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What is heavy cream in Australia?

You probably know it as thickened cream. - by Alex Pierotti
  • 18 Mar 2021

If don’t get around to making many cakes, finding the right ingredients can be equally as daunting as the cooking process.

WATCH: How to whip cream

And when your favourite part is lathering sponge cakes with cream, picking the right variety is crucial. Between heavy cream, double cream and whipped cream, the choice isn’t easy. So is heavy cream the ingredient you need to nail desert?

What is heavy cream?

“Heavy Cream, which is the one that’s often labelled thickened cream in Australia, consists of about 35 per cent milk fat (or 35 grams per hundred ml). Often, it contains additives – gelatine, vegetable gums and this helps hold its shape when it’s whipped and that reduces the likeliness of curdling when heating,” says Trent Watson, Accredited Practicing Dietitian and Spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Pavlova with thickened cream
Getty Images

Is there a difference between heavy and thick cream?

In Australia, heavy cream is commonly known as thickened cream, The two both contain similar milk fat content percentages and are generally interchangeable in recipes. 

However, In the U.S., cream with a milk fat content percentage of 36 to 40 is classified as heavy cream. Meanwhile thickened cream contains a milk fat content percentage of 35. Heavy cream has no additives but is still naturally thick and fit for whipping. in the US, heavy cream is usually sold as ‘whipping cream’. Double cream contains more than 48 per cent milk fat content.

What do you use heavy cream for?

Typically, because heavy cream is able to hold its shape, it’s often used for cake decorations and as the filling for inside pastries. If the cream has a milk fat percentage of 35 per cent or more, it whips extremely well and can double in volume. It is also known as heavy whipping cream and is extremely suitable for topping and piping. 

Including thickeners like gelatine and vegetable gums helps with the whipping process while also ensuring the cream doesn't separate or curdle.  

In recipes, the cream can be used both for dessert and a main course. Creamy chicken dishes require about 600ml of thickened cream that is simply stirred into the pan of ingredients while a typical pavlova involves thickened cream to be beaten with icing sugar to help create the topping.  

cream
Getty Images

What can you use as a substitute?

“There are a couple of substitutes you can use - things like Greek Yoghurt or evaporated milk. The only other one, which would be suitable for vegans, is a blended tofu as a plant-based alternative," continues Watson.

“The other alternative is use the half-half approach, whether it’s greek yoghurt and thickened cream or substitute half the cream with a low fat alternative."

Can you make it from scratch?

“There are very few people out there who are going to be milking the cow and making it from scratch," jokes Watson. 

Alex Pierotti
Alex Pierotti
Alex has high hopes of being the next Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. He lives for Pinterest, knows his way around a toolbox and frothed millennial pink before it was in fashion. When he's not catching up on old episodes of Better Homes and Gardens, you'll find him tending to his veggie patch or plating up a mean roast lamb (with all the trimmings).

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