Video does not provide any proportions. Weak.

Sorry the ingredients were not showing up, it is fixed now. Thanks for pointing this out. Good luck.

Dawn, is there any substitute for buttermilk as i couldnt find any in m hometown.

Hi Coco, there are substitutions for buttermilk; however in the case of Creme Fraiche I am not sure that just any substitution will work. I think you may be better off just doing the Creme Fraiche Shortcut - instead of the buttermilk that is called for, just use a bit of milk instead.

For future reference here is a link (from another site) to some
Substitutions for Buttermilk that you may find helpful. Hope this helps!

I've made this without the lemon juice before. Is the lemon juice added for safety, flavor or both?

This is mostly just for flavor. The bacteria in the buttermilk is what makes it safe to eat.

That's what I thought. I have Made a lot of Crème Fraîche, but next time I'll try the lemon juice never used that before, thanks!

Dear Dawn
Can u show us how to make shortcut for sour creme?

There are a few ways to make sour cream. As for a "shortcut for sour cream?" I would say buying it already made is the best shortcut I can recommend.

However, if you want to make it yourself there are a few ways to go about it. For example, you can strain yogurt and add lemon juice...you can also make it like much like we made the creme fraiche (cream, buttermilk and lemon juice). For specifics you may want to google "How to Make Sour Cream" as I am not sure which method you would like. Cheers!

May I use the creme fraiche in the gratin potatoes instead of heavy cream?

I am not 100% but I'm 99% sure this won't work very well. It would likely be too think to cook ingredients in (like simmering heavy cream is). Wish I could give you 100% certainty but I can't without trying.

Is there a reason you would want to use creme fraiche over the heavy cream in the first place?

Saw a recipe online that's all thanks

...and let us know... might be great. Experimenting with cooking is where some of the best learning happens.

I have been making creme fraiche for year in a small canning jar (such as for jams). I pour in the buttermilk and then warm the heavy cream for 30 seconds in the microwave and pour it in the jar, stir, cover lightly and voila-tomorrow it will be creme fraiche and then refrigerate. This is fast and easy, but your way sounds classier.

I followed your directions exactly. At 12 hours the consistency was more like whipped cream. Very thick. Love the taste and texture but way more thicker than the video shows. Room temp was about 85 so this may account for the thicker consistency.
You call for 1/4 cup of buttermilk. All the other recipies that I have seen are 1 and maybe 2 tablespoons. Why the difference?

Jerry

Welcome to the wild world of bacteria and spores...they are very hard to control. They react somewhat differently all the times. That is why the dairy industry prefers to deal with gelatine and sometime pectin to control their sour cream. What you have to do is just adjust. When my creme fraiche is too thin, I ladle it into a paper coffee filter and let it drain. When it is too thick, I fold in some buttermilk. Hope this helps.

Is it possible to use sour cream as the starter, if buttermilk is not available? How should I do?

Yes it is possible to use sour cream instead of buttermilk. Just follow the same method and replace the buttermilk with the same amount of sour cream. Cheers!

Thanks, Dawn, In my country, room temperature now reaches 100ºF. Can I follow the recipe at that temperature?

Can I freeze a little bit of crème fraîche to use it as the starter for the next batch? For how long will it still be active?

Yes you can follow the recipe and leave the crème fraîche at room temperature. In fact, this is 100°F is a good temperature.

In regards to freezing crème fraîche, we have never tried this, so you will need to experiment. And as for adding leftover to start a new batch, you can try keeping some and adding it to a new batch, however it does get weaker, so again, you may want to experiment. Cheers!

Does a culture of Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5, Bifidobacterium BB-12 and Streptococcus thermophilus (from a specific brand in my country sold for yogurt) lead to creme fraiche?

If so, does it work if I use the strained whey from yogurt I made from that culture?

Hi- Crème fraiche can be made with a wide variety of cultures, including the ones you listed which are common in yogurt. To make crème fraiche, you can simply add a small amount of the yogurt to the cream and let it sit overnight at 85-100°F or so. You may still want to a add a touch of acid though. Two teaspoons of lemon juice will do the trick and add a bit of that ubiquitous "tangy" flavor.

The whey will likely work just as well, as it too contains the requisite cultures. I have seen people make this a number of ways, with the resulting product being quit thin (pourable) to very, very thick. I hope this helps. Enjoy!

Hi Ken. The cream fermented overnight using the whey. It´s smelling and tasting wonderfully. But I don't know if that's creme fraiche taste, because I never tasted it. But there's a problem: it split. I have an almost butter at the top and buttermilk at the bottom. Do you know why? Should I still leave it at room temperture or the process is over? Thank you!

Hi Alexandre- Your description makes it seem that it had a bit too much culture and essentially you started to separate the curds from the whey. Did you add any acid as well? How does it compare to yogurt?

It's hard to gauge what you have exactly, especially since you have never tasted crème fraiche. Let me know more about your process and perhaps you try the process again and use some of your own starter culture. Enjoy!