Sour cream Crème fraîche

Crème fraîche or, more correctly, crème fraîche épaisse fermentée is the European counterpart of the U.S. sour cream product. It is a slightly sweet, buttery flavored combination of heavy (whipping) cream and bacteria cultured butter milk or yogurt.

Crème fraîche has fat content around 30%–45% and has a mild, aromatic cream flavor. Crème fraîche can be cooked to thicken either savory or sweet sauces without curdling. It is more heat stable than sour cream.

Crème fraîche is used cold on desserts such as fruits or cakes, or warm as a foundation in cream sauces that are commonly used in French cuisine.

It is made by injecting Lactobacillus cultures into unpasteurized cream and letting them develop and grow until the cream turns into a from and slightly acid product. Then the latter gets pasteurized so that the bacteria will stop growing.

Body and texture should be smooth and less firm than sour cream. Crème fraiche should be “spoonable,” not “pourable,” and should spread slightly on the dessert without being a sauce.
Sour cream Crème fraîche

Sour cream: Fermented dairy product

Sour cream is a relatively heavy, viscous product with a glossy sheen. It has a delicate, lactic acid taste with a balanced, pleasant, buttery-like. American sour cream is heavier-bodied than its European counterpart owing largely to having the cream homogenized twice before being cultured.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines sour cream as follows: “Sour cream results from the souring, by lactic acid producing bacteria, of pasteurized cream. Sour cream contains not less than 18 percent milkfat; Sour cream has a titratable acidity of not less than 0.5 percent, calculated as lactic acid.”

Body and Texture: Shall be thick and smooth, uniform, free from lumps or graininess, and spoonable to a soft mound. Flavoring ingredients shall be consistent in size and distribution in the finished product.

Color and Appearance: Shall present a clean, natural color, with a smooth, velvety appearance. Natural color may range from a bright white to a light cream color.

Sour cream, also known as cultured cream, is produced by the fermentation of high pasteurized cream that contains 18–20% fat content. It is then homogenized at a low temperature, to promote formation of homogenization clusters. The starter cultures typically used for making sour cream are aromatic starters (i.e., Lc. lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis and L. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris) similar to those used for cultured buttermilk.

Different types of sour creams exist that are defined based on fat content. Full-fat sour creams must have at least 18% milk fat and not less than 14.4% milk fat. Reduced-fat sour cream has a minimum fat reduction of 25%. Light or lite sour cream has a minimum of 50% fat reduction. Low-fat sour cream must contain 3 g or less fat per 50 g and 6% or less total fat. Nonfat sour cream must have less than 0.5 g of fat per 50 g of product and less than 1% total fat.

Sour cream is predominantly utilized as an accompaniment with warm entrees such as baked potatoes and burritos. This usage imposes certain demands on the sensory characteristics of the product, especially with regard to texture when in contact with warm surfaces. Sour cream must remain viscous without whey separation when placed on warm food.

Sour cream is frequently used as a base in dips and sauces. Traditionally, flavors such as onion and spinach have been popular. Currently, the trend is more diverse, with flavors ranging from apricot ginger to chipotle.
Sour cream: Fermented dairy product