Say a recipe calls for evaporated milk, but you’d like to spare yourself the trouble of going to the grocery store to grab a can. Can you use milk instead?

Or maybe you don’t have any milk around but need some for cereals or pancakes. And as it turns out, there’s a can of evaporated milk sitting in the pantry cupboard. Is that a good substitute?

Let’s jump right in.

When and How to Substitute

While milk and evaporated milk are two different products, you can substitute one with the other in most cases. The textures are different, but you can fix that fairly easily.

The only thing that will be different is the flavor: even if you dilute evaporated milk with water, it will still taste slightly sweeter and caramelized from the heating process.

That’s the high-level overview. Let’s dig in.

Can I Use Regular Milk Instead of Evaporated Milk?

You can substitute evaporated milk with normal milk, and there are two ways to go about that. The first is to use table milk without any processing and sub one to one. The second is to make homemade evaporated milk.

Table milk is thinner and lighter, so it won’t add much richness to whatever you’re cooking. And it’s going to thin out whatever sauce, soup, cake topping, or cake you add it to.

(Plus, it’s less sweet so the flavor will be different, too.)

In other words, unless you can reduce the amount of water elsewhere in the recipe, using regular milk as-is will noticeably alter the texture of the dish. Therefore, I recommend going with that substitution only if you know what you’re doing.

Alternatively, you can use a mixture of 1 part heavy cream to 1 to 3 parts milk for a much richer substitute. I discuss the idea in my article on heavy cream versus evaporated milk article.

A better way, though a much more time-consuming one, is to make your own evaporated milk.

All you need is a saucepan, a stovetop, and about half an hour. And some milk: for every cup of evaporated milk, you’ll need more than two cups.

The process is straightforward, and you can probably go through it while doing other kitchen work. Here’s a detailed guide and video by Gemma from Bigger Bolder Baking if you’re interested.

If you make homemade evaporated milk, you have exactly what you need and can proceed with your recipe without any adjustments.

Can I Substitute Evaporated Milk for Regular Milk?

You can substitute evaporated milk for regular milk in two ways. The first is to swap in evaporated milk one for one. The other is to dilute the evaporated milk 1 to 1 with water, which mixture is very similar texture-wise to normal milk.

Evaporated milk is richer and sweeter, so if you’re going for a direct swap, the texture might be a bit thicker and somewhat sweeter than usual. That might work okay in pancakes, smoothies, or puddings, but not necessarily so in cakes and other baked goods, where the batter may turn out too dense.

If you don’t want to deal with those issues, the solution is simple: dilute evaporated milk one to one with water.

Evaporated milk has about 60% of its water content removed, but mixing two parts evaporated milk with three parts water to make “perfect” table milk might be a bit fiddly. Because of that, most brands recommend diluting it 50/50 for simplicity.

Plus, the difference in texture is minimal and, in almost all cases, negligible.

The only thing to remember here is that even if you dilute evaporated milk with water, its taste will still be slightly different. If you pay close attention to it, you’ll notice that caramelized note, but that shouldn’t be an issue in most cases.

Evaporated Milk vs. Regular Milk: Differences and Similarities

Now that we’ve covered subbing evaporated milk with table milk and the other way around, let’s talk about the differences and similarities.

Below, I divided the basics of evaporated milk vs. regular milk into a few sections so that it’s easy to find what interests you most.

Taste and Texture

Evaporated milk is richer and slightly darker than regular milk. Its dairy taste is also more intense, and there’s a slight caramel flavor you cannot find in table milk.

All these changes directly result from the production process: evaporating the water from milk in a high-heat process.

Because of those slight but noticeable changes, the two dairy products aren’t usually used as substitutes. At least not without some processing (diluting or cooking) or adjusting other ingredients in the recipe to make up for the texture and flavor differences.

That brings us to how they are used.

Uses

Evaporated milk is slightly more intense and sweeter than regular milk, which is why it’s used quite often in baking. But it’s nowhere as sweet as condensed milk, so it still works great in all sorts of sauces, soups, and so on.

Plus, if need be, you can dilute it to make a milk substitute with a slightly different flavor.

