Substitutes for double cream in cookery?

maryelizabethsadler

I use Elmlea double light: it keeps for months, and is lower in saturated fat...

Me too! I can't tell the difference. I think it is cheaper as well as healthier.

A little cornflour mixed with a cream substitute stabilises it and stops splitting.

Evaporated milk works as a cream substitute in some recipes – savoury ones.

We have a glut of tomatoes so I made a huge pot of cream of tomato soup on Friday. I added several big dollops of 0% fat Greek Yoghurt from Aldi and it was absolutely the best!!

Aldi is the best value GY around. I use it in curries, sauces, soups, cheesecakes etc. it comes in a white tub with pink lettering.

I've tried yoghurt and other substitutes but only cream seems to work in stroganoff. All the others separate out but the cream stays intact to make the sauce.

I've never found creme fresh or yoghurt a good substitute for cream when making stroganoff - they separate out too quickly when in the hot pan. But for other kinds of dish they should be fine.

Mollygo

Now I know what’s in it, I’ll carry on avoiding it.
BUTTERMILK 69%, Vegetable Oils (Coconut, Rapeseed), Lactose, Emulsifiers (SOYA LECITHIN, Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), Stabilizers (Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Carrageenan), Colour (Carotenes).

Disgusting isn’t it😬

Now I know what’s in it, I’ll carry on avoiding it.
BUTTERMILK 69%, Vegetable Oils (Coconut, Rapeseed), Lactose, Emulsifiers (SOYA LECITHIN, Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), Stabilizers (Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Carrageenan), Colour (Carotenes).

Elmlea is a UPF and should be avoided.

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiq4Ib7j6r_AhWcTEEAHY4xBHQQFnoECDYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elmlea.com%2Fproductoverview%2Felmlea-double&usg=AOvVaw2xqWxuedmgG5gj5A2VKWNg

Elmlea double or double light is a good cheaper option.

There really isn’t a (great) substitute for double cream (heavy cream, whipping cream liquid) if you want your recipe to turn out. It’s much about the fat content and mostly food chemistry when it comes to baking.

Whipping cream is a bit cheaper instead of double cream.

if you chill the tin of coconut milk in the fridge- then use the top "cream" when opened. You can use the milky bit in rice puddings or savoury curries etc

I use Elmlea double light: it keeps for months, and is lower in saturated fat...

Ah the Bell cream maker ! Had one in 70s and always used especially for cooking. Found that you could replicate it by using a liquidiser and none of that interminable pumping either😀

RakshaMK

When I was a kid, my mum had a Bell cream maker, which worked by emulsifying milk and melted unsalted butter.
With this in mind, depending on the recipe, I'd use milk and melted unsalted butter.

Another memory of a cream making attachment on my Kenwood Chef! That used a mixture of milk and butter too.

When I was a kid, my mum had a Bell cream maker, which worked by emulsifying milk and melted unsalted butter.
With this in mind, depending on the recipe, I'd use milk and melted unsalted butter.

Oooh Jacky B that brings back memories; top of the milk was such a treat, and probably the closet we got to real cream in my childhood!

JackyB

So I had a look this morning whilst shopping. The only cream that you can get in Germany is 30-32% fat. Proper double cream in the UK is 48% fat.

All milk is homogenised so there is no such thing as "Top of the milk" either. All other available creams are soured - sour cream or creme fraiche and other German variants thereof.

You used to be able to get something called creme double but that was nearly as thick as butter.

The price for 200g of fresh cream and 200g of UHT cream was identical (comparing supermarket own brand). €1.09.

My German friends used to talk about Quark and Topfen. Never was sure what they were but had some in dougnuts. Yum!

So I had a look this morning whilst shopping. The only cream that you can get in Germany is 30-32% fat. Proper double cream in the UK is 48% fat.

All milk is homogenised so there is no such thing as "Top of the milk" either. All other available creams are soured - sour cream or creme fraiche and other German variants thereof.

You used to be able to get something called creme double but that was nearly as thick as butter.

The price for 200g of fresh cream and 200g of UHT cream was identical (comparing supermarket own brand). €1.09.

I would definitely recommend coconut cream, but want to add that it is labelled coconut milk on cans in the UK for some daft reason! It is nothing like the coconut milk you can buy in cartons amongst the oat milk, soy milk , almond milk etc. milk alternatives.

When buying, choose the ones that are NOT labelled 'light'. I keep mine in the fridge, so that if you want thick cream it separates so that the 'water' bit is on the bottom. Then you can spoon the thick bit out, and use the water bit to thin it out if you want to.

I use it successfully to substitute for all the times I would have used dairy cream in the past.

Avoid the ones from Thailand if possible; in some parts monkeys are used to pick the coconuts and treated very cruelly.

Oh, and coconut cream!

I use crème fraiche.

Farmor15

Creme fraiche is much cheaper than double cream (in Lidl and Aldi anyway). I often use it in cooking instead of cream. It also keeps better than cream - weeks. It's a handy staple to have in fridge.

I would pay more for crème fraîche to be honest - around 45p (just looked it up) for 100g - but I don't tend to buy it.
Only Greek yogurt seems a cheaper option in "real" products rather than "fake cream" type.

Silken tofu
Coconut cream
Avocados in a few dessert recipes.