Recipe: Caramelized cream

If you've made a cream reduction or brown butter before, this is a cinch of a recipe.  The difference is that the final product is actually solid, and is usually grated onto a dish with a microplane or grater as a garnish for pastas or salads.  I have also used this technique with coconut milk and used in a poundcake recipe.

caramelizing cream

You will need:

500 ml      whipping cream
                 cheesecloth and a strainer

Method:

 - put the cream in a small saucepan, but large enough for the initial expansion coming up to simmer
 - carefully bring cream to a low simmer, then reduce, stirring with a spatula occasionally
 - eventually, the cream will split - be ready to watch closer to avoid burning
 - keep at a low simmer and use the spatula to keep the solids from sticking to the bottom 
 - as with brown butter, watch for the colour to change and the nutty aroma to emerge 
 - once it's a nice light brown, turn of the heat, gently stir and let cool down
 - gently pour into cheesecloth lined strainer, then hang solids to cool completely
 - once solid, grate cream as you would a cheese