Milk is much more watery than evaporated milk, so it works great wherever lots of liquid is needed. That’s why it’s the most popular option for cereals, oatmeal, and pancakes.

Nutrition

Here are the macronutrient profiles of evaporated milk and regular milk (per 100g):

Since evaporated milk is regular milk after removing 60 percent of its water content, it’s no surprise that its energy content and all of the macronutrients are a bit more than double that of table milk.

Obviously, you can buy fat-free milk or fat-free evaporated milk if you want, but the basic rule still stands: evaporated milk will have more than double the macronutrients of the milk it’s made of.

That water reduction in evaporated milk makes it richer and its dairy flavor more intense. And that’s what concentrates the macronutrients.

In any case, if you’re thinking about swapping evaporated milk for regular milk in your coffee, that will add extra calories to your daily intake. Unless, of course, you add half the amount, which should add at least as much flavor without diluting your coffee too much.

Production

This one is pretty straightforward.

The milk you buy in the store is (usually) homogenized to prevent cream separation and even out the texture, then it’s pasteurized for extra safety. And if you buy the shelf-stable variety, it also undergoes the ultra heat treatment that extends its storage time significantly.

Evaporated milk starts with homogenized milk. Then 60 percent of the water is removed, and the resulting product is chilled, stabilized, sterilized, and canned. That gives evaporated milk quite a long shelf life.

Evaporated milk’s darker color and caramelized flavor are the results of high heat treatment thanks to the Maillard reaction.

As already mentioned in the section on substitutions, you can make your own evaporated milk by simply simmering regular milk for about half an hour and straining what’s left. There might be a slight difference in flavor and color due to a different way of processing the milk, but in almost all recipes, the differences will be negligible.

The post Evaporated Milk vs. Regular Milk: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

Say a recipe calls for evaporated milk, but heavy cream is similar in taste and texture. So can you use it instead?

Or maybe you need some heavy cream for a recipe, but the closest thing you can find in your kitchen is a can of evaporated milk. Can you use it as a substitute?

Let’s jump right in.

Is Evaporated Milk the Same as Heavy Cream?

Evaporated milk and heavy cream are two entirely different dairy products. Evaporated milk is milk with 60 percent of its water removed, while heavy cream is made from cream, which is separated from milk in the production process.

Because of that, the two products have very different nutritional profiles and uses, though you can substitute one with the other in some uses.

In short, heavy cream is much richer because of its high-fat content, while evaporated milk is thinner but slightly sweeter and has a caramelized flavor that you can’t find in cream. Plus, heavy cream is sold refrigerated and lasts only a couple of weeks, while evaporated milk is sold in shelf-stable cans.

That’s the high-level overview. Later in the article, I discuss the similarities and differences in much more detail.

For now, let’s talk about swapping one with the other.

When and How to Substitute

Despite what some sites may tell you, evaporated milk is not a good general substitute for heavy cream, and neither is the case the other way around.

But sometimes you can use one instead of the other without affecting the dish you’re cooking that much.

Let’s get into the details.

Can I Substitute Evaporated Milk for Heavy Cream?

You can substitute an equal amount of evaporated milk for heavy cream in most soups and sauces. For other uses, you need to consider how the thinner texture and sweeter flavor will affect the dish. And don’t even try this swap if there’s any whipping involved.

For starters, evaporated milk doesn’t whip, so if you need whipped cream, you’re out of luck.

Next, if you examine the list of typical uses of evaporated milk and heavy cream below, you’ll notice that the only common items are soups, sauces, some baked goods, and adding to coffee or tea. That’s why I suggest only subbing in evaporated milk in those.

The texture and taste of the resulting dish will be a bit different, but that shouldn’t be a big deal.

In other uses, the differences between the two are usually too much to ignore without adjusting other ingredients.

For instance, if you used evaporated milk in a salad dressing, it’d likely end up watery and sweeter than you’d like. While in baked goods, the taste should be okay, but the lack of richness would affect the end result.

(If it’s some low-stakes weekend baking, give it a try, though!)

Overall, if you know the ins and outs of the dish you’re working on, you can try using evaporated milk combined with melted butter (or any other fat source) in cooked and baked dishes. This mixture should be rich enough, though the flavor will be noticeably different.

