Homemade Fresh Cream also known as heavy cream is the cream (malai) of the milk collected after resting the boiled milk and whipped before use. Fresh Cream made using this recipe is suitable for gravies, pasta, soups and not for sweets / desserts. Let us see how to make fresh cream at home with the help of step by step pictures and video.
Fresh Cream at home – Doesn’t that sound interesting? Once you get the hang of making homemade cream and butter at home then I am sure you will not go in for store bought ones But I agree it takes time but the when you see the end product, it is all worth the wait. I have never got cream from shops whenever I make gravies that calls for cream like PB masala, paneer tikka masala , methi matar malai etc. And trust me add few tablespoon of fresh for any gravy, it takes the gravy to a whole new level. I usually buy fresh cream tetra packs for making strawberry and mango cheese cakes as homemade cream is not suitable and advisable for desserts like these and yes that’s a word of caution I tell in advance.
Jump to:
What is Fresh Cream?
Fresh Cream is heavy cream made by collecting malai from milk, storing and whipping it until creamy consistency. So this homemade fresh cream can be used for cooking.
- Fresh Cream is the secret ingredient behind the tastier, creamier and rich gravies, pasta and soup. It’s going to be still better with homemade fresh cream.
- I am sure many of us would have the habit of eating the cream of milk every day. My mom gets it hardly as I consume it when I see it. Mittu also has developed this habit and now we are nearly swearing not to touch the cream for the sole purposes of getting cream to make fresh cream or butter.
Fresh Cream Recipe Video
Fresh Cream Ingredients
Fresh Cream ingredients includes just whole milk.
- Milk – I buy milk locally from milk man who delivers fresh milk at home milked from his cows at his house. Since the milk is direct from cows and not skimmed or toned, it gives me a good yield of cream. Not all might have access to get milk directly, so when you get milk from store or packet milk door delivered it may be toned / double toned or skimmed or full fat. Full fat milk has 6% fat, toned milk has 3.0% fat, double toned milk has 1.5% fat and skimmed milk does not have fat at all. So we can get a good yield of cream from full fat milk, an average yield of cream from toned milk and negligible or no cream from skimmed milk. We use about few table spoons to ¼ cup based on the recipes, so for home use we can get toned milk which is healthier option than the regular consumption of full fat milk.
Fresh Cream can be used for :
Homemade Fresh Cream can be used for all savoury dishes like gravies, curries etc. Adding cream to curries makes it not only rich but also gives it a restaurant taste.
I have tried adding it to pudding but it gives a slightly sour taste so I would not recommend adding it for desserts or anything sweet or of that sort.
The malai collected each day purely depends on the quantity of milk boiled. Always use a perforated laddle to collect the malai.
Cows milk is preferred to yield more cream which tastes great too. As cows milk is fresh and direct from the source it tastes so rich and yummy. Even the malai tastes great when had as such yes I have tasted them.
How to make Fresh Cream Step by Step
1.Add milk to a a sauce pan. Choose a big sauce pan that can hold enough milk as it needs space for boiling. Use cows milk preferably.
2.Heat it in medium flame until it comes to a rolling boil.
3.Give a quick mix and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Place a spatula or ladle like this to avoid overflowing.
4.Simmering helps in thickening milk as I have used cows milk the water content mabe be a bit more so I usually thicken it a bit. Switch off.
5.After the milk is boiled, let is sit aside for 30 minutes or few hours in the fridge so that thick malai gets collected at the top. You can either keep in room temperature or keep in fridge to yield thick malai.I usually collect the malai whenever I boil milk so twice a day.
What I do is : First once the milk is boiled keep aside in room tempearture for few hours collect the malai then store the milk in fridge. Evening before boiling the milk, remove the malai again which will be slightly thick as its from fridge.
6.Partially cover and set aside.
7.You can see malai on top. We call it aadai in tamil. This is the malai fromed in room temperature after an hour.
8.Carefully take the malai with a perforated laddle. The malai quantity depends on the type of milk you boil.
9.Collect it in a clean container else you can use a strainer to take the malai.
10.Keep collecting the malai in the same container and refrigerate it. You can take malai as and when needed from this container.
11.Keep refrigerated and let it sit for at least 1 day for your instant cream say if you need just few tablespoons.Just whisk it well and Your cream is ready to use. But if you want it in bulk then keep collecting for at least 10-15 days or till you think you have a fair amount of malai collected.
