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In my country it is impossible to get double cream (48% fat). The highest fat content I can get is 35% whipping cream. I have some recipes which require double cream and I don't want to substitute it with 35%.

I want to know if there is a way I can make 48% cream myself.

  • Could I add butter to the 35% cream to make a liquid double cream? - which wouldn't whip but that is ok
  • I heard that you can make butter from cream if you whip it long enough. Could I whip the cream a little bit and then let it set back in the fridge. Would that change the fat content?

Could also somebody please explain to me how double cream is made on industrial level.

Thanks

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  • Possible duplicate. See cooking.stackexchange.com/a/40028/67 and cooking.stackexchange.com/q/34341/67
    – Joe
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 16:38
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    This isn't an exact duplicate (since Matej is not interested in whipping), but I think that some of the solutions mentioned in the linked questions would work better for him than for anyone who wanted to try to whip the extra-fat cream!
    – Erica
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 17:40
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    Double cream is made by letting the milk separate into fat and water phases (cream and milk), then mixing the cream and milk in specific proportions. This is homogenized, forcing the cream into tiny bits so that they don't separate again. So you can't easily extract the milk to increase the fat content. I have seen home homogenizers, which would let you add pure butterfat. Whipping it could work as an alternative, but the agitation risks having the opposite result, turning the cream into butter.
    – Joshua Engel
    Commented Nov 29, 2016 at 21:35

2 Answers 2

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If something like Agar Agar, or a small amount of Carageen is melted into the warmed butter (powdered form, while whisking/lightly whipping after coming off the heat, or bloomed into the warmed heavy cream, it would add the extra thickening that you are talking about without actually changing the flavor, altering the "double cream" (if being used as a filling for say, a tart), set up lovely and invalidates your argument.

I got my Masters in Pastry with a specialty in Alternative Baked goods. Molecular Gastronomy is a significant part of that. I would absolutely use powdered product to start, such as the two I mentioned...commonly available in Whole Foods (in the United States), some shops that specialize in Vegan products (as both are Vegan), though the amounts required aren't an exact science (as it depends on moisture in the air where you are, the fact of are you using European Butter (higher fat content and less water) than American Butter, if the butter is salted or not, how hot the melted butter is when you add the gelatin of choice, altitude and the speed at which you do the process.

For the amount of double cream mentioned above, I would approximate roughly 1/4 teaspoon of Agar Agar, OR 1/3 teaspoon of Carageen. It will make the process a little more labor intense, however, the results may very well surprise you.

Just my two cents...Do with it as you will. I hope you enjoy, and if it works, please, do a follow up post.

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  • Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Lori. Welcome to Seasoned Advice :)
    – Preston
    Commented Jan 12, 2018 at 20:23
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    Thank you. Always glad to share the knowledge I have in the hopes that it helps someone.
    – Lori Faith Bouer
    Commented Jan 13, 2018 at 1:02
  • Wouldn't I have to warm agar to ~80°C, then cool it below ~40°C, for it to work properly?
    – rackandboneman
    Commented Apr 8, 2018 at 23:10
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Double cream is made By heating and swiftly cooling cream with a specific recipe (temp and time).

Making it at home is unreliable this way.

To make heavier cream at home you do just like you said. Mix unsalted butter and 35% cream. In the USA butter has a minimum of 80% milk fat. So you do your math.

3/4 cup of heavy cream (35%) + 1/4 cup of butter (80%) = ?

I am going to round off here if you don't mind.

35% of 3/4 cup is roughly 1/4 cup of pure milkfat. (Or 5/20ths)

80% of 1/4 cup is 4/5ths of that quarter cup or 4/20ths cup.

(4+5)/20 = 45% just a hair shy of 48%. Add another tbsp off butter to get just about your 48% (a total of 5tbsp of butter per 3/4 cup of heavy cream)

Melt the butter gently on medium heat, pour melted butter into your mixer, begun mixing on low and drizzle your heavy cream into that. Don't mix too long or you'll start to whip and or turn it back into butter.

It's going to come out real thick at any rate and you want to get it in the fridge and cover it quickly. Use within 24 hrs so the fat doesn't precipitate out of the milk.

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    Thanks for the down vote, but it would be nice to learn why, and perhaps give a comment as to how my answer can be improved. I ask this because it IS indeed the way to make cream heavier at home.
    – Escoce
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 17:14
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    I didn't downvote, but this method will not yield a result that will work for many applications(some sauces and whipping come immediately to mind.) The fat in cream is physically and chemically different which is why it is emulsified naturally. You'd need to find a way to re-emulsify the fat into the milk which your method will not do. Any product using this method will have to be served warm and with enough starch to make the difference between whipping cream and double cream not important anyway.
    – Mr. Mascaro
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 18:30
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    The questioner specifically said he doesn't need to whip it which is why this answer is what he needs. You could whip it anyway with pressurized air, that emulsified it as its whipped (that's not really whipped though as we know)
    – Escoce
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 18:32
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    The point is that this method is not a good one for the application. If you'd actually read my response you'd have learned that for a tart filling, the tart would either have to be served too hot to eat or the filling fortified with enough starch to compromise the flavor and make the difference in using just plain whipping cream pointless. That's why no cookbook of repute lists this method in its pages.
    – Mr. Mascaro
    Commented Apr 2, 2015 at 18:35

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