Crème Fraîche: recipes & inspiration for everyday cooking
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Vermont Creamery co-founder Allison Hooper learned the art of making crème fraîche while working on a farm in Brittany, France. Inspired to bring the thick, luscious cream that was a staple in European cooking to Americans, crème fraîche was one of the first products ever made at Vermont Creamery. Crème fraîche is well-loved for its incredible versatility, rich taste, and smooth texture by chefs and home cooks alike. Rich, thick and creamy, crème fraîche is a cultured cream with a tart, slightly nutty flavor. Incredibly versatile, crème fraîche adds depth and flavor to sauces, dips, soups, and desserts. An enhancement to any dish that calls for sour cream, crème fraîche will hold its smooth, creamy texture over high heat, or when mixed with acidic ingredients like lemon, wine or vinegar. It’s also sublime sweetened with a touch of sugar and whipped or dolloped atop fresh fruit and pies. Vermont Creamery co-founders Bob Reese & Allison Hooper
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You can flavor the crème fraîche with finely chopped dill or chives, it will go perfectly with the smoked salmon.
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Potato Galette with Crème Fraîche & Salmon MAKES 1 LARGE GALETTE, SERVES 4 3 large Russet potatoes
1. Peel and shred the potatoes with a grater.
1 tablespoon all
2. Place them in a bowl and add flour, egg, salt and pepper.
purpose flour 1 egg
3. Mix until fully incorporated.
½ teaspoon salt
4. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large nonstick pan.
pinch of pepper
5. Add the potato mixture to the pan, use the back of a
2 tablespoons butter
wooden spoon to press the potatoes down to form one
8 large slices of
large “pancake”.
smoked salmon
6. Cook for about 10 minutes on one side until crisp and
1 cup Vermont Creamery
brown, lift edge gently to make sure it does not burn, flip
Crème Fraîche
it over and let it cook for about another 10 minutes on the
2 scallions, finely sliced
other side.
watercress
7. Remove the pan from the heat and top with salmon, crème fraîche, scallions, watercress and a little pepper. 8.To serve, cut it into wedges.
→ tip:
This perfectly pink container does double-duty as a 1 cup measure. Why wash more dishes than you have to?
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Cauliflower and Celeriac Mash with Crème Fraîche SERVES 4
1 large head of cauliflower
1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and peel and dice the
1 small celeriac
celeriac into ½” cubes.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2. Place in a large pot and cover with water.
1 cup Vermont Creamery
3. Boil the vegetables until soft but not mushy, about
Crème Fraîche salt and pepper
10 minutes. 4. Drain the water and use an immersion blender to
fresh thyme
process the vegetables until nearly smooth or the consistency you like for your favorite mash. 5. Add the oil and ½ of the crème fraîche. 6. Mix well and add crème fraîche until you have a smooth mash. 6. Season with salt and pepper. 7. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with pepper, fresh thyme, and a dollop of crème fraîche.
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tip:
You can add more flavor to the mash by adding ½ cup grated parmesan and any finely chopped herbs.
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VERY French Toast SERVES 4
8 slices of toasted or very
1. Combine the milk, crème fraîche, sugar, cinnamon, and
stale bread, I used thick
orange peel in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir
potato bread
frequently and watch the mixture carefully. Once it’s come to
2 cups of whole milk
a boil, turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
1 cup Vermont Creamery
2. Place your bread into a shallow pan or cookie sheet
Crème Fraîche
with a lip.
¾ cup sugar 1 stick cinnamon Peel of 1 small orange (optional) 6 eggs, beaten
3. Once the milk mixture is lukewarm, pour it over your bread. Allow your bread to soak up the milk. If your bread is really hard, you can leave it in the milk for a few minutes. You don’t want the bread to be so soggy that it falls apart.
Olive Oil for frying
4. In a frying pan, heat a half inch of olive oil over medium
Maple syrup, berries,
high heat until it’s very hot.
& crème fraîche
5. In a bowl, lightly beat 6 eggs.
for serving
6. In batches, take each piece of bread from the milk and dip it in the eggs and put it in the oil. Allow the toast to cook to golden brown and then flip and fry the other side until golden. 7. Place cooked french toast on paper towels and continue the frying process in batches until you’ve used all the bread. 8. Stack your toast on a plate and layer with crème fraîche and berries. Drench the stack with maple syrup.
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tip:
eftover stale baguettes also work really well in L this recipe.
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Crème
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fraĂŽche
stir into soups serve wi th fresh frui t dollop onto potatoes spread on shor tbread
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Crème Fraîche Scones with Cherry Compote MAKES 10–12 SCONES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1. For the compote, place the cherries and sugar in a
1 tablespoon baking
small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 10
powder
minutes, stirring once in a while. Remove from heat and
4 tablespoons sugar
set aside to cool.
