I have a new recipe that says I need table cream, sour cream and grated cheese. I have never heard of table cream and don't know what I can use instead. This is for a topping that goes over fish in the oven.
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It’s not going to be possible to answer this question without knowing what the origin of the recipe is.
‘Table cream’ is a dairy product that’s put on the table for people to add as they deem fit. But there are at least three cultures that have products with this name:
In the UK and Canada, it’s a 15-18% fat cream, for you to add to your coffee. Half-and-half might work in a pinch for Americans (about 12% fat), or you can try to mix heavy cream with other dairy to try to approximate the correct balance
In Mexico, there are two forms of ‘crema’ one of which translates to ‘table cream’. This is a soured milk product. (The other being a thicker product used in cooking). Crema is higher in fat than American cultured buttermilk (about 30% vs 20%), salted, and may have a little bit of lime juice added. The higher fat means that it’s less likely to curdle when added to hot foods.
Joe
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Table cream appears to be an ingredient from Mexican cuisine, also known as media crema. Nestle offers cans of it in the US.
This is what the website of Target says about it:
Nestle Media Crema Table Cream adds a special touch to all your sweet and savory recipes. Use it to cook, bake or top your favorite recipes and dishes. It has a neutral flavor that will allow you to enhance the flavor of all your creamy recipes. Nestle Media Crema offers you a double consistency: liquid at room temperature or thicker if you refrigerate it. Add Mexican crema in your pasta, tacos, stews, soups and sauces, or top fruits and desserts with the light cream for a tasty treat. Each can contains 7.6 ounces of shelf stable cream. Refrigerate after opening.
The BCDC has a comparison of various milk products that includes table cream:
Coffee cream, or table cream - contains 18% milk fat.
A more extensive description of the product and it’s use cases can be found at Nestle’s website.
For your recipe, you are probably fine if you
- mix half and half with regular cream in roughly equal amounts or
- add about a quarter of milk to regular cream.
Stephie
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I don’t know either but I bought some and the description does NOT match what is being said of it. It seems more like butter than cream. I am still confused. The stuff I bought is a soft paste or gel, a bit like artist’s oil paint in the fridge, but at room temperature it isn’t much lighter. Some, but it doesn’t flow and it forms peaks. A bit like cheap acrylic artists paint. Still more “something that should come out of a tube” than what I think of as cream. It seems heavier than heavy whipping cream, and tastes like unsalted butter. I have no idea what to do with it. I bought it out of curiosity, and the assumption that it would be lighter than what I am familiar with for fat reduction. This seems like it has MORE fat not less fat. If it DOES have less fat it wins. It seems to make a fair butter substitute on bread. It does not seem like it would go well in coffee. Too thick. You can actually spread the stuff with a knife, which I have never seen heavy whipping cream do.
Matt
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Mexican table cream is a neutral almost no taste at all. Its like a runny sour cream. It is in dairy section of most stores...walmart has it. Its next to sour cream in the refrigerated area. It is used to thicken sauces and ontop of many dishes as you would use sour cream. Some recipes use it when cooking in oven but not many. I love it on top of tac
