The main differences between these cooking creams lie in their fat content and consistency, which determine their suitability for various uses. It all depends on whether you’re looking for something light and pourable or thick and indulgent.

Double Cream

This is a thickest and richest cream out of these creams, with at least 48% milk fat, making it ultra-creamy and perfect for whipping or adding a luxurious touch to desserts and sauces.

Single Cream

Single cream has a milk fat content of around 18%, making it much lighter and more liquid than double cream. It’s commonly used as a pouring cream for desserts, sauces, and soups, or as a coffee or tea creamer.

Crème Fraîche

Although not a cream in the traditional sense, crème fraîche is a cultured cream with a tangy flavour and a fat content around 30-40%. It’s commonly used in both sweet and savoury dishes, adding richness and depth of flavour.

Which one is the best cooking cream for pasta?

When it comes to making pasta sauce, the choice of cream depends on the specific recipe and how you like your sauce.

Double Cream

If you’re after a rich and indulgent pasta sauce, go for double cream. Its high fat content adds a luxurious creaminess to the sauce, giving you a velvety sauce that coats the pasta beautifully. It’s perfect for classic creamy pasta sauces like Alfredo or carbonara. It’s like pouring silk over your pasta – luxurious and oh-so-creamy.

Single Cream

Single cream can also be used in pasta sauces, particularly if you’re looking for a lighter option. While it won’t yield as thick or creamy a sauce as double cream, it still adds a nice richness and silkiness to the sauce without being overly heavy. Single cream is great for lighter cream-based pasta sauces or for thinning out thicker sauces.

Crème fraîche

Crème fraîche can be a fantastic addition to pasta sauces too, adding a creamy and tangy flavour that’s slightly different from traditional creams. It has a high fat content and thick consistency, adding a rich creaminess to your sauce and also adds to the depth of flavour and a touch of tangy twist which is slightly different from traditional creams.

I personally always use double cream as I prefer the creaminess of it. In fact, I don’t remember ever buying single cream! Here’s all the rich, creamy sauces I’ve made with double cream.

What about you? Share with me in the comments below 🙂

Janice xx

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