Pinch of flakey sea salt
2. Mix the first 4 dry ingredients in a bowl and use your
5 tablespoons chilled,
fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour until it’s the
unsalted Vermont
consistency of breadcrumbs.
Creamery cultured butter, cubed
3. Stir in crème fraîche and cherries until a dough forms.
½ cup dried cherries
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the
1 cup Vermont Creamery
refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Crème Fraîche
5. Preheat oven to 425°F while your dough is resting.
turbinado sugar for
6. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out onto a
sprinkling
lightly floured surface to about a ¾ inch thickness.
FOR THE COMPOTE
7. Use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds of dough. If you prefer a
2 cups pitted fresh (or
wedge-shaped scone, use a knife to shape your dough.
frozen, thawed) cherries
8. Place rounds or wedges on a parchment-lined, ungreased
⁄3 cup sugar
baking sheet. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to
1
15 minutes. 9. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. 10. While the scones are still warm, carefully split them in half, add a dollop of crème fraîche, and a scoop of cherry compote. 11. Top with the other half of your scone and serve immediately.
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tip:
For a crowd, let guests join in the fun! Provide split scones, a few of your favorite jams and a bowl of crème fraîche.
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Trois Crèmes Cake with Salted Crème Fraîche Caramel SERVES 10–12
FOR THE CAKE:
1. Start by making your caramel. Pour the sugar into a
1½ cups flour
dry saucepan.
½ teaspoon baking soda
2. Melt the sugar over medium low heat. it will first
¼ teaspoon salt
begin to get clumpy and then after a few minutes it will
½ cup butter, at room
melt completely.
temperature 1¼ cups sugar ½ cup Vermont Creamery Crème Fraîche 3 eggs at room
3. Once the sugar is completely melted, carefully add your butter in 1 tablespoon at a time. be careful as the sugar will boil up as you add the butter. stir to combine the butter completely into the sugar.
temperature
4. Finally, drop the creme fraiche into the caramel a spoonful
1 tablespoon vanilla or
at a time while you stir it. It will boil up and sputter yet again.
maple syrup
Mix until fully incorporated.
½ cup chopped hazelnuts
5. Stir the mixture for about 12 minutes more until it reaches
FOR THE CARAMEL:
your desired consistency.
1 cup granulated sugar
6. Be careful if you are tasting your caramel because
6 tablespoons salted
it’s superhot!
butter
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool. You can store it for up
½ cup Vermont Creamery
to 1 week in a sealed container in the fridge. You may want to
Crème Fraîche
microwave it slightly before serving or using it as a topping.
pinch of flaky sea salt
Preheat oven to 325° F.
FOR THE CRÈME
8. Preheat oven to 325° F and gease and flour a 9 inch round
FRAÎCHE FILLING:
cake pan.
2 cups Vermont Creamery
9. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and
Crème Fraîche
set aside.
2 tablespoons
10. In a stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light fluffy.
confectioners sugar
Add in crème fraîche and mix until fully incorporated.
Chopped hazelnuts for garnish
11. Add in eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated.
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12. Add in vanilla or maple syrup and chopped hazelnuts and mix until incorporated. 13. Add dry flour mixture slowly and mix until incorporated. 14. Pour into 9 inch round pan and bake for 45–60 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick starting at 35 minutes. The toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean. In my oven this cake took about 45 minutes. 15. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 16. When the cake is completely cool, slice it in half to create two equal layers of cake. 17. Prepare your crème fraîche filling by simply mixing the crème fraîche with your powdered sugar. 18. Place your bottom layer on your cake plate and spread ²⁄3 of your crème fraîche mixture on the bottom layer. 19. Drizzle a bit of the caramel on top of the filling and place the top layer on top. 20. Spread the rest of your crème fraîche on top of the cake. 21. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts and drizzle your caramel all over the top of the cake. 22. Serve immediately. Store remaining cake in the refrigerator to prevent the crème fraîche from melting.
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tip:
Don’t be afraid to make your own caramel sauce. It’s quite easy— just make sure you don’t stop stirring!
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A note from Sweet Paul Who doesn’t love crème fraîche?! Someone who’s not familiar with cooking, baking, and eating it… yet! I fell in love with crème fraîche when I was a boy and traveling in the North of France with my family. My first taste was a simple dollop of lightly sweetened crème fraîche with fresh Summer berries. The flavor was so simple and rich. So different than the sour cream I was used to at home in Norway, more thick and rich and less tang. Sublime. Today, I use crème fraîche in so many of my everyday recipes:
mix crème fraîche with fresh herbs and salt and pepper for a delightful sauce for fish or as a dip for crudite stir crème fraîche into freshly scrambled eggs a dollop of crème fraîche on hot or cold soups as a delicious alternative to sour cream or greek yogurt Go ahead, give it a try! Add crème fraîche to your cooking arsenal and all of your dishes will have that extraspecial “je ne sais quoi” that will have your friends and family asking for your secret! Happy! Happy! Sweet Paul
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