After the container is full you can either make butter out of it else use it as cream as such. Just whisk it well using a hand whisk for few minutes until its creamy without any lumps.You can also use a electric whisk to beat it.
12.See the collected malai.
13.For using it for recipes take required malai in a bowl, whisk it gently. If you overwhisk it then butter will start forming.
So remember to collect your malai everytime you boil milk to make your batch of homemade fresh cream ok?
Expert Tips
- This cream suits well for almost all savory gravies/dishes which calls for fresh cream. Most of the gravies I posted here uses homemade fresh cream only.
- Just beat it well using a whisk or fork and add it to gravies.
- Homemade fresh cream is not suitable for any sweets/desserts like cheese cake etc. As it has a sour taste, it will not be suitable for desserts/sweets.
- While using for savory gravies the sourness doesn’t get noticed and is perfect to give a restaurant taste.
Serving and Storage
- Always store the collected cream in refrigerator. Do not store it in the freezer.
- Fresh cream is not consumed directly. It is added with the gravies, pasta and soups to make the dish creamy and to enrich the taste. Based on the quantity of gravy we are going to make for home regular cooking or for get together cooking, we will need about few tablespoon of fresh cream to few cups of fresh cream. Since it takes a week long time to collect the cream, plan and start collecting cream accordingly 10- 15 days before the occasion / get together when few cups of cream is needed.
FAQS
1. How to make Fresh Cream from milk?
Fresh Cream is heavy cream made by collecting malai formed at the top of the milk, collecting, storing and whipping it until creamy consistency.
2. Fresh Cream can be used for?
Fresh Cream can be used for gravies like Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer Tikka Masala, Pasta, Methi Mutter Malai, Butter chicken, etc and for thickening coffee and soups.
3. Can I use this Fresh Cream for making cakes, baking or desserts?
No you cannot use this recipe for making cakes, baking or desserts. The cream that is used in baking is whipped cream. Whipped cream is made by beating / whisking fresh cream at high speeds to form thick soft peak. Whipping cream has stabilizing agents like gelatin / powdered sugar and flavors like vanilla, chocolate, etc. while fresh cream is just cream of the milk.
4. Which milk gives lot of cream?
Milk which is not toned or skimmed gives more cream as the fat content is not removed from the milk. Toned milk has 3.0% fat, Double toned milk has 1.5% fat while skimmed milk does not have fat at all. So we can get an average yield of cream from toned milk but we will get negligible or no cream from skimmed milk.
5. How long can I collect fresh cream?
We can use the homemade fresh cream without a reduction in flavor for 2-3 weeks. Good to use within a month beyond which it might develop aggressive sour taste.
6. Is fresh cream high fat content good for heath?
Regular consumption of full fat milk might increase the LDL of cholesterol and could be a concern for heart. So it is good to consume toned milk. Adding cream for festive dishes or dishes done once in a while will not have an impact on health.
If you have any more questions about this Fresh Cream do mail me at sharmispassions@gmail.com. In addition, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter .
Tried this Homemade Fresh Cream Recipe? Do let me know how you liked it. Also tag us on Instagram @sharmispassions and hash tag it on #sharmispassions.
📖 Recipe Card
Fresh Cream Recipe | Homemade Fresh Cream
Ingredients
- Fresh Milk
Instructions
- Add milk to a a sauce pan. Choose a big sauce pan that can hold enough milk as it needs space for boiling. Use cows milk preferably.
- Heat it in medium flame until it comes to a rolling boil.
- Give a quick mix and simmer for 2-3 mins. Place a spatula or laddle like this to avoid overflowing.
- Simmering helps in thickening milk as I have used cows milk the water content mabe be a bit more so I usually thicken it a bit. Switch off.
- After the milk is boiled, let is sit aside for 30 mins or few hours in the fridge so that thick malai gets collected at the top. You can either keep in room temperature or keep in fridge to yield thick malai.I usually collect the malai whenever I boil milk so twice a day.What I do is : First once the milk is boiled keep aside in room tempearture for few hours collect the malai then store the milk in fridge. Evening before boiling the milk, remove the malai again which will be slightly thick as its from fridge.`
- Partially cover and set aside.
- You can see malai on top. We call it aadai in tamil. This is the malai fromed in room temperature after an hour.
- Carefully take the malai with a perforated laddle. The malai quantity depends on the type of milk you boil.
- Collect it in a clean container else you can use a strainer to take the malai.
- Keep collecting the malai in the same container and refrigerate it. You can take malai as and when needed from this container.
