If you’ve ever tried following an English recipe which has called for Double Cream, you’ve undoubtedly been confused (unless, of course, you are English, or have lived in England, in which case you’ll be all like, “what?”).
I first encountered Double Cream back in the day (pre interwebs) and assumed (erronously, as it turns out) that it was the same as thickened cream and so had been subbing happily ever since.
That was until Don read the ingredients in thickened cream. Thickeners?! Eww! That can’t be good!
So, recently, I did a bit of investigating – primarily because pretty much every recipe in The Nige calls for Double Cream. I discovered a great deal of antipodean confusion similar to my own, and a great deal of disguntled ex-pats trying to find something similar in the antipodes. Turns out Double Cream is around 48% (!) fat, our pure cream is 35%. Not quite so good, but, I thought, probably the best I was going to get.
Until last night – when in Harris Farm markets at Broadway, I discovered this wonderful bottle:
Double Cream! Hideously expensive ($7.50) Double Cream! But Double Cream!
Tonight we opened it for Nige’s Pork Chops, mustard sauce and ZOMGWTF!!!11!!, I cannot even convey how completely fabulous it tastes, but it is absolutely heavenly. I could eat the entire bottle with a spoon. In one sitting.
These fabulously wonderful people at Johnson’s Farmgate make it – I need to get more, lots, lots more!
And then go for a little run.
Or a very big run.
.
Oh yeah, double cream is, as you would say, teh awesome. It’s kind of got that slightly tart flavour to it. Unless the stuff I eat is always a bit off. Mmmm, cream.
A love of cream is a good test of friendship. Along with a love of Viennetta. Inge de Bruin and I shared a whole pack of Viennetta between us the other night. She’s skinny and could do with fattening up – I don’t know what my excuse was, beyond sheer greed.
We get the Over the Moon Jersey milk when it’s available -higher calcium content that normal milk. And relish. Am not game to try double cream, though, as I fear there will be no going back.
HB, you owe it to yourself to chow down on the Vienetta as a reward all that bootcamp.
Jano, oh goodness! I’m going to have to look out for that Jersey milk (and non-homogenised too!). Where are you finding yours?