Finally, instead of trying to substitute heavy cream with another product, try googling a phrase such as “XYZ recipe no heavy cream.” In many cases, you can find similar recipes that don’t rely on heavy cream, and who knows, maybe you already have all the ingredients needed for one of them.

Can I Substitute Heavy Cream for Evaporated Milk?

You can substitute heavy cream for evaporated milk at a 1:1 ratio in cooked and baked dishes, but keep in mind they’ll turn out thicker and richer. Alternatively, you can dilute heavy cream with milk at a 1:1 up to 1:3 heavy cream-to-milk ratio for a substitute with similar richness.

In either case, the flavor will be different, as heavy cream doesn’t have that caramel note you can find in evaporated milk, but the mixture should do in a pinch.

As usual, the more ingredients are mixed into the evaporated milk in your recipe, the higher the chance the swap will turn out okay.

But if the recipe uses evaporated milk to add some dairy flavor without adding too much water, heavy cream will likely be a suboptimal substitute. If that’s the case, you need something else.

If you have some milk on hand, you can make homemade evaporated milk in half an hour or so. I discuss that in my article on evaporated milk vs. regular milk.

Once again, if using another recipe is an option, I suggest paying uncle Google a visit. Want to make fudge? Google a phrase like “fudge heavy cream,” and you’re likely to find at least a couple of decent recipes that use heavy cream instead of evaporated milk (or condensed milk, in the case of fudge recipes).

Evaporated Milk vs. Heavy Cream: Differences and Similarities

Now that we’ve covered subbing evaporated milk with heavy cream and the other way around, let’s talk about the differences and similarities.

Below, I divided the info on evaporated milk vs. heavy cream into a few sections so that it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.

Taste and Texture

Both evaporated milk and heavy cream are noticeably thicker than regular milk, but heavy cream is much richer than evaporated milk. That’s why I suggested diluting it with milk before using it as a substitute.

Here’s how the two compare:

Taste-wise, evaporated milk tastes like a more intense version of milk (which it is), while heavy cream is only slightly sweet. The thing that makes the two noticeably different, besides the richness, is the caramelized flavor of evaporated milk.

(That flavor note is a result of the Maillard reaction caused by high-heat processing.)

If that caramel flavor is a must, consider melting a caramel candy or two and stirring them into the heavy cream mixture you plan on using as a substitute. Or adding it at any other point in the recipe where it makes sense.

Uses

Both ingredients have a long list of possible uses and are used in sweet and savory dishes.

Evaporated milk tastes slightly sweeter than milk, which makes it a natural fit for sweet recipes, like desserts, pies, cakes, and the like. But it’s not overly sweet, so it still works great in sauces, casseroles, and all sorts of soups.

Heavy cream is primarily used to make whipped cream, but it’s also often used to add richness and flavor to soups, pan sauces, or salad dressings.

Long story short, there’s a bit of overlap in how both are used, but not that much.

If you need richness (and therefore fat), heavy cream is what you’re looking for. And if you need concentrated dairy flavor, only evaporated milk fits the bill.

Nutrition

Heavy cream has more than four times more fat than evaporated milk. That difference makes it a much more calorie-dense product with more than twice the calories of evaporated milk.

So if you’ve been wondering how come heavy cream is much richer, its fat content is your answer.

The difference in caloric content between the two is why various sites recommend evaporated milk as a healthier alternative to heavy cream. The idea is nice, but as I described in the section on substitutions, it only works in specific contexts.

Furthermore, while you can find fat-free evaporated milk, I’m yet to find fat-free heavy cream. Without the fat, that wouldn’t be cream anymore, plus it wouldn’t whip.

In other words, richness and lots of fat are the very essence of heavy cream, and you lose most of that by subbing in evaporated milk. That’s okay in some recipes but not in others.

Production

The production of both evaporated milk and heavy cream starts with milk, as is the case with dairy products in general.

If you leave unprocessed milk sitting for some time, a higher-fat layer forms on the top. That’s cream.

That cream is then separated and processed separately before the milk is homogenized.

(In industrial production, the separation process is accelerated, so there’s no need to wait until the cream rises to the top.)

