What can be replaced with cream? Cooking Tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Cream is a commonly used ingredient in many dishes and confectionery. This product varies in fat content, whether fresh or pasteurized.

Where is it used?

On the basis of cream, a confectionery cream is prepared, which is used to decorate cakes and pastries, coat cakes, fill choux pastry products. In addition, there are many sauces and dressings. On the basis of cream, creamy soups, all kinds of casseroles and much more are prepared. And what can be replaced with cream?

When it comes directly to creating a dish, in particular dessert, the ingredients are not always at hand. There is no time to go specifically to the store to purchase the missing one, and its cost significantly exceeds the budget. And sometimes the product is simply not available on the shelves. In such cases, the use of an alternative is acceptable without losing the taste of the dish. Recipes for many preparations strongly recommend the use of clearly specified ingredients. But in reality, many alternative products are no different. It turns out that the cost of many dishes can be reduced through the use of more affordableoptions.

To begin with, it should be distinguished in which situations the use of cream is mandatory, and where you can safely take similar products. The exceptions are mainly special types of confectionery.

Replacing cream

If you need to prepare a pastry cream for baking, then you can safely replace the cream with sour cream. It whips up no worse, but you should be careful not to overdo it so as not to get oil. When done right, the end result is great taste. Ready-made condensed milk can also serve as an alternative. Add some lemon juice to it. Especially tasty is the cream of proteins and condensed milk. Both options work pretty well to soak cakes or fill a confectionery product, for example, custards.

In the case when you need to cook a soufflé or, for example, a Bird's Milk cake, it's hard to imagine what can be a substitute for cream. Especially if it is required to use their special type with a certain fat content of 33%. However, there is a way out. High-fat sour cream or thick natural yogurt with the addition of gelatin can help out. The crystals should be soaked, allowed to swell, and then added to alternative ingredients. Then the mass should be distributed over the base of the product using a detachable form. You can also substitute with homemade cream. They whip up quickly and are high in fat.

Milk is a great alternative

Many amateur cooks often wonder if it is possible to replace cream with milk? After all, it costs much less, and there are no cardinal differences in taste. Here you need to look specifically at the recipe and its requirements. If you have to decorate a cake or fill, for example, profiteroles, then milk can really come in handy. It will need to be used to prepare a thick custard, adding other necessary ingredients. Cream can be replaced with pure milk, for example, in sauces.

At high temperature, it does not change the structure and has no difference in taste. The only difference is in the percentage of fat. Also, one of the options for sauces can be the classic Bolognese. To do this, put butter in a hot frying pan, melt it, then sprinkle with flour and fry. When the mass acquires a golden hue, it should be diluted with milk. In this case, the reverse situation may also arise, when the entire sauce cannot be prepared according to the recipe.

Reverse replacement

And what can be replaced with cream? Let's figure it out. For example, the entire "Bolognese" can be replaced with 15% cream with s alt. Similarly, beaten egg yolks mixed with sour cream are sometimes added to julienne. This mix is easy to replace with liquid cream. There is no need to worry about the fact that the sauce can curdle at a high temperature.

In the case of gourmet dishes, it is often necessary to replace intricate ingredients with simpler ones. For example, Mascarpone cheese in your favoritemany dessert "Tiramisu". Of course, there is an alternative to such a rare and expensive ingredient. And it's cottage cheese mashed with heavy cream.

There are many recipes that use, for example, some exotic ingredient. One of these is coconut milk, which is often used to prepare a variety of soups. This is exactly what can be replaced with cream with a fat percentage of up to 15 units. The exception is fully vegetarian dishes, which do not contain animal proteins and fats.

Conclusion

Now you know what can be replaced with cream. As you can see, there are many options. So choose your ingredients carefully. Have fun experimenting!