- Keep refrigerated and let it sit for atleast 1 day for your instant cream say if you need just few tablespoons.Just whisk it well and Your cream is ready to use. But if you want it in bulk then keep collecting for atleast 10-15 days or till you think you have a fair amount of malai collected.After the container is full you can either make butter out of it else use it as cream as such. Just whisk it well using a hand whisk for few mins until its creamy without any lumps.You can also use a electric whisk to beat it.
- See the collected malai.
- For using it for recipes take required malai in a bowl, whisk it gently. If you overwhisk it then butter will start forming.
- So remember to collect your malai everytime you boil milk to make your batch of homemade fresh cream ok?
Video
Notes
- This cream suits well for almost all savory gravies/dishes which calls for fresh cream. Most of the gravies I posted here uses homemade fresh cream only.
- Homemade fresh cream is not suitable for any sweets/desserts like cheese cake etc. As it has a sour taste, it will not be suitable for desserts/sweets.
- While using for savory gravies the sourness doesn’t get noticed and is perfect to give a restaurant taste.
Uma Ramanujam
I was curiously looking for this post. As I am not getting fresh cream in nearby shops, I kept on postponing recipes which calls for this cream. Thanks sharmi. Useful post.
Prathima Rao
Nice & creamy!! Mom makes this everyday too the same way..Nothing like creaminess in gravies from homemade malai!!! Very useful post Sharmi..!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
divi
wow it looks great and a very useful one 😀
Vimitha Anand
Thats a very useful post Sharmi. Thanks for sharing
Zareena
My mom makes this often.She will collect the malai from milk and when the container is full she will whisk it to make cream or butter. If not butter then clarified butter.
Rossa A
Love the fresh cream recipe sharmi! Love ur blog.
APARNARAJESHKUMAR
Amma use to add the malai 🙂 some times i scolded her that she spoils the gravy 🙂 now i realised What it is 🙂 Wonderful post sharmi !
Rossa A
Love fresh cream recipe sharmi! Ur recipes are really nice and easy to cook!
ShravsCookBookBlog
useful info 🙂
PT
nice post..
Jayanthi Karthikeyan
very useful post.
RENU
super cream
Meena Selvakumaran
Very useful post.will start collecting
WeR SAHM
My mom always store the malai…one more tip- after boiling milk keep milk in refrigerator in 3 4 hours to cool down…you will get more thicker and fatty malai from it and milk will be healthy and low fat…
Arthy Suman
wow that's very useful tips…
Nabanita Das
Very useful post Dear… like to do it.Thanks for sharing.
Vanamala Hebbar
My mom used to make it at home every 15days once …nice post
Nalini's Kitchen
Wonderful post,once I also tried with the whole milk came out nice,nothing beats the homemade one,nice click as always….
Sireesha Puppala
very useful post sharmi thanks a lot
Gauri
This is such a handy post, I do get cream here regularly but its always good to know another option!
Gayathri Ramanan
Interesting Recipe….
Premalatha Aravindhan
wow amazing post,very useful…
RainbowColors
Can you also explain how you make butter from this ?
Omakucchi
How do you make butter from this cream ?
Omakucchi
Great post ! Can you also explain how to do butter with this cream?
Sharmilee! :)
Please check first line of this post(butter link) for the homemade butter post.
RAKS KITCHEN
Very useful post, will be helpful to many for sure
M D
Love the fresh cream recipe Sharmi! Congrats on winning that hamper from BBC Good Food. Saw ur photo and ur recipe featured there. Congrats again!
Bharathy
I do it!! 😀
Bharathy
yes.. we dont have to run around for cream esp when we make north indian gravies!!
sadly this dint work to make mascarpone cheese 🙁 for tiramisu 🙁 had to buy amul fresh cream which faired well ..
Kalai Vani
hi sharmi, you are doing a great job. Thanks for your wonderful work.
Whenever I buy the cream from shop, I used to through at least half of the pack because of expiry date.
So my worry is how long can we keep the home made fresh cream?
Sharmilee! :)
Already we are storing it for around 15-20 days so at the max upto a month we can refrigerate and store it…It will not get spoiled but the sour taste will be dominate when we keep for longer days.
Chanchal Pathak
if i use or collect homemade cream for cake is this good to use
BARNABAS M,B AMOOTI
IF homemade cream is not suitable for desserts then which one is and how can i make it? Otherwise thank you for the information and wish you a merry xmas and a prosperous new year. I am can now access home made fresh cream at zero transport fare. Barnabas
SHARMILEE J
You should get readymade fresh cream for desserts as homemade cream gives a sour taste so its suitable for savoury dishes
anshka
Nice blog .can we use this home made fresh cream for icing cakes ?
