Crème Fraîche
Crème fraîche is a thick, cultured French cream with a tangy, nutty flavor and a high enough fat content that it can be heated and reduced without curdling.
How to buy
Look for a thick, spoonable texture with a slight sheen, typically sold in small tubs in the specialty dairy case. Check that the fat content is around 30% or higher, and skip any tub showing excess watery separation.
How to store
Refrigerate tightly sealed; it keeps noticeably longer than regular cream, often 2-3 weeks past purchase, thanks to the culturing process. It can be frozen, but the texture turns grainy, so save thawed crème fraîche for cooked dishes rather than serving it cold.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Tangy, rich, and faintly nutty, milder and rounder than sour cream, with a clean dairy sweetness underneath the tang.
- Texture
- Thick and velvety, pourable but substantial. It whips less stiffly than heavy cream but adds noticeable body and richness to sauces.
- Aroma
- A mild, pleasant tang from lactic fermentation, far softer than yogurt's sourness.
How to prepare
- Stirred in off heat — Whisked into pan sauces after removing from the heat to add richness without curdling.
- Dolloped — Spooned over soups, blini, or roasted vegetables as a cool, tangy finish.
- Whipped lightly — Beaten gently to loosen it for folding into desserts or fruit tarts.
- Baked in — Used as part of a quiche or gratin base for extra richness and a silky set.
Classic dishes
American
- Loaded baked potato with crème fraîche — A baked potato topped with crème fraîche, chives, and bacon as a richer stand-in for sour cream.
French
- Blini with crème fraîche and caviar — Small buckwheat pancakes topped with crème fraîche and caviar or smoked fish.
- Quiche Lorraine — A savory custard tart often enriched with crème fraîche alongside eggs, cream, and bacon.
- Tarte flambée (Flammekueche) — An Alsatian flatbread spread with crème fraîche, onions, and lardons before baking.
- Gratin dauphinois — Sliced potatoes baked in a rich cream, sometimes finished or enriched with crème fraîche.
- Vichyssoise — A chilled leek and potato soup finished with a swirl of crème fraîche.
- Smoked salmon and crème fraîche canapés — Blini or toasts topped with smoked salmon and a dollop of crème fraîche.
- Mushroom cream sauce — Sautéed mushrooms finished with crème fraîche for a silky, tangy pan sauce over chicken or steak.
- Fruit tart with crème fraîche cream — A pastry cream or whipped crème fraîche base topped with fresh fruit in a tart shell.
- Ficelle picarde — A savory crepe rolled around ham and mushrooms, bound with crème fraîche, and gratinated.
- Oeufs en cocotte — Eggs baked in small dishes with a spoonful of crème fraîche for a creamy, soft-set finish.
- Herb and crème fraîche dip — A simple dip of crème fraîche whisked with fresh herbs, lemon, and salt.
- Scrambled eggs with crème fraîche — Eggs scrambled gently and finished off the heat with a spoon of crème fraîche for extra silkiness.
- Galette with smoked salmon and crème fraîche — A buckwheat galette folded around smoked salmon and crème fraîche.
- Chilled cucumber soup with crème fraîche — A cold cucumber soup pureed smooth and enriched with crème fraîche for body.
- Potato and leek soup with crème fraîche swirl — A warm, rustic version of vichyssoise finished with a swirl of crème fraîche.
Substitutions
- Sour Cream — Tangier and thinner than crème fraîche; a close 1:1 swap, though it's more prone to curdling in hot sauces.
- Heavy Cream — Lacks the tang entirely; works for richness and heat-stability but won't replicate the sour note.