The little trap of thick cream


The little trap of thick cream
When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream?
In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either.

But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between liquid and thick cream is important.

Let's find out why.
6,677 5/5 (1 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:CreamThickHeavyTextureLiquidFoilSauceBindingTrap
Last modified on: December 13th 2024
For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend
The little trap of thick cream

The differences between them


crème épaisse

Liquid cream: Naturally fluid, with a fat content generally around 30-35%.
It is homogenized, meaning that the fat particles are evenly distributed in the liquid.
This structure makes it stable to cooking: it incorporates easily without breaking down.


crème épaisse

Thick cream: In addition to fat (similar to liquid cream), it often contains lactic ferments, which give it its tangy taste and denser consistency.
These ferments slightly modify the structure of the proteins.

Cooking behavior

Liquid cream: It retains its fluid texture when heated, as it does not contain the lactic ferments that could interact with heat.
It is ideal for sauces, gratins or dishes requiring a stable emulsion.

Thick cream: When cooked, heat can break down the interactions between proteins and fats stabilized by lactic ferments.
This releases the water contained in the cream, giving it a runnier consistency.

The little trap

It's this cooking behavior of thick cream that's a bit of a trap: when you're looking for a thick sauce texture, you naturally think of using thick cream, but that's a mistake, as it will liquefy very quickly.
Contrary to its name, thick cream doesn't thicken, quite the opposite, so it's best avoided for thick sauces and preparations.

Don't worry either, both will cook well, but if you're looking for a slightly thicker texture, not too liquid, you'll have to go for the liquid cream.

To sum up: if you want a thick texture in a recipe with cream, especially a sauce, use liquid cream, not thick cream.

Lasts posts
The importance of sieving
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3rd 20256,4793
The grease spray
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...
August 26th 20255,8945
Cake moulds
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?
August 25th 20256,1245
Thinning out herbs
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...
August 8th 20254,3085
Add a bay leaf
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...
July 31th 20254,3385

Other pages you may also like
The importance of sieving
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?
September 3rd 20256,4793
When should you salt?
When should you salt?
In the kitchen, we salt very frequently, almost all the time, and we must be careful because this salt can influence the texture of what you are cooking. I'm not going to talk about the amount of salt here, that's for another time, but rather about : When do you salt?
August 13th 201916 K4.5
The art of the charlotte
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...
February 27th 201346 K4.3
Wipe meats and fish before cooking
Wipe meats and fish before cooking
When you want to cook meat or fish, there's a very simple yet very important step to take before you even start: It's to dry, or wipe, each side of the meat or fish, sometimes called "dabbing" or "sponging". But why? And how? Let me explain.
April 14th 20248,4024.5
Parsley stems
Parsley stems
Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked. When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept. And when used cooked?
July 28th 20254,578 13
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page