Homemade Fresh Cream Recipe : How to Make Fresh Cream at Home

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You need to use the non-homogenized milk to make cream at home. Check the gallon of the raw milk which you buy. There would be a slight line of yellowish cream on the top layer of milk. This line of cream is formed when the non-homogenized milk sits for a while. So, by now you must know that preparing cream at home is simplest and easiest things to do. Simply get the full-fat fresh milk, boil and refrigerate it. Then keep collecting the cream formed on the top layer of milk. Do this on the regular or daily basis.

At times, when you are in hurry or need the cream instantly, you can think of buying from store. But for all folks, who are addicted to homemade fresh cream would feel the change in taste, texture, and aroma of store bought cream. However big brand cream you buy, yet the taste of homemade cream is incomparable with the store bought. There is no compromise in the quality of the homemade cream. With the homemade cream recipe, you can get pure fresh cream all prepared by yourself.

All the efforts you put in collecting the cream is worth when you get to eat or use the fresh cream for your various dishes. You can further maker butter or whipped cream. Once you have collected the cream, you can proceed to add in your dishes or make interesting other food items from it. But at times, you need to make butter or use the cream for coffee and desserts.

Remarks:

• This fresh homemade cream can be added to almost all savory gravy which needs fresh cream.
• The sourness of the fresh homemade cream doesn’t get noticed in the savory gravy dishes.
• Adding the homemade fresh cream to any Punjabi curries gives it the perfect restaurant taste.
• This Homemade Malai is not suitable to add in any sweets or for making dessert dishes.
• The homemade fresh Malai has a sour taste which will not be suitable for sweets or dessert.
• You can collect and store this Malai in your deep freezer at least a month.
• You can keep collecting the fresh cream and prepare homemade butter once a month.
• You must whisk the refrigerated cream without any lumps.
• If you are planning to prepare cream at home, then remember to collect cream whenever you boil the milk.
• It is better the make small batch of homemade fresh cream.

Serving:

Most of the gravy dishes use this fresh homemade cream. You can use this homemade Malai or Cream in many of the North Indian dishes like Palak Paneer, Kaju Butter Masala, and Methi Matar Malai etc. You can add cream in all the restaurant style Punjab dishes like:

• Palak Mushroom
• Paneer Tikka Masala
• Paneer Butter Masala
• Chole Palak

Usually, you do not need to buy the cream from the market while making any of the North Indian Creamy Gravy. When you are planning to make gravies which call for adding cream, you must prepare some homemade cream in advance. It will require only a few tbsp. cream to add in this Punjabi gravy dishes. So easily prepare few tbsp. cream when you boil milk and add it to your dish. It will definitely take the taste and texture of your gravy dish to another level.

You can also use this fresh homemade Malai to make Makhani gravies like Dal Makhani or to flavor any curries/vegetable dish like Bhindi Okra. This homemade Malai or fresh cream is great for making all types of Makhani gravies. It is also at times used for preparing certain desserts but not all. The options of using the homemade fresh cream are unlimited. You can add it to almost any dish to make it creamier.

This delicious and fresh homemade cream is very useful if you are an avid soup. If you like to prepare and eat creamy soups on regular basis, then you must have the fresh cream in your fridge. You can add this homemade cream in the various types of soups like:

• Cream of Broccoli Soup
• Cream of Celery Soup

But you must not use this cream made at home when you are preparing Cheesecakes. Even you must not add it in various other desserts dishes as well.  While making the sweet or desserts, it is suggested to use the Ready-made tetra-packs. The sour taste and smooth texture of the homemade cream are not suitable for adding in sweet or desserts. However, if you want you can try to prepare Mango Cheesecake or any other flavored cheesecake using the homemade version of fresh cream.

You can absolutely enjoy your homemade butter made from this cream. You would love the aromatic bliss that coffee releases with cream. And there is no comparison of the buttery-soft goodness of the real whipped cream from this Malai.

Quick Tip:

• After the container is full, you can whisk and use it as cream.
• Also, you can either make Makhaan (homemade unsalted butter) out of it.
• You can whisk the freshly collected cream well using a hand whisk.
• You can also use an electric whisk to beat the collected cream.
• You can start using the cream as soon as it becomes creamy in texture.
• If you want, you can keep the cream to freeze for an hour before using.
• You can also collect the cream twice a day.
• The number of times you can collect Malai depends on how many types you boil the milk in a day.
• If the cream is properly frozen without any power cuts, it can last up to 6 months.
• It is advisable to collect the cream in bulk and convert it butter.

Well, making the cream at home is easier than getting the cream. Just carefully separate cream from the fresh milk. For adding in the gravies, the freshly collected cream with low fat is sufficient. Whereas for whipped cream and butter, you will need milk with high-fat content.

To prepare the cream at home, get the gallon or pack of milk. Shake it properly and pour the raw non-homogenized milk in the container to boil. This will form the layer of cream which is goodness to eat. Refrigerate it and Malai (cream) settle over the top layer.

To make the fresh cream from milk at home, there is no major work required. You only have to keep collecting the Malai formed over the boiled Milk. Once collected, you can store the Malai and collect in bulk. It is important to store the cream properly so that it can last for many days. Then you can further prepare whipped cream and butter from this stored cream.

To make whipped cream:

We know that this homemade fresh cream recipe is not suitable for making sweets, desserts, and cakes. To prepare these dishes at home, you would need the whipped cream which can be made with the high-fat content cream. Your cream needs to have the higher than 30% fat content.

To prepare the whipped cream, you must use the full-fat milk which can be either cow milk or buffalo milk. Also, you must be careful about the milk you are using to make the whipped cream. It has to be fresh and you must freeze the collected cream properly.

