Silky whipped cultured cream

That cream in the photo? It's amazing. I got the idea from a vintage French desserts cookbook from a thrift store. The Chantilly cream recipe in it called for creme fraiche. Since I've had this obsession lately with coming up with a chocolate cream pie that really fulfills all my chocolate cream pie fantasies in flavor and silkiness- I decided to try making and whipping creme fraiche.

You will need:
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBS cultured buttermilk
a very clean jar
spoon
2 TBS caster or superfine sugar
1 tsp good quality vanilla (I used a Mexican vanilla this time)
silicone or rubber spatula
whisk or mixer- I use a large balloon whisk
cold bowl

Time- 12-16 hours, but not much actual working time.

Mix the cream and buttermilk in the jar, cap loosely and keep it at room temperature until set. I put it out the night before.

The next morning check to see if it's thickened. You can taste it at this point if you'd like. Put it in the fridge until it's very cold.

Because it's so thick, you may need to use the spatula to get it all out of the jar into your cold bowl.
Whip it, if it's too thick, add a spoonful of very cold milk. Mix in the sugar and vanilla and whip to soft peaks. Then serve it over fruit, chocolate or however you think it will be best.

The culturing makes the cream super silky and a bit tangy. It's almost like a cross between sour cream and cream cheese except even better. It's so good that my daughter used her finger to "clean" out the bowl. This is absolutely going to be a component in my dream chocolate cream pie.

Yogurt

Mattel has announced they will be releasing a bald Barbie. At this point, the plans are to donate dolls exclusively to hospitals and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. MGA Entertainment also said they will be creating Bratz with no hair to sell at ToysRUs, with 1 dollar from every purchase going to cancer research.

I got kind of weepy happy about it.

Chobani posts this photo on their FB page-

It's a wonderfully green idea for lunches! Buying larger containers of yogurt is less waste. You could use berries from your garden, and homemade granola.

I prefer making yogurt from scratch. Some times I use packaged cultures, other times, plain organic yogurt from the grocery store. One small container will inoculate two batches of yogurt. Kefir is essentially reusable for  forever. Yogurt isn't, after the 3rd or 4th generation, it gets pretty icky.

This is the method I use with a popular brand of  freeze dried cultures that's fairly widely available.

Yogurt using Yo'gourmet Freeze Dried Starter
7-8 cups of 1% milk
1/2 cup instant powdered milk
2 5 gm packets of the starter

Dissolve the powdered milk into the milk, and bring to a light boil, turn down heat and keep at a simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool to lukewarm. Pour a little bit of the lukewarm milk into a non-reactive container (glass or ceramic), I use a white ceramic casserole pan I can cover with a plate. Mix the starter into it and stir to get the lumps out and make sure it's dissolved. Pour in the rest of the milk and stir it up well. 
While you're doing that, stop your sink and run very warm water in it. Just about "Nice hot shower" temp does nicely. When it's about 2 inches deep, turn off the water and put the yogurt container into it covered with a plate or lid if your container as a lid. Every so often during the day, stop and check your water temperature, if it's cool, take out the yogurt container without peeking or stirring, and refill the sink up to 2 inches with more warm water,then replace the yogurt container. After about 8 hours, check it by tilting the dish and seeing if it's runny or firm set. Firm set, it won't move but may have some whey on top. That can be poured off or stirred back in. Put it in the fridge.

The warm temperature encourages the cultures to work and multiply. The reason I use the powdered milk is as a natural thickener. 

My son loves homemade vanilla yogurt. I use vanilla extract and honey to sweeten. 

If your yogurt doesn't set as well as you would like, you can use it in smoothies. My mom, who was a yogurt making hippy used pour improperly set yogurt into jam jars with just a bit of jam left in and stir it up really well. Then she would put the mix into ice pop molds and freeze it for a great summer treat. 

The yogurt instructions were previously posted here with more nutritional information.

Book Review- Norwegian Cakes and Cookies

My great-grandmother came to America from Denmark, and growing up, some of my very favorite treats were her recipes. I still have a weakness for Scandinavian desserts.

This collection of modern takes on traditional desserts is definitely for people who are more than casual cooks. It's well written with US style volume measurements with metric measurements offered in parenthesis, however there is a basic assumption you'll have a strong grounding in basic cooking skills. They are recipes, not step by step instructions.

That said, if you do have the grounding to follow the recipes, these recipes will impress. They are different, with amazing textures, appearance and flavors. The carrot cake for example is two moist layers with big, cloud like layers of a cream cheese and fruit whipped cream.

The title is deceptive in the best way possible. This is not just cakes and cookies, there are puddings, jellies, and candies as well. It's Norwegian desserts.

My favorite recipes are

• Marzipan recipe, with instructions for crystallizing marzipan pieces
• Vanilla Butter Cream is hands down my new favorite, go to butter cream recipe. It starts with a cooked pudding like cream then adds butter to make a frosting that's just amazing. Not too sweet and so good. 
• Ginger cookies- easy and wonderful. I love molasses and ginger cookies.
• Caramel pudding with cloud berries- this is a little fussy, but if you're a fan of custards and caramel, this pudding with any kind of berries is one of the best ever.
• Poor Knights with Dense Milk and Strawberries- this variation on sweet egg battered stale bread and cream is made with a sour cream- the author suggests kefir which is how I made it. It was a hit with everyone in my family and it's super easy.
• Sweet Rusks- a biscotti like twice baked cookie, this variation has both almonds and hazelnuts

There are some regionally specific ingredients like butters made with sour cream. A good substitute if you make your own butter is to use creme fraiche (cultured cream) to make butter, then use that in the recipes. Mix 2 Tablespoons of cultured buttermilk with two cups of heavy cream. Put in a jar with a lid and let it set for 4-8 hours. Then make butter using your favorite technique. For berries and fruit, use what is in season in your area. Cloudberries are from the same family as raspberries. They are tart, but in a lot of these recipes, raspberries could be used as a substitute. If you live in a colder region like I do, you maybe able to find cloudberries in the summer.

It's gorgeously photographed by Christian Brun and written by Chef Sverre Sætre. Hardcover with full color photographs, published by Skyhorse Publishing.


I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, my reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. You can read more about my review policy here.