Thursday, August 20, 2009
understanding cream labels
Cream is labeled illogically, with names and not numbers representing milk fat within. This ought to help sort them out: half-and-half (equal parts milk and cream) has 10.5 to 18 percent milk fat; light cream (a.k.a. table cream) ranges from 18 to 30 percent, but is most often actually 20 percent; whipping cream (a.k.a. light whipping cream) has 30 to 36 percent; and heavy cream (ironically, better for whipped cream than “whipping” cream, though both work) has 36 to 40 percent. Double cream (not widely available in the U.S.) has 42 percent. Oh, and it is awesome.
Would you have any advice for adding cream into the required Indian dishes? I have been having lots of trouble making cream-based Indian dishes (i.e. Korma) in the last year (yes, year). Whenever the recipe calls for a cup or so of heavy cream, the cream actually seems to make the dish more thin. Although I know that in real Indian cooking there should not be nearly as much cream as there is in the dishes served at Indian restaurants, but my dishes never seem to come out creamy, but rather soupy. I’ve looked everywhere to solve this problem, with no luck. :( Please, help me if possible!