Sour Cream and or Creme Fraiche in the Instant Pot
Rich and comforting, thick and creamy there is something magical about good Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche. Now, technically these two are similar but not the same. Sour Cream is usually a little lighter, and is a combination of milk and cream. It is set using lemon juice and waiting until the mixture sours. Creme Fraiche is made with just cream and natural bacteria, much like yogurt. Here is a nice article telling you the difference.
How I make Sour Cream in the Instant Pot
Now let me tell you, my way! How I do this in the instant pot. Easy and pretty good! Works like a charm for baking or anything else that suits your fancy. Mexican food is never the same without a dollop of sour cream. For me any way.
About the Active Starter or Culture
Now, I use active yogurt since I make my own yogurt in the instant pot all the time. And now I use the same formula for either sour cream or creme fraiche. The difference is in the milk/cream. For Creme Fraiche, I am using all cream and for the sour cream I am using a mixture of cream and milk in equal proportions. Essentially, half and half. The flavor and rich taste is quite magical. Just a note, for the sour cream you may want to add just a little lemon juice. I like it as is, and I leave it this way.
Why Make Sour Cream at Home?
The advantages to me of making this at home is having this fresh when I need it. I can make it in small proportions as needed. And, one of my secret guilty pleasures is to have creme fraiche over toast with jam. Try it and you will see what I mean.
It is more forgiving than yogurt, I just heat the milk/cream for a couple of minutes in the microwave. That is it. Here is to another week. Let us see what this brings our way.
A few tips and how this works:
- Creme Fraiche all cream and made with some active bacteria such as active yogurt starter.
- Sour Creme a mixture of half milk and half cream, with either active yogurt or lemon juice.
- If using lemon juice, you can increase the amount of cream by 10%, increase the time in the instant pot to about 10 hours in the yogurt mode and the texture will be a little looser.
- The taste in all cases will be amazing.
More ways to use the Sour Cream
A great recipe to use the Sour Cream is this Lemon Spice Cake and serving them with latkes takes them to the next level. In Indian cooking, adding just a little with yogurt enhances the indulgence a lot.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot and Air Fryer Facebook group .
Of course Instant Indian is here, joining its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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An easy way of making Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream or 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup milk (see note)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons natural yogurt
Instructions
- Place the cream or cream milk mixture in the microwave and heat for 2 minutes. It should be warm to touch, about 110 degrees F.
- Stir in the yogurt.
- Cover and place in the instant pot or electric pressure cooker and set on yogurt mode for 8 to 10 hours. The bowl gets placed on a trivet, without any additional water. Placing it on a trivet with handles makes it easy to remove when ready.
- Remove and enjoy as needed.
Notes
For Sour Cream use a mixture of cream and milk. If using lemon juice only, set for about 10 hours in yogurt mode.
Ashida
Wow! So easy it is. Thank you so much for your recipe. I have a question though. What is the proportion of milk and cream for sour cream. And how much lemon juice to be added?
rinkub@aol.com
If you are doing a combination, I am using milk and sour cream in equal proportions. If you are using lemon juice instead of yogurt, add 3/4 cream and 1/4 milk. and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Debra S. Apostol
Question … if the cream/milk being used is ultra-pasteurized do you still need to heat them to 110 degrees prior being placed in the InstantPot?
rinkub@aol.com
Not with Ultra pasteurized milk, you want to warm it a little to get the culture action going.
Ingrid Scott
I have a question. I am making Soymilk yogurt in the Instant Pot, with Westsoy Milk (Tetra Pack) and 4 Probiotic capsules.
So, I would like to know if I can do the same with the whipping cream, just add those prob. capsules and put it in the Instant Pot for 9 hrs.
I guess you would not want to use the Soy yogurt as a starter? I don’t know how that would taste.
Thank you for your advice!
Ingrid Scott
rinkub@aol.com
I have not tried this with soy, so I cannot quite tell you.