When it comes to cream, I would happily lap it from a bowl. Whipped or poured – I’m not fussy as long as there’s a lot of it. In this regard I’m not alone. Stephen Harris of The Sportsman pub in Kent (“an unashamed user of loads of cream”) once submitted a recipe to a magazine for treacle tart in which he put the cream first and the tart second. “A copy editor rang me to double-check whether I had got the order wrong,” he recalls. “I said no, because as far as I was concerned, the tart was the garnish and the cream was the main event.” Harris tells this story in The Sportsman at Home (Quadrille) in a chapter entitled “An Ode to Cream”. Alongside recipes for onion tart, trifle, posset and chocolate marquise, he ponders a question I’ve been reckoning with myself. Where to get the best cream?
Possets by Stephen Harris from The Sportsman at Home © Kim Lightbody
Ask most chefs and they’ll probably say the “best” depends on what you’re using it for. Fat content is key. Different creams contain different amounts: single cream around 18 per cent, whipping cream about 36 per cent, double cream around 48 per cent. Percentages vary between brands. Fat content is important because it affects richness and texture. In a classic French sauce, for instance, whipping cream may deliver a better consistency than double cream, while in desserts the decadent feel of double cream is probably more desirable. Fat content also affects stability. Double cream is often recommended for adding to hot foods because it can withstand higher temperatures and is less likely to split. With a parfait that requires a lot of mixing, though, the higher fat content means more chance of splitting, so whipping cream is preferred.
