light cream

[tdcman1]

I am cooking a dish that calls for "light cream". My supermarket does not have this. Is this the same as whipping cream as opposed to heavy whipping cream? Thanks in advance

[cape chef]

Hi and welcome to cheftalk

use half and half

[Isa]

Welcome to Chef Talk Tdcman!

Light cream has a fat content of about 10 to 15%. It is also sold as table cream. It's really not the same as heavy cream which has a fat content of 35%.

[Kimmie]

Hi! Welcome to Cheftalk.

Half-and-half is a mixture of equal parts milk and cream, and is 10 to 12 percent milk fat.

On the other hand, light cream, also called coffee or table cream, can contain anywhere from 18 to 30 percent fat, but commonly contains 20 percent.

(From epicurious.com)

[Jock]

So I guess the question remains, how can you tell one from another?
I may have missed it because I wasn't looking, but I don't recall seeing the fat content listed. (I'll make a point of looking next time I buy some.) In the meantime, I either get Heavy Cream, Whipping Cream or 1/2 & 1/2. None of which, it seems is Light Cream. I suppose you could add a little whipping cream to !/2 & 1/2 to raise the fat content to approximate that of Light Cream?
I'm also thinking that if this is for cooking (as distinct from baking) it probably isn't that critical. Using whipping crean will produce a richer finish to the dish while 1/2 & 1/2 will be lighter. Either/or may suit your preference.

Jock

[Isa]

How to tell the difference? If it doesn't whip, it's light cream...

[kuan]

Light cream is a British thing. 20% fat. Available in cans at many British grocers next to the lemon curd and Devonshire cream

Kuan

[Jock]

That's interesting, I only remember single cream or double cream from back home. But that was a long time ago.
Hey Isa, I've been whipping this cream for the last 20 minutes and it's not getting thick. What's up with that?
BTW, I looked on a carton of heavy cream for the fat content. It says, "Total fat 9% - Saturated fat 20%". How can you have twice as much staurated fat as total fat? Or does that mean that 20% of the 9% of fat is saturated? I never could make sense of the whole fat thing on dairy products.

Jock

[mudbug]

Jock,

The 9% and 20% refer to the "Percentage of Daily Value (%DV)". %DVs are based on recommendations for a 2,000 calorie diet per serving. For the cream, one serving is probably 1 Tablespoon.


Check the number of grams immediately after the words "Total Fat " and "Saturated Fat ". What do they list?


Let's say it looks like this:

Total Fat 5g | 9%
Saturated Fat 3.5g |20%

Let's say the serving size of this product is one Tablespoon. One Tablespoon of this product contains a total of 5 grams of fat. Three and a half grams of the 5 grams is saturated fat.

* A serving of this product contains 20% of the daily value for saturated fat. This percentage is based upon a 2000-calorie diet.

Saturated fat is a type of fat primarily from animal sources (meat and dairy), coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils. Foods high in saturated fat tend to be solid at room temperature. Saturated fat raises LDLÊcholesterol more than anything else in your diet. Too much LDLÊcholesterol in your blood leads to the formation "plaque" that builds up in the walls of your arteries which can lead to strokes and blood clots.



* For someone consuming 2000 calories, the recommended intake of saturated fat is less than 20 grams. 3.5 grams is 20% of that 20 grams.

For more on understanding Nutrition Labels, look here:

Guidance on How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Panel on Food Labels.

Look here for more on saturated fat and cholesterol.

light cream = coffee cream = table cream (18 - 30% fat)

Substitutes:Ê evaporated milk OR half and half OR 1 C = 7/8 C milk + 3 tablespoons butter OR blend equal parts milk and cottage cheeseÊ

Notes:Ê Unlike heavy cream, lower-fat substitutes like light cream, half-and-half, and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil.ÊÊ Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps.

[Jock]

As ever, a complete and concise answer. Thanks a lot.

Jock

[davewarne]

Well, Jock,

I'm still here and the Fresh cream in the supermarket comes in three types. Single, Whipping and Double. They don't give the percentage of fat on the carton but Whipping is 39gr per 100ml and Double is 48gr per 100ml. I don't use Single, the lightest. Whipping doesn't whip too well so I use Double in most everything. They also play around with it and make it THICK, which is no use except to spoon on to strawberries.

Don't come back, it's not worth it. :-)

Dave

[Jock]

Thanks Dave. I come back now and again to visit family but I've been gone so long I don't think I could live there any more. Nice place to visit.... and all that.

Jock