A pictorial guide to dairy products, fats and oils available in Australia.
Buttermilk
Thickened Cream (300mL carton), a.k.a. Whipping Cream
Thickened Cream (500mL carton), a.k.a. Whipping Cream
Créme Fraîche Sour Cream (200mL carton)
Créme Fraîche, French import (200mL carton)
Créme Fraîche, French import (200mL carton)
Sour Cream (200mL carton)
Cream Cheese (2 x 250g-pack)
Mascarpone Cheese
Butter (normal salted)
Butter (reduced-salt)
Butter (continental unsalted, cultured butter)
Girgar Butter (cultured butter)
Ghee and Lard
Ghee (1.8kg)
Peanut Oil
Corner Café 
SD
What is the difference between buttermilk and the normal milk ?
Can buttermilk be substituted ?
Comment by CClarice — April 10, 2009 @ 6:03 am |
Buttermilk was originally the whey leftover from making butter if I remembered correctly, but nowadays it is made by adding a culture to the milk. It has a slightly tangy, sour taste. You can substitute with fresh milk by adding a little vinegar or lemon juice to it.
Comment by SeaDragon — April 10, 2009 @ 7:32 pm |
What is the difference between pure cream, thickened cream, single cream, double cream, dairy whipping cream, topping cream and non-dairy whipping cream?
Comment by Shirlyn — May 27, 2009 @ 4:52 pm |
Shirlyn,
These are just my own understanding of the different terms. Since different countries use different terms, so some of these may not apply to all countries, so don’t take them as is. You may want to find out more from more professional websites, or just read the info on the carton of cream you buy.
Cream comes from fresh pre-processed milk. It is basically the milkfat-rich part that naturally rises to the top of non-homogenized cow’s milk if left to stand for a few hours. The traditional way of obtaining cream is to pour the freshly milked cow’s milk into shallow pans and the cream will rise naturally to the top after some times. Cream that is skimmed from the top after 12 hours is called ‘cream’ or ‘single cream’. Cream that is separated after 24 hours is called ‘double cream’. In modern milk production, cream is separated from milk with the use of a centrifuge called a separator. And of course, further separation of liquid from the cream and you get butter. So to understand the different types of cream, all you need to know is how much milkfat it contains.
Terms more commonly used in UK and commonwealth countries are indicated as ‘commonwealth’, terms more commonly used in America are indicated as ‘US’.
Single Cream or Light Cream
These two are pouring cream (for cooking usually or just pour over dessert), they cannot be whipped as their milkfat is usually less than 30%.
Single Cream (commonwealth) has milkfat between 10% and 12%, it is comparable to American’s Half-and-Half (US).
Light Cream (US) has milkfat between 15% to 18% (but could be up to 30%).
Heavy Cream, Whipping Cream or Thickened Cream
These three are almost equivalent, all have milkfat between 30% to 40%, but most commonly around 35%.
Heavy Cream (US) is the same as Heavy Whipping Cream, with milkfat between 36% and 40% (occasionally 42%). Light Whipping Cream has milkfat between 30% and 36%.
Whipping Cream (US) or Thickened Cream (commonwealth) are both the same thing. They have a thickener added (usually gelatine) to help it whip up faster.
Pure Cream, as its name suggest, is pure dairy cream and does not have any thickener added.
Double Cream (commonwealth) is a pure cream with milkfat of usually over 40%, typically about 45-48%.
Dairy Cream is natural, it comes from cow’s milk. Non-Dairy Cream is man-made from non-dairy products. Non-Dairy Cream is generally used in tropical countries as it is more stable and not melt as easily in hot weather, or for people who cannot take dairy products.
Butter generally has milkfat of at least 80%.
As for Topping Cream, I’m not sure what it is, as I’ve never come across it here in Australia.
Comment by SeaDragon — May 27, 2009 @ 10:24 pm |
Hi Seadragon
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation on all the different creams. Much appreciated!
Cheers
Shirlyn
Comment by Shirlyn — May 28, 2009 @ 11:43 am |
Where can I find non dairy cream in Australia?
Comment by AC — December 7, 2010 @ 9:34 am |
Hmm, that’s a good question as I’ve not come across it myself. Maybe try health food shops?
Comment by SeaDragon — December 8, 2010 @ 8:17 pm |
Hi SD, can Pure Cream be whipped? Thanks. – Clara
Comment by Clara — December 9, 2011 @ 4:22 pm |
As long as it has about 35% milk fat, you should be able to whip it up.
Comment by SeaDragon — December 9, 2011 @ 8:32 pm |
ty!
Comment by Clara — December 12, 2011 @ 12:55 pm |
Where I can find Quark in Australia, I could’t find in normal supermarkets like coles and Woolworths ???
Comment by Raffee — December 18, 2011 @ 2:41 pm |
I have seen it in Coles occasionally, in the cheese section, near where they have the mascarpone.
Comment by SeaDragon — December 18, 2011 @ 4:07 pm |
Hi SD,where can i find mooncake mold in melb? I have been looking for baking accessories and inggredient shop which is similar like phoon huat in singapore.. Thanks
Comment by Chzizi — July 27, 2012 @ 1:19 am |
Personally I haven’t come across a kitchen shop that sells exclusively Asian type kitchen accessories/ingredients here. However there are quite a number of Chinese/Vietnamese variety shops that do carry a small amount in suburbs that have a lot of Asians, Springvale, Box Hill, Richmond and Footscray, for example. Mooncake moulds? No, have not seen it myself, but I have seen some plastic moulds that look like mooncake moulds in Vietnamese shops but I could be wrong and they are just Vietnamese kuih moulds as the labels are in Vietnamese, banh this and banh that, LOL, so have no idea what they are used for.
If you are looking for just western baking accessories, there are a few specialise shops in Melbourne, have a look in my old blog, I have given a list there years ago (but have not update since) about where to find them.
Comment by SeaDragon — July 27, 2012 @ 7:06 pm |
I want to make a tuna mornay that calls for 1 cup of cream, which cream should I buy?
Comment by Jan — April 6, 2015 @ 8:07 am |
I would assume it is just the common thickened cream if it just said cream.
Comment by SeaDragon — April 6, 2015 @ 8:22 am |