Welcome to Kitchen Queries, where the nigella.com team will answer your cooking or food related questions.  We’d love you to submit some of your recipe problems, dilemmas or queries for us to get our teeth into!

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• Chestnut Cheesecake From 'FEAST'.

  I would like to make the Chestnut Cheesecake from Nigella's 'FEAST' book. However I am struggling to find sour cream here in Greece. I am hoping you could suggest an alternative ingredient. I know I can source Creme Fraiche 30% fat or 15% fat, greek yogurt, buttermilk, mascapone, ricotta etc, would any of these be a suitable subsitute? Many thanks in advance, Gemma

  Posted by Genga. Answered on 7th Jul 2012 at 12.00

  From the nigella team:

  When making a substitution for dairy products it is often best to consider the fat content of the ingredients. Sour cream usually has a fat content of 18-20%. Creme fraiche is usually the best alternative. Many versions of creme frache have a fat content of 24% but if yours comes in 2 versions we would err on the side of using the one with the higher fat content as reduced fat versions of some dairy products can contain stabilizers which can affect the recipe.

  Mascarpone has a fairly high fat content and although it could be used, we would only suggest this as a last resort. Ricotta has a low fat content and a grainy texture so is not a good alternative. Greek yogurt can be used in some cakes as an alternative to sour cream, but for a cheesecake we would rather use one of the others mentioned above.

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