What is Table Cream?

[MISSINDI]

The other day I was in the grocery store picking up a few cans of Dulce de Leche, and right next to it were cans of Table Cream, made by Nestle. I bought one, mostly out of curiosity and figured I'd find a perfect recipe to use it for. What is it? What do you use it for or in? Favorite recipe that uses it as an ingredient? Inquiring minds want to know. :D

[badunnin]

It's really nothing special - it's just light cream. :) It's 18% milk fat. Light whipping cream is 30-36% fat, heavy whipping at least 36%. Half and Half is 10.5-18%.

[vbak]

I ssaw cans of that at the store the other day, too, in the ethnic food section. Maybe you could use it in a sauce for pasta or chicken or soup. There's always mashed potatoes. :)

Vicky

[funniegrrl]

I BELIEVE it's called "Table Cream" because, since it is processed, you can keep it out on the table (for a while, anyway) to put in coffee, etc.

[newcook]

Over here, table cream is 15% cream. We find in the dairy case with all of the other creams, but this one is not in a can, it is in a carton and has to be refrigerated.

[fci5767]

I've got a can of Nestle Media Crema (Table Cream) right here. I have no clue why I bought it but know that it's used a lot in low carb cooking as a substitute for condensed milk.

Here's what the can says, "Nestle's Table Cream adds a touch of luxury to soups, salads and sauces. It's also a delicious topping for fruits and sweets. To obtain more thickness, refrigerate for one hour before use."

I believe it's a different product than table cream that's sold in Canada. At least that's what I remember my friend in Winnepeg told me.

[Aninha]

Hi!
Table cream is like heavy cream, but it is thicker (not pourable), almost the consistency of mascarpone cheese.
It is definitely not used to substitute condensed milk, as table cream is not sweetened, the taste is completely different.
This is the form of cream that we normaly use in Brazil. The most common use is for strogonoff (wrong spell....?!?!), like you would add sour cream here we add table cream to thicken the sauce. It can be used to thicken creamy pasta sauces.
Also it is used a lot in desserts. One of my favorites is Passion Fruit Mousse, very easy and simple recipe: in the blender mix 1 can table cream, 1 can condensed milk and 1 can (use one of the cans to measure) of passion fruit nectar (nectar, not juice). Blend well, put in a bowl (or individual containers) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (the table cream can in Brazil is a little larger than the one here, so when I make this mousse here I find it too sweet, so I either add more cream or less condensed milk)
We also use table cream for chocolate mousse as well. (melted chocolate, table cream, whipped egg whites...).
I have lots of recipes using the stuff, let me know what kind of recipes you would like to use it in, savory, sweets... and then I can post some for you all!
Ana

[valchemist]

It is definitely not used to substitute condensed milk, as table cream is not sweetened, the taste is completely different.
Ana

by condensed milk, she means evaporated milk. you are thinking of sweetened condensed milk which would never be used in low carb cooking.

but I admit to having no particular knowledge about table cream. I just wanted to clear that up.

[fci5767]

[QUOTE=valchemist]by condensed milk, she means evaporated milk. you are thinking of sweetened condensed milk which would never be used in low carb cooking. [QUOTE]

Actually, that's sort of right. I talked with a friend who uses table cream a lot. She subs table cream in recipes that call for condensed cream. She said that she has modified recipes that use condensed milk by using table cream and adding additional sweetener (in her case, Whey Low.)

That being said, I have no clue why I have this can of table cream. I never use condensed OR evaporated milk. I might have gotten it to cook some sort of Mexican dessert with my kids at school but then again maybe not.

I shook the can that I have here and it's definitely pourable but it probably does get thicker if you refrigerate it.

[Aninha]

Well, condensed and evaporated are different things to me... But that is ok, I did not mean to critcize anyone/anything. I am sorry.
About it being thick, there is kind of a whey and the cream itself inside the can. If you shake you will mix up everything and it will be more pourable, if you leave it in the refrigerator the layers will separate and you will be able to easily separate the whey from the cream when you open the can (many recipes actually call for the cream without the whey).
Ana

[valchemist]

oh, never mind. maybe I was the one who was wrong, ana! (based on fci5767's subsequent comments). just ignore me!

but I have heard people interchange the terms evaporated and condensed milk in the past. they use those terms as synonyms whereas sweetened condensed milk is totally different. but this is WAY off the topic of the thread, so sorry about that.

:o

[fci5767]

No offense taken either. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are confused about the two products.

Now the question for me is, what do I do with this can of cream. Any recipes?

[mmbedard]

Here is what Lori Alden's Cook's Thesaurus (http://www.foodsubs.com/Dairyoth.html) has to say about table cream:

"light cream = coffee cream = table cream (18 - 30% fat) Substitutes: evaporated milk OR half and half OR 1 C = 7/8 C milk + 3 tablespoons butter OR blend equal parts milk and cottage cheese Notes: Unlike heavy cream, lower-fat substitutes like light cream, half-and-half, and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps."