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Sour Cream

Today I learned that sour cream has a bad name because there are only very minor differences between sour cream and crème fraîche1,2.

It’d do better if it was marketed as Cream Fresh©. Both are made in the same way. Allowing a raw heavy cream to ripen at warm temperatures (70° - 90°) will allow bacteria to convert lactose ( milk sugar ) into lactic acid, thickening the cream and adding a sour tang. The texture and flavor mostly depend on the cream, temperature, and the length of fermentation. Making it is pretty simple:

Recipe
  • Combine in a jar:
  • 1 cup of heavy cream ( whipping > 35% fat )
  • .5-1 cup of milk ( organic whole )
  • 1-2 tablespoons of buttermilk * can also sub out plain yogurt to thicken
  • 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice ( will change sour-ness )
  • Shake vigorously in a glass jar with a lid.
  • Remove the lid, cover with cheesecloth or paper towel, and rubber band.
  • Leave out for 12-48 hrs @ 72°- 78°
  • Refrigerate for 12 hrs

I like sour cream with my burritos and on my omelets. The better half likes to use it when baking muffins and cakes. It’s good in cold soups like cucumber or asparagus, on top of gazpacho, or with caviar. There are hundreds of names for it, but I don’t think Sour works well. At least it’s not called Smântână as it is in some parts of Eastern Europe3. If you let it ferment long enough, you’ll end up with clabber4, which was commonly eaten in the rural southeast prior to refrigeration. I’d previously never heard the term, but it explains the Clabber Girl brand of baking powder.

  1. sour cream - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cream
  2. crème fraîche - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crème_fraîche
  3. fermented milk products - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_milk_products
  4. clabber - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clabber_(food)