Getting Cultured: Sour Cream/Creme Fraiche

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Earlier this week, I mentioned how adding cultured foods to your diet helps reduce PMS symptoms. That’s not the only benefit of cultured foods - those cultures help keep a balance of good vs. bad bacteria in your gut, which affects the health of your entire body.

As I mentioned earlier this year, one of my new year’s goals was to learn how to make my own dairy products. Sour Cream and Creme Fraiche were on the list and I was eager to try them both.

I will admit, though: I have no idea what the difference is between them. Frankly? I think they are the same thing just in different languages and slightly different terminology. I have read countless definitions explaining both of them, and to me they sound the same, even when the definitions are trying to explain the differences between them. So if you can help me out here, please do!

Several sites I read actually said that creme fraiche is better for cooking than sour cream because sour cream will break down under direct heat, which confuses me because…. like I said, they sound like the same thing to me! I am thinking that store-bought sour cream will break down because of the additives in it, but that creme fraiche doesn’t have the same additives. I’m not 100% positive, though, because I’ve never bought creme fraiche or even looked at the ingredients.

But I can tell you this: sour cream/creme fraiche is easy to make. SO easy you will wonder why you ever bought it. And it is so delicious, too. I hadn’t bought sour cream in a couple years because it was just one more unnecessary thing on my grocery list, but since I’ve started making it, oh my! I’ve sort of become addicted to it, and find myself craving strawberries and {sour} cream. Yum yum!

Seriously. Do yourself a favor and stop buying those overpriced tubs of additive-filled sour cream, and try making it just once. You will be changed forever. I promise.

Some people use buttermilk to make their sour cream, and some people use yogurt. I think buttermilk is probably more traditional and authentic, but I tried both methods, and they both worked well. The yogurt-based sour cream was considerably thicker than the buttermilk-based sour cream, and didn’t have quite the same tangy flavor. But both were delicious and I would use either one (depending on the ingredients I had available) interchangeably. Just be sure that if you use buttermilk, that it’s cultured buttermilk. I’ve only ever seen cultured buttermilk in the stores, so I don’t know if un-cultured buttermilk is even available in stores. But if you make your own butter, you can’t use the resulting buttermilk to make sour cream, because it doesn’t have the necessary cultures.

As I mentioned, one of my favorite things to do with this new delectable treat is strawberries and cream: I just mix a little raw honey with the cultured cream and dip strawberries in it (Hush! I know strawberries aren’t in season yet. Whatever. They’re cheap right now and I love ’em!). Delish!

You can use it as a topping for soups or casseroles, or you can use it in your baking and cooking. I made an amazingly delicious ranch dressing with it the other day… yummmm!

It’s not QUICK in the sense that it’s not ready instantly. You do have to let it culture for a couple days. But the hands on time is literally 30 seconds or less.

It is so EASY even a child could do it. Seriously, making a weekly supply of sour cream could be a child’s chore!

I haven’t compared the cost of sour cream vs cream and buttermilk, but since I regularly buy cream and never use it all before it goes bad, it’s definitely CHEAPer for me!

Most brands of sour cream have additives of one kind or another, so it’s definitely HEALTHY-er to make your own. Just buttermilk and cream!

Have you ever tried making your own sour cream? Or creme fraiche? Or whatever it is?

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