SHARMILEE J
No this will not be suitable for desserts as I've mentioned already
Prema Shanmugam
Hi Sharmi.. I have a query on Homemade Fresh Cream.. Wanna know how many days we can store and use that Cream..
SHARMILEE J
You can use it for 2-3 weeks, but should be refrigerated
Manan Pandya
What is diffrent between fresh cream and cooking cream. And how to make cooking cream
SHARMILEE J
I am not sure of cooking cream….I have seen and used only fresh cream for cooking
Shalini Mahesh
hi sharmi… i have started collecting the cream… after couple of weeks the older cream in the box strarted truning pale pink and it gives kind of smell. Will that be good to cook. Approximately how long we can collect cream, and keep these creams in fridge.
SHARMILEE J
Oh no I think it must have got spoiled…the color should be either cream or white….Start from fresh batch again….You can collect for 15-20 days
Zaib Tariq
Please reply me as soon as possible.
Can we use this cream for making ice cream?
SHARMILEE J
Yes I used this for making my custard powder icecream and it worked fine
Ishita Gupta
Thanks for the useful post. But for how long can we keep the cream Without reducing the flavour?
Jenny Jegan
Thanks 4 d
vishnu vinothini
If the milk contains any sugar? Hw much of milk can v take daily? shal v use the same milk for 15 dayz ah? plzzzz mam publish a video fr dis nd jigarthanda
SHARMILEE J
No sugar….We are taking only the malai not milk…Jigarthanda making is quite a lengthy process, will try when I am at leisure 🙂
Unknown
Question- How many times can you boil the one batch of milk to collect the malai?
SHARMILEE J
Boiling is only once
Spaul-Khan Flowers
thank you 😉
Unknown
Hi, I noticed you said it tastes sour. I am wondering why that is? If you use fermented or curdled milk or lassi, then yes the cream would be sour, but cream from fresh milk should be very bland in taste. But I also see that you said you can collect it in the same container for up to 15 days… perhaps in that time period it ferments and becomes sour? If so, it shouldn't be sour on the first few days, and I know it isn't because eating the malai off the top of boiling milk was something I always did as a child when my mother boiled milk! Thanks.
SHARMILEE J
I meant the collected malai after few days gives a sour taste, the fresh malai on the day we collect is bland in taste only as you say but when mixed with the already collected malai , it becomes sour.
Unknown
Ah I see, thanks for the clarification!
ananya
Can we use it any kind of soup preperation?
SHARMILEE J
Yes you can use….
abi naya
can we use packet milk (aavin) to prepare the cream
SHARMILEE J
Yes you can if malai forms
chitharanjanforever
What is the cream used for making butter chicken? Is the same homemade can be used.
SHARMILEE J
You can use homemade cream itself
Natsv
I think you can add powdered sugar and vanilla essence to make it sweeter can't you?
rabiaazeb
Yes i m thinking same
Angel
Thank u so much for making my kitchen chores so easy in just one click ?????
keep going . Stay blessed ?
Athira
Thanks for the recipe Sharmilee,Can i use this home made cream to make white pasta?
Sharmilee J
yes you can
Naaz
I have a pkt of Amul fresh cream opened a mnth ago . Can I still use it? It is not smelling ..
Sharmilee J
Kindly check the pack expiry details and then proceed….If its open I think for amul you should consume it within 2 weeks
rahul
Which milk (company) should I use to get more Malai to make cream?
Sharmilee J
I use cows milk or sometimes aavin
lolee ofa
please will this work for plain vanilla or strawberry icecream. or any icecream recipe calling for fresh cream for that matter…great job you are doing
Sharmilee J
no this works well only for gravies
Sally
The malai collected is bitter in taste. Is it common or is it spoilt. Please let me know….
Sharmilee J
It shouldn’t be bitter as I have used this cream for many gravies and it was not at all bitter
Jas
My malai’s texture is similar to a khoa. How do I use it as a cream or to make ghee (as it is too dry).
Sharmilee J
You can just heat it as such and cook until it becomes ghee
Ragini Food
Useful content to make homemade fresh cream thanks for sharing
Soumya Jain
Hi, why do you say that malai should not be kept in freezer?
Sharmilee J
It will become very hard which is not required for this