How To: Make Creme Fraiche and Use It

There are some things on market shelves that confuse me. The other day, at an upscale cooking supply store, I noticed a bottle of "ready made" simple syrup. For about $10, you could buy something you could've made for pennies. Some sugar. The same amount of water. And a pot. You could even spruce it up with herbs and the like.

What confused me more was that people (who apparently have more money than they know what to do with) were actually buying it, totally stoked to see it there in a pretty bottle with cool font, ready to go for their cocktail party.

Creme fraiche is another one of these things. Literally, it means "fresh cream." My disclaimer is that I don't live down the street from a dairy, I live in a country that legally mandates pasteurized milk and cream and what I make at home probably doesn't have the same flavor Julia Child experienced whenever she went to her grocer's to buy it by the small bucketful.

What I've come across in the stores and markets are usually mighty fine specimens. They are worth the $5.95 and up price tag but a few years ago, I came across a way to make my own. Jacques Pepin or Julia Child herself -- they invoke the qualities of creme fraiche and the virtues of making it yourself. It requires heavy cream, buttermilk and a jar with a lid you can securely fasten.

I won't give measurements here -- I prefer to think of it as four parts cream to one part buttermilk. I eyeball the amount according to the container. In this case it was a 1 pint Mason Jar. First the cream. Then the buttermilk. Screw on the lid and give it a good shake. Buttermilk I get in the tiny cartons for about $0.49. That's more than enough for a pint of cream.

Here's the crucial part: Let it hang out room temperature, even a little bit warmer, for a couple of days. I know in our hyper-hygenic culture leaving these two mixed dairy products is a form of dangerous sacrilege, against everything we've learned from food safety and handling classes.

But really, this is what sour cream, creme fraiche and cheese each are. Controlled spoilage. These natural enzymes and bacteria do their thing, transforming this liquid substance into something thicker, a bit more complex and luxurious.

So, leave the jar, tightly fastened out. I like to put mine on top of the fridge or by the stove. Warmth is nice. Once a day, I pick up the jar to shake it and notice the difference in sound. First, it's a slurpy noise, like when you shake a carton of orange juice. Then, the next day, it's a lot heavier, more viscous, almost like I was shaking a jar of caramel. Open the lid and give it a stir. It's denser than most sour creams we've come to know in our earlier potato salad days. Its thick and emits a subtle, funk as a backbone, a richness that covers the tongue and ends on a top note of tang. In other words, it's not just sour. It's complex.

Store it in the refrigerator. To make another batch, I use the last 1/2 inch of creme fraiche in a jar as the starter for another fresh pouring of heavy cream. You can start from scratch with a washed out container, buttermilk and cream. But I prefer this self-contained ecosystem that already is familiar with creme fraiche. Bread artisans know the power of a sourdough starter that's been kept from previous batches.

I use creme fraiche with many things. I top fresh berries with it and sprinkle on muscovado (the deep, earthy sugar). I like it instead of whipped cream with cakes, like the Cherry Almond one I  made last week. I like it in baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and anything where sour cream is required. Come winter, I'll dollop it generously on top of sweetened chestnut cream spiked with brandy. A shower of shaved chocolate is all this dessert needs. 

One of my favorite ways to use creme fraiche is as an easy sauce for long strands of hot pasta. It was a revelation when I first read it in The River Cafe Cookbook, where Jamie Oliver got his start and where two very savvy and talented women showed London how to eat. For anyone who has an excess of arugula, this make a nice change of pace from a salad.

Creme Fraiche Arugula Pasta

1 cup creme fraiche * zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 if they're small or not particularly juicy) * a big handful of fresh arugula, roughly torn * 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving * salt and pepper to taste * 1/2 pound of pasta like linguine, spaghetti OR 1 pound of fresh linguine, fettuccine OR parpadalle

If you've got dried pasta, get a huge pot of water boiling, salt it with a good dash of kosher salt and then cook the pasta before anything else.

If you're working with fresh pasta, make the sauce first, have it sit tight for a five minutes while you get the fresh pasta cooked and ready to go.

For the sauce: In a large mixing bowl stir together the creme fraiche, lemon zest and juice, the arugula, cheese, salt and pepper.

As soon as the pasta is done, strain the noodles in a colander. When I say "reserving some pasta cooking water" you can go one of two ways. First method, actually scoop out about a cup's worth of pasta water before you strain the pasta. Or second, you can strain the pasta into the colander and while the noodles are still dripping, place the colander over the now empty boiling pot. Whatever you've harvested below is what you can use to thin out the creme fraiche sauce.

Toss to coat each strand. Serve immediately with plenty of grated parmesan cheese.

Comments

[SC]

wow, sounds so easy. will have to try this sometime.

[Kalyn]

Dare I confess that I've never had creme fraiche (at least not that I know of!) I've often wondered just what it was like. Definitely going to try this.

[Gaby]

omg this is so exciting! I love creme fraiche, especially on my smoked salmon pizza! I am going to give this a try!

[RSchiffman]

As of a couple years ago it is legal to sell unpasteurized milk and cream in Utah. The store that sells it just has to meet certain restrictions. Now let me put my cynical hat on. It just happens that those restrictions were put into law through the efforts of Margaret Dayton (R-Orem). It also just happens that the only store in Utah (Real Foods) that meets those restrictions is in Orem. Imagine that! I'd think there was some form of collusion going on, but since our legislators always act with the best interest of all Utahns in mind, it must be the case that no other store, or dairy, in the State is able to store the milk in cold cases as good as this one does. Rarely are there any benefit to living in Orem, but in this really rare case, I can purchase unpasteurized, unhomogonized whole milk. They even sell proper creme fraiche bacteria for a starter.

[vanessa]

SC -- It's conducive to those with little time.

Kalyn -- I'd be interested to get your opinion on this stuff.

Gaby -- Ah yes, smoked salmon and creme fraiche. We just need caviar and it's a party.

RSchiffman -- You are correct! Given how difficult it is for me to locate some, to me it's still as good as illegal since I can't even get it from friends or acquaintances who own an organic dairy. Seems silly. Didn't know they had starter though -- if I'm ever in the area when they're open I will have to get my hands on some. Thanks for the tip.

[Krema za vene]

I'll try make this at home for sure.

Thanks for such a good post.

[A Thornton]

You can use kefir as the starter. I just made it for the first time, using a tablespoon of kefir for a cup and a half of heavy cream. Incubated it at 68 degrees for 24 hours and then refrigerated. Be sure the kefir has active culture. I think it is the yeasts that make the creme fraiche, but the bacteria should also interact with the milk portion of the cream.

[Meghan]

This is kinda like creme fraiche, and it's a good substitute, but it's not really creme fraiche. I like it. But it's not the same.

[Meghan]

PS If you use store-bought creme fraiche as a starter, you can make real creme fraiche using this method. But it has a (slightly but significant) different taste than when you use just buttermilk and cream.

[vanessa]

Meghan - Thanks for the feedback. It's weird, some sources say it is, some say it isn't. Since I like this subtle bit of kitchen trickery, for the sake of ease and budget, I say it is. But of course, I know there are always more than two sides to a story. And yes, agreed, using creme fraiche itself as a starter would do wonders. However, even purists contest that our dairy doesn't hold a candle to the supposedly more pristine cream of other food cultures.