Single Cream in Creme Brulee
Asked by pristine. Answered on 5th March 2015
Full question
I am an Australian living in Holland and have been searching for double cream to make Nigella's Creme Brulee recipe. Unfortunately, I just discovered the Dutch don't do double cream, and anything available here is imported from the UK, so it is very expensive! As a substitute, would single cream with perhaps a bit of cornflour work?
Our answer
Nigella uses double cream in her Creme Brulee recipe (from Nigella Bites and on the Nigella website) and also in other recipes. Whilst double cream (with a fat content of around 48%) is common in the UK, it is not easy to find in other countries. Usually whipping cream is the best alternative.
The custard in the creme brulee is set with egg yolks and is not dependent on the type of cream used, so you do not to add any other thickeners if you use cream with a slightly lower fat content. We would suggest trying to find the higher fat content cream (usually 35% in Europe) to make the Creme Brulee as this will give a slightly more luxurious custard. However if you can only get the pouring type of cream (usually 25% fat in Europe) then you can use this but the custard will not be quite as rich.
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