To make heavy cream, all you need to do with that cream is to reduce the amount of water so that the fat percentage is sufficiently high. After a bit of further processing, that cream is then packaged and sold.

I’m painting in broad strokes, of course.

To make evaporated milk, we start with the homogenized milk I mentioned earlier. Then we remove some of its water content. Sixty percent, to be precise.

After that treatment, the product is chilled, stabilized, sterilized, and ends up in the can you can find in the grocery store.

So since evaporated milk is, broadly, milk after some of its water content has been evaporated (hence the name), you can easily make it at home. All you need is a saucepan and 30-odd minutes of simmering to get it to the right consistency.

If you’re interested in making homemade evaporated milk, here’s a detailed recipe and a video.

The post Heavy Cream vs. Evaporated Milk: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

So you need ricotta for a recipe, but the closest thing you’ve got is a tub of mascarpone. Can you substitute mascarpone for ricotta?

Or you want to make a dessert or one of the popular Italian dishes that require mascarpone, but you only got ricotta on hand. And you’re wondering if you can sub it in.

If you’re interested in subbing one for the other, or you’d like to learn how ricotta and mascarpone compare in taste, texture, uses, nutrition, or production, this article is for you.

Let’s jump right in.

When to Substitute

Both mascarpone and ricotta are fresh Italian cheeses, but they’re quite different, and you can’t use them interchangeably. They can work as substitutes only in specific settings.

Let’s get into the details.

Can I Use Mascarpone Instead of Ricotta?

You can substitute mascarpone for ricotta in some cooked or baked dishes, but never if ricotta is used on its own.

Mascarpone is much richer and creamier, so you might add a splash of milk to thin it out. And possibly limit other fat sources in the recipe (e.g., by using less butter or oil), as mascarpone has about four times more fat than ricotta.

Furthermore, it’s probably best to sub mascarpone in sweet dishes, such as cakes, desserts, etc. Mascarpone is a natural fit for those, so subbing should work okay, assuming you follow the advice above.

Another area where using mascarpone instead of ricotta should work okay is casseroles. You can easily find lasagna recipes with mascarpone or ones where you combine both kinds of cheese.

Again, remember that mascarpone is richer and denser compared to ricotta, so the dish will turn out much heavier if you don’t adjust other ingredients and dilute mascarpone with milk or water.

Last but not least, if the recipe uses ricotta as-is (say, in toasts slathered with ricotta and topped with smoked salmon), using mascarpone, even thinned out, will yield much different results. So if you’re not feeling particularly adventurous, it’s better to avoid it.

Can I Substitute Ricotta for Mascarpone?

You can use ricotta instead of mascarpone in a variety of dishes. Start by straining the ricotta and whipping it using a hand mixer or a spatula. What you’ll get is ricotta that’s relatively similar to cream cheese, which isn’t that far away from mascarpone.

(Mascarpone is an Italian version of cream cheese that’s richer and silkier than regular cream cheese sold in the US.)

To get the ricotta even closer to mascarpone, add a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream and whip it using a hand mixer. That should make the ricotta more smooth and start to look more like mascarpone.

After that treatment, ricotta should work okay in cooked dishes where you combine mascarpone with other ingredients and (possibly) cook or bake it.

But if it’s a frosting, topping, or a simple dessert with fresh fruit and honey, I suggest you wait until you actually have mascarpone on hand. The difference in texture will still be noticeable and affect the outcome.

Overall, it’s impossible to find a perfect mascarpone substitute, so it shouldn’t be a surprise ricotta isn’t one. Even cream cheese isn’t a great mascarpone substitute in many settings.

Ricotta vs. Mascarpone: Differences and Similarities

Now that you know how subbing ricotta for mascarpone and the other way around works, let’s talk about the similarities and differences between the two in a few important aspects.

Taste and Texture

Both ricotta and mascarpone are milky-white and slightly sweet, though mascarpone is somewhat sweeter, but that’s where the similarities end. Here’s how they compare visually:

Ricotta is a bit grainy. Not nearly as grainy as cottage cheese, but still. On the other hand, mascarpone is easily spreadable and rocks its signature silky smooth consistency.