Because if your cream turns to become sour, then it would spoil the taste of your dessert or sweet. Follow the below-mentioned steps to make the whipped cream at home.

• Take a clean and dry bowl to whip the cream.
• Collect the cream by boiling the milk and refrigerating it.
• Add the collected cream from the milk in this bowl.
• Refrigerate this bowl in which you are going to whip the cream.
• Also, you must keep the whipping blades is the fridge.
• The cooler the blade and the bowl, the better would be the result.
• Take the bowl of collected cream from the fridge.
• Bring it out and whip the cream using a hand mixer.
• The cream will slowly become thicker.
• After a while, you will find the formation of soft peaks.
• Add powdered sugar in the cream at this stage.
• Continue to whip the fresh homemade cream till you get stiff peaks.

If you continue to whip the cream made at home for a longer time, then you will get butter and buttermilk.

To make the Butter from the Cream:

To make the butter at home, you will need heavy whipped cream. It has to have the high-fat content.  The cream with a minimum of 35% fat is recommended. This makes easier and more productive to turn into butter. Once you have prepared the cream, you can easily make the butter from it. Follow the steps below to make the butter from the homemade fresh cream recipe.

• Prepare the Cream
• Take a large bowl and keep it to chill.
• Also, keep the container of water in the fridge.
• A colder bowl will prevent the butter from melting.
• Pour the cream into the bowl.
• For the stronger flavor, add cultures.
• Add little plain yogurt. It makes churning easier.
• Let cultured cream stand at room temperature.
• Now, it’s time to turn the homemade cream into Butter
• Take an electric mixer or the whisker.
• Then, begin to churn or shake the fresh cream.
• As you whisk, the cream will change its consistency.
• Firstly it would be frothy or slightly thick cream.
• Then it will form soft peaks.
• After a while, you will get the whipped cream
• Finally, the cream will become granular and breakdown.
• At this time, it will separate into butter and buttermilk.
• Take separate clean container, pour the buttermilk in it.
• With the cold water, wash the remaining butter.
• Apply pressure or squeeze out the remaining liquid.
• Sprinkle some salt and mix it in the butter.
• Store the butter in the refrigerator or in the freezer.

The difference between fresh milk and cream?

You can easily identify the difference between cream and milk. The cream is thick in texture and yellowish-white in colour. Whereas the fresh milk has a little thinner appearance in texture and little blueish-white in colour.

Type of Cream and Fat %

• Whole Pasteurized Milk 3.25%
• Light Whipping Cream 30-36%
• Heavy Whipping Cream 36-40%
• Half and Half 10.5% (10-18%)
• Sour Cream 18-20%
• Single Cream 20%
• Light or Coffee Cream 18-30%

Methods to Collect Cream from Milk

The whole process of making cream at home is to separate the cream from the milk. If you buy the gallon of milk jar, then you can quickly skim the cream layer formed at the top. There is always a yellowish thick layer of Malai formed over the ice-cold jar of fresh milk. You can instantly turn it to the sour and fresh cream. You can whisk it till the stiff peaks form to make the whipped cream or you can collect it in bulk and beat for a longer time to get homemade butter.

This happens with the non-homogenized milk, whereas for the people using homogenized milk, it may be new and interesting. Also for the folks who are bringing the milk for the first time, may also not be sure how to separate cream from milk. If you love eating cream, but you are a newbie in the cooking, then do not worry. There are more than one techniques by which you see the cream line form on the non-homogenized milk.  Below mentioned are the few popular methods for separating cream from milk:

Collecting Cream with Ladle:

This method is easy and requires no extra equipment.

• Take the fresh milk.
• Let it sit for a day.
• The cream will rise.
• The cream layer will form.
• Dip the ladle in the milk.
• Let the cream fill in it.
• Just dip enough to get the cream.
• Pour the collected cream to a jar.
• Repeat the process till you finish all.

Collecting Cream with Turkey Baster

For the small collection of creams, you can simply use the turkey baster. So, if you have a smaller cream line at the top of your milk, then you can slurp it off with this small equipment. The instructions to collect the cream with turkey baster remains same as above.  Just instead of a ladle, you are using a turkey baster. But with this technique, you have to be little careful. If you are not sure or are little clumsy in using it then you will end up spilling the things.

Collecting Cream with Container:

Many folks who prefer to make things at home, prefer this method of collecting the cream. This is the most common and suitable technique to collect the cream at home. Especially, when you want to collect the cream in bulk. It may not useful if you have a small area or a tiny kitchen. But having the container of milk in your fridge makes it handy to collect cream. Follow the steps for this method:

• Take a large container.
• Pour the milk in it.
• Allow the milk to sit.
• Wait for at least 24 hours.
• Attach the tap to the bottom.
• Open it and you will get skimmed milk.
• The cream will float at the top of the milk.
• Keep collecting the milk till you reach the end later.
• And them, you can collect the cream.
• Take the other container and add cream.

Collecting Cream with Cream Separator

This is the most old-fashioned method for collecting fresh homemade cream. It is easy as you do not have to do much. Just follow the instruction over the cream separator machine. In this technique, you have to pour the milk in the cream separator and it would give you the cream and milk separated.

But these machines are not cheap. They are expensive and not much affordable. Even the model size is not small, at times they are huge and occupy a lot of area. If you are making cream regularly then you may need it but with the other options available it is not needed. It is only useful when you have huge gallons of milk to skim every day. This machine works well with the goat’s milk. But, for an everyday average home cook, it is of no use.
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Image credit: Lowcarbslowcarb

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