Homemade Crème Fraîche

Homemade Crème Fraîche recipe ~ with just 2 ingredients you can make thick and creamy crème fraîche ~ no more last minute trips to the supermarket to buy one of those overpriced little tubs!

Never run out of crème fraîche again ~ make it yourself!

The other day I was making my  Sweet Potato Spears with Lemongrass Dip, which required crème fraîche, and I was so frustrated when my regular grocery store didn’t have any.  That’s one of the few downsides to the explosion of so many different types of foods we now have available to us in grocery stores…there simply isn’t the shelf space for all of them.  It got me thinking about trying a homemade version.

Crème fraîche is basically a cultured cream

It’s a French version of sour cream, but  more luxurious and subtle.  Not quite as sour, or as thick as sour cream, though.  It’s more of a tangy custard.  (This post from The Kitchn breaks it down even further if you’re interested!)

The process of making crème fraîche is so simple!

• Mix buttermilk and heavy cream in a clean jar.
• Cover and let sit at warm room temperature for 12-18 hours.
• Voila!  You’ve got thick rich crème fraîche.

It’s a little like making yogurt only with a cream base instead of milk, but nothing gets heated or cooked.  And it’s much easier.  All you need to do is stir a little buttermilk into heavy cream, and let it sit so the bacteria can do their job.  It will thicken into a silky crème fraîche in about 12 to 18 hours.  You can literally do it in your sleep!

Homemade Crème fraîche can replace mayo, cream, sour cream, yogurt, and mascarpone cheese in recipes.

Crème fraîche has a slightly higher fat content than sour cream, so when you add it to hot food it won’t break down or curdle like sour cream sometimes does.  You can stir it into a sauce at the end to get a beautiful glossy finish and rich flavor.  You can mix it with mayo when you’re making potato or shrimp salad.  Stir it into an omelet or scrambled eggs.  It makes amazing dips, salad dressings, and frostings.   Sweeten it and use it like whipped cream with desserts and fruit.

Recipes using crème fraîche

• Crème fraîche forms the base layer in my Simple Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart 

• Stir it into Wild Mushroom Soup for a creamy finish. 

• It makes a rich sauce for my Cocktail Meatballs Stroganoff.

• Use it in place of mascarpone cheese in this fruit tart.

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3.34 from 59 votes

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Homemade Crème Fraîche ~ with just 2 ingredients you can make your own thick and creamy crème fraîche ~ no more last minute trips to the supermarket to buy one of those overpriced little tubs!

Course condiment

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes

culturing 12 hours

Yield 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 Tbsp cultured buttermilk (look for it with the regular milk in your supermarket)

Instructions

• Pour the cream into a clean jar or small bowl. Stir in the buttermilk.
• Cover with a clean dishcloth and let sit at a warm room temperature for 12 to 18 hours until it is thickened.
• Stir it, and cover tightly.
• Refrigerate until ready to use. It will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator.