The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 140

HOMEMADE CRẩME FRAẻCHE Crốme fraợche is made by allowing heavy cream to spoil in a controlled way Bacteria introduced into the cream convert some of its sugar (mainly the complex carbohydrate lactose) into simpler sugars and acidic by-products This lowers the pH of the cream, causing some of its proteins to coagulate, making it thicker Good crème frche has a rich, creamy texture, stiff enough to form loose peaks, and a tangy, slightly cheese-like flavor Store-bought crème frche is great, but it can be difficult to track down and pricey When I found out that you can simply mix buttermilk (which has live bacterial culture) into heavy cream and let it thicken overnight to create a true crème frche at home, my mind was blown I like to share my mind-blowing experiences, so here you go Lucky you! I played around with the ratios of cream to buttermilk quite a bit and in the end found that it doesn’t really matter all that much Add more buttermilk, and you’ll need less time for it to thicken, but it’ll be less creamy Add less, and it takes longer, but tastes better One tablespoon per cup (that’s a 1:16 ratio) was about the perfect balance for me It gets superrich and creamy at right about the 12-hour mark You can halt the process earlier by refrigerating it to stop the bacterial action—this is useful if you want a thinner Mexican-style crema agria for drizzling over your nachos or guacamole For those of you worried about cream spoiling at room temp, that’s the idea: it’s the good bacteria from the buttermilk multiplying in there that prevent the dangerous bacteria from taking over And let the mind-blowing begin Commence countdown