• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fermenting for Foodies

Health, Taste and Tradition

  • Fermentation
    • General Information
    • Beans, Nuts & Seeds
    • Beer, Wine, & Cider
    • Dairy & Cheese
    • Fermented Fruit
    • GF Sourdough
    • Trad Sourdough
    • Probiotic Beverages
    • Vegetables
    • Supplies
  • Healthy Meals
    • Appetizers
    • Baked Goods
    • Breakfasts
    • Condiments
    • Main Dishes
    • Sides & Salads
    • Soups & Stews
    • Desserts
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Fruit-Sweetened Treats
  • Cookbook

Crème Fraîche: Cultured Whipping Cream

Crème fraîche is cultured whipping cream
How to make cultured whipping cream

I love cultured whipping cream (crème fraîche). It’s so easy, delicious, and probiotic! Best of all, fermented whipping cream is more stable than typical whipping cream. Making it the perfect option for serving with scones, cakes, and pies.

Probiotic whipping cream

How to use cultured whipping cream (Crème fraîche)

I nearly always have cultured whipping cream in my fridge. My kids love it, and a dollop of crème fraîche makes everything taste deliciously fancy.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to use cultured whipping cream:

  • A last-minute addition to creamy sauces like pasta Alfredo.
  • A sugar-free breakfast topping for waffles, pancakes, and crepes.
  • Turn it into probiotic ice cream!
  • Make probiotic treats like chocolate truffles or banana pudding.
  • We love whipping up cultured butter for toast. Yum!

Dairy cultures:

Crème fraîche is made with a mesophilic dairy culture. Mesophilic means that the culture will ferment at room temperature. So it is super easy, and doesn’t require heating!

Here’s a list of mesophilic cultures that I recommend for culturing whipping cream, along with the required amounts and culturing time:

  1. Buttermilk: Use 1/4 cup of cultured buttermilk, and culture for at least 12 hours.
  2. Milk Kefir: Use 1 Tbsp of kefir grains, and culture for 8-12 hours. Don’t leave your kefir grains in the cream too long or it will separate the fat from the whey, and you’ll end up with butter! Even after 12 hours the fat will have floated to the top, so mix it up after removing the grains.
  3. Mesophilic Yogurt Culture: Use 2 Tbsp of heirloom yogurt (not typical store-bought yogurt) and culture for 12-24 hours.
  4. Sour Cream: If you are using a store-bought sour cream, make sure it’s fermented. It should have probiotic cultures listed on the ingredients. Use 1/4 cup of sour cream and culture for at least 12 hours.
  5. Crème fraîche: Looking for the traditional flavor of crème fraîche? Use a specific crème fraîche starter.
Homemade crème fraîche
Print

Cultured Whipping Cream (Crème Fraîche)

Crème fraîche is cultured whipping cream
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Cultured whipping cream is an easy and delicious way to get more probiotics into your diet. Fermenting also helps to stabilize whipping cream, making it perfect for serving with scones, crepes, and waffles.

  • Author: Emillie Parrish
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2 cups 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Fermented
  • Cuisine: French
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 cups of whipping cream (30-35% milkfat)
  • 2 – 4 Tbsp mesophilic dairy culture (see section above for options)

Instructions

  1. Mix the cream and culture in a glass jar.
  2. Cap with a finger-tight lid. Leave cream out at room temperature for 8-24 hours. The exact time will depend on the culture you use and how sour you want it to be. Don’t over-culture it as it will curd.

Notes

  • Culturing whipping cream can result in a thick sour cream consistency (particularly if you use sour cream culture.) The best way to keep the cream thin enough to be whipped up for desserts or stirred into a soup, etc. is to avoid culturing it for more than 12 hours.
  • See the section above for details on 5 different mesophilic dairy cultures. They will each bring their own particular flavor to the whipping cream.

Keywords: buttermilk, sour cream, kefir, yogurt, full fat, keto, sugar free, healthy, crème fraîche, breakfast, treats

Filed Under: Dairy & CheeseTagged With: Buttermilk, Cream, Milk kefir, Sour cream, Yogurt

Previous Post: « Banana-Sweetened Ice Cream (Lots of Flavors!)
Next Post: Probiotic Mango Lassi: A 2-Ingredient Recipe! »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

Three types of milk kefir second ferment
Milk Kefir Second Ferment (Flavor & Sodas!)
How to make probiotic ice cream with milk kefir, yogurt or buttermilk
Honey Vanilla Probiotic Ice Cream (So Simple!)
How to make yogurt without a yogurt maker
How to Make Yogurt Without a Yogurt Maker

Lait Ribot, a French style buttermilk beverage
Lait Ribot: A French Buttermilk Beverage
Ayran is a Turkish Yogurt Drink
Middle Eastern Yogurt Drink: Ayran & Doogh
Delicious ways to use yogurt cheese and Greek yogurt.
Yogurt Cheese, Greek Yogurt And Labneh

Comments

  1. karron lane

    April 29, 2019 at 9:59 am

    and then what? does the cream need to be whipped or is thick on its own after fermentation? thanks.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      April 29, 2019 at 10:04 am

      Depending on your culture it might thicken (like creme fraiche). However, I usually don’t culture until it’s thick so I can use it for making whipping cream (by whipping it), ice cream, etc.

      Reply
  2. Amalia

    June 21, 2019 at 12:32 pm

    Can I use milk kefir with out the grains, I mean, only the fermented bebarege?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      June 21, 2019 at 1:01 pm

      Yes, it should work. However, if you are using store-bought milk kefir, then it’s usually more like yogurt culture than kefir culture. I would try it even if you have store bought kefir. You should know within 4-6 hours if it is working.

      Reply
  3. Jessica Schafer

    August 31, 2019 at 3:42 pm

    Do you need to chill it after culturing the cream, so that it can be whipped? I’ve never had success whipping cream that’s not cold, bu maybe this is different because of the culturing?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 1, 2019 at 10:38 am

      I assume so. I’ve never tried whipping it when the cream was warm. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Charity

    September 14, 2020 at 6:23 am

    How do you know if it’s cultured enough? It was out for almost 24 hours and tastes a little tart. I guess I expected it to be thicker or something. I just want to make sure it’s cultured not sour.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 14, 2020 at 7:48 am

      When it tastes sour enough for you, then it’s cultured. It will thicken, but it’s probably best to stop before then and whip the cream slightly for thickness. Especially if you don’t want it to be too sour. 24 hours sound perfect. Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Luke

    March 25, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    This is great and sour! I love it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Emillie, an island-dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed to feed your microbiome.
Read More →

Check Out My Cookbook!

Fermenting Made Simple Cookbook

Want healthy recipes right to your inbox? Subscribe to our mid-month newsletter!

Thank you!

Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription.

Affiliate Disclosure

In order to run this site, Fermenting For Foodies sometimes earns an affiliate commission on the sales of products we link to. We only feature items we genuinely want to share, and this is an arrangement between the retailer and Fermenting For Foodies. Readers never pay more for products. Thank you for reading!

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Sponsored Content
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Fermenting for Foodies