Cream
Flavour Profile
Rich, milky and subtly sweet. It has a heavy, luxurious mouthfeel that coats the palate and carries other flavours beautifully.
Health Benefits
Cream's mainly about flavour, but if you're asking, it's got a useful amount of vitamin A for your eyes and immune system. Also calcium for bones and teeth. Don't pretend you're eating it for that, though.
Buying Tips
Look for the fat percentage on the label. Double cream is usually around 48% fat, while single cream sits at about 18%. If you want it to whip or thicken a sauce properly, higher fat is your friend.
Check the ingredients for stabilisers or thickeners. Pure cream shouldn't need more than one ingredient: cream.
Storage
Keep it in the coldest part of the fridge, usually the back of a middle shelf rather than the door.
Once opened, use it within a few days. If it smells sour or the lid is bulging, toss it. Cream picks up fridge smells easily, so keep the lid snapped shut.
Cooking Uses
Use double cream to enrich sauces, soups and curries without them splitting.
Whisk it into soft peaks for desserts or dollop it onto scones. It also works as a buffer for heat; if your chilli is too spicy, a splash of cream will settle things down.
Forkin Food Theory
Fat is a flavour conductor. Many aromatic compounds in spices and herbs are fat-soluble, meaning they won't release their full potential in water alone.
When you add cream to a dish, you aren't just making it richer; you are providing a medium for those hidden flavours to dissolve and stay on your tongue longer.
It is the difference between tasting a spice for a second and experiencing it for a minute.
Wild & Wonderful
The fat percentage on the carton tells you what it can do.
Single cream / pouring cream (about 18%) won't whip and will split if you boil it.
Double cream / thickened cream (about 48%) whips, holds, and can be reduced without splitting.
Whipping cream (about 35%) sits in the middle. It whips but won't take heavy reduction.
UHT "long-life" cream is heat-treated to death. It works in a pinch but tastes cooked.