Avoid confusion in the dairy aisle with our definitive guide to cream products and substitutes for them.
If you’re confused with all the options in the milk section, you’re in good company.
Are heavy cream and heavy whipping cream different?
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What about heavy cream vs. whipping cream?
Oh, and then there’s half-and-half and heavy cream substitutes.
Let’s demystify these dairy products and share some basic cream know-how.
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Read on for your definitive guide to all things cream.
However, there is more than one bang out of cream.
Heavy Cream
Heavy creamis a common ingredient in sweetandsavory recipes.
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Each tablespoon yields 50 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 3.5 grams of saturated fat.
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What About Heavy Whipping Cream?
Despite the different names, heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are the same product with identical nutritional stats.
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Everything it touches becomes richer, creamier, and tastier.
To freeze heavy cream, just pour 1 tablespoon into each cube of an ice tray and freeze.
you might also freeze an entire pint or quart of heavy cream in its original package.
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Whipping cream has 51 calories, 5.4 grams of fat, and 3.5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.
Whipping cream’s lower fat content means it doesn’t create perfectly stiff peaks when whipped.
Uses for Whipping Cream
Whipping cream is ideal foryou guessed itwhipped cream.
The result is a consistency similar to Cool Whip rather than a thick, intricate cream topping.
One tablespoon delivers 44 calories, 4.6 grams of fat, and 2.9 grams of saturated fat.
It also can’t be whisked into fluffy whipped cream due to its low milkfat content.
Half-and-Half
Half-and-half is literally made with equal parts heavy cream and milk.
It contains between 10.5 and 18 percent milkfat, less than half that of heavy cream.
Each tablespoon of half-and-half has 20 calories, 1.7 grams of fat, and 1 gram of saturated fat.
Half-and-half doesn’t contain nearly enough milkfat to form luscious stiff peaks that hold their shape.
Beware of anything labeled fat-free half-and-half.
It sounds too good to be true because it is.
Fat-free half-and-half is mainly made with skim milk, corn syrup, and a half-dozen additives and artificial colors.
Stick to regular half-and-half, which is a purer product with fewer chemicals and is overall better for you.
Slowly whisk the two liquids together, and then repeat that process two more times.
Finally, stir the tempered half-and-half back into the original mixture.
The consistency may be different than intended, but the dishes will still be delicious.
The following suggestions make for a seamless half-and-half substitute.
For lighter sauces, try opting for whipping cream or half-and-half.
However, it might not yield as thick of a result.
Half-and-half is the healthiest option of the bunch, containing about half the fat of heavy cream.
Whipping cream and light cream provide slightly lighter alternatives to heavy cream, but are still high in fat.
