as (Hungarian for toothpaste), or (German for sunscreen).
Some products are described as "cream alternatives". For example, Elmlea Double, etc. are blends of buttermilk or lentils and vegetable oil with other additives sold by Upfield in the United Kingdom packaged and shelved in the same way as cream, labelled as having "a creamy taste".
Other cream products
Other items called "cream"
Some non-edible substances are called creams due to their consistency: shoe cream is runny, unlike regular waxy shoe polish; hand/body "creme" or "skin cream" is meant for moisturizing the skin.
See also
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