You can, of course, strain the ricotta using a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth (or both) and whip it, but it’s still not going to be nearly as smooth as mascarpone.

Next, ricotta is watery and feels quite light compared to mascarpone. You can thin it out by stirring in a bit of milk or water, but you won’t achieve exactly the same texture. Mascarpone is too rich and heavy, richer than regular cream cheese.

So you can try to bridge the gap between the two using the methods I described, and that’s enough for many recipes. But no matter how hard you try, one will never be a direct substitute for the other.

Uses

Ricotta cheese is much more versatile than mascarpone. It’s used in sweet dishes such as cheesecakes, crepes, and the like, but it’s popular in savory ones too. Lasagna, ravioli, pizza, and calzone first come to mind, as ricotta originates in Italy.

Due to its creaminess and sweetness, mascarpone is most often used in desserts (think tiramisu), pies, and cake toppings.

That said, mascarpone also works well in casseroles like lasagna or mac & cheese. Its sweetness usually isn’t a huge issue in those because it’s balanced out by acidic ingredients, such as the tomato sauce in lasagna.

The differences in uses should explain why we consider mascarpone a specialty product, while ricotta is more of an everyday fresh cheese that one can use in gazillion ways.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of ricotta and mascarpone are quite different. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

The main difference between ricotta and mascarpone, in terms of nutrition, is the fat content. Mascarpone contains about four times more fat than full-fat ricotta, which makes mascarpone much heavier and creamier than ricotta.

There are also some differences in amounts of proteins and carbs, but they’re negligible compared to the massive difference in fat.

Plus, the numbers vary a bit between different brands. So if, for instance, you care about your protein intake, go through the labels of all available brands and choose one with the highest amount.

The mentioned differences in macronutrients result in mascarpone having more than double the calories of ricotta.

So if you’re watching your calories, limiting how much mascarpone you eat might be a smart thing to do. And so is trying to substitute it with other cheeses whenever possible.

And if subbing doesn’t seem like a good idea, consider looking for a similar recipe that uses ricotta or cream cheese instead.

Production

The production processes of mascarpone and ricotta are very different.

Mascarpone is fairly straightforward to make. You start by combining heavy cream and milk at an appropriate ratio, heat up the mixture, and add an acid such as cream of tartar, citric acid, or even lemon juice.

The combination of heat and acid thickens the mixture. The final step is to drain the whey and collect the curd. That curd, after a bit of processing, is your mascarpone.

Ricotta isn’t a typical cheese, as it’s made from whey. The same whey that’s drained during the cheese-making process I described above. That makes ricotta almost a byproduct – you can’t make it unless you make another cheese first.

To make ricotta, the previously drained whey is mixed with salt, water, milk, and some fermented whey. That mixture is then heated up, and it starts to curdle after a while. The curds rise to the surface and are then collected. After some processing, they end up in your ricotta tub.

That’s a high-level overview of how both Italian kinds of cheese are made.

The post Ricotta vs. Mascarpone: Similarities, Differences, and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

So a recipe calls for mascarpone cheese, and you can’t quite find it in the grocery store. But based on the photos or video, it kind of looks like cream cheese.

That makes you wonder: are cream cheese and mascarpone the same? And if not, can you substitute one with the other?

Let’s jump right in.

Is Mascarpone and Cream Cheese The Same?

Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese, but it’s noticeably different from the American cream cheese you use to slather on bagels.

Both are fresh and creamy, but mascarpone is noticeably richer thanks to its higher fat content. And it tastes sweeter than “regular” cream cheese.

In other words, mascarpone and cream cheese aren’t one and the same. They have slightly different textures and flavors, so they aren’t direct substitutes, either.

That’s the overview. We’ll dive deeper into the differences and similarities later in the article.

For now, let’s talk about subbing one for the other.

When to Substitute

Even though mascarpone is a type of cream cheese, it’s quite different from “regular” cream cheese, which makes substituting one for the other quite tricky and, in some contexts, impossible.

Let’s jump into the details.

Can I Use Cream Cheese Instead of Mascarpone?

You can combine 1/4 cup of heavy cream per cup of cream cheese using a mixer for a rough mascarpone substitute. That mixture should be quite similar to mascarpone in taste and texture, and you can add half a teaspoon of powdered sugar if you need it sweeter.

It’s far from an ideal substitute but should work okay in toppings, frostings, and desserts.

Fortunately, there’s a better way to go about subbing cream cheese for mascarpone. And it’s as simple as it gets: finding a similar recipe that uses cream cheese instead of mascarpone.

For instance, say you want to make tiramisu, probably the most popular dessert that uses mascarpone. If you google a phrase like “tiramisu with cream cheese,” you’ll find recipes that use cream cheese instead. Here’s an example.

Or you can check out other recipes for the same dish, as some will likely mention substitutes for mascarpone. Like this one.

Those recipes typically ask you to combine cream cheese with a bit of sugar, whip some cream on the side, and gently fold it into the sweetened cream cheese.

And in the case of mascarpone vs. cream cheese, using an alternative recipe is a much better approach than going with a generic substitute formula I outlined above.

That’s because each recipe is different. In some of them, whipping the cream will be a must, while in others, not so much. The same with the amount of sugar added, and so on.

In other words, it’s better to go with an okay recipe that you have the correct ingredients for than with a great recipe that you’re forced to go with makeshift mascarpone. At least in this case.

And in case you’re wondering, ricotta is an even worse substitute for mascarpone.

Can I Substitute Mascarpone for Cream Cheese?

You can use an equal amount of mascarpone, add a pinch of salt, and mix in a spritz of lemon juice to make a rough cream cheese substitute. The mixture will be a bit sweeter and creamier than cream cheese, but it should work okay in cooked and baked dishes.

If you need it to be a bit sturdier, you can mix in a tiny amount of flour until you get the texture right. Just make sure you’re adding it bit by bit and stirring well to avoid clumping.

In general, mascarpone is somewhat sweet and lacks the tang that cream cheese provides. So while you can make it tangier by incorporating lemon juice and a bit of salt, that sweetness will still be noticeable.

Because of that, the mentioned substitution should work well in baked goods and desserts. It likely won’t work nearly as well in savory salads, spreads, dips, etc. In other words, use mascarpone instead of cream cheese only in recipes where mascarpone would be a natural fit.

And, instead of making the substitute mixture, it’s probably better to adjust other ingredients so that there’s a bit more salt and acid that mascarpone lacks.

As usual, it’s best to sub mascarpone for cream cheese only in recipes you know the ins and outs of. This way, you should have a rough idea of how much extra salt or tang you need for the recipe to turn out well.

Alternatively, you can go the same route I described for subbing cream cheese for mascarpone: find a similar recipe that uses mascarpone instead of cream cheese. It shouldn’t be an issue for many baked goods and desserts, but it won’t be nearly as simple for spreads, dips, and casseroles.

Mascarpone vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and Similarities

While mascarpone is a type of cream cheese, there are many differences between mascarpone and regular cream cheese.

Below, I divided all the basics on cream cheese vs. mascarpone into a few sections so that it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.

Taste and Texture

While both cream cheese and mascarpone are creamy and spreadable, that’s where the similarities end. Here’s how they compare visually:

Thanks to its much higher fat content, mascarpone has a noticeably richer texture and signature silky consistency. In comparison, cream cheese isn’t nearly as rich and is a bit sturdier than its Italian cousin.

Taste-wise, mascarpone has a sweet but mild taste, making it a natural fit for all sorts of cake frostings, toppings, desserts, and other sweet stuff. Cream cheese, on the other hand, has a mild but slightly tangy flavor, which makes it a great option for both savory and sweet (after adding sugar) dishes.

In short, mascarpone is like a sweeter and richer variety of cream cheese that lacks the tang of its cousin.

Because of these differences, mascarpone and cream cheese aren’t direct substitutions. And using one instead of the other requires extra ingredients to balance out the flavor and texture.

Uses

Thanks to its sweet flavor, mascarpone is primarily used in sweet dishes, be it tiramisu, desserts with fruits, cake frostings, toppings, and the like. Sometimes it finds its way to a casserole, like a lasagna, but it’s