Whole Milk Vs Heavy Cream: What's The Nutritional Difference?
When choosing between whole milk and heavy cream to add to your coffee or into your weeknight cooking recipe, it's good to know how the two dairy products differ nutritionally. Perhaps most notably, heavy cream has a significantly higher fat content. To . While whole milk contains around 3.25% fat, heavy whipping cream can contain anywhere . This significant difference equates to about versus just shy of .
. However, while (hopefully obviously) you wouldn't want to drink heavy cream straight because of its steep caloric and fat content, heavy cream's high fat makes it an excellent choice in several cooking and baking applications. If you'd like the of the dairy drink. Since there's , it's best used in cooking, baking, or adding minimally to beverages like black coffee for a super rich and creamy taste — or of course, in confections that hold their shape like whipped cream from scratch.
Heavy cream adds full-fat flavor and texture in cooking
If you've got heavy cream in your fridge and don't know where to start, take advantage of the high fat content and . On the savory side, you can use the dairy product to make your favorite rich pasta sauce (think alfredo sauce or carbonara). Or add a splash of heavy cream to scrambled eggs to give them extra fluffy and velvety texture. Your favorite mashed potato recipe? Whip out the heavy cream to mash up something truly decadent and creamy. For baking, using heavy cream vs whole milk in crème brûlée results in a firmer texture and richer flavor. Adding a tablespoon of heavy cream to a batch of homemade buttercream frosting gives it a silky flavor boost and mouthfeel.
If you'd like to cut back on (or fat in general), you can use whole milk in many of the same cooking and baking applications, but the results won't be as creamy. For example, adding whole milk to a soup milk makes it thinner than adding thicker, fattier heavy cream. If you want a dairy product with less fat for cooking, though, you don't have to go all the way down to whole milk's 3.25% fat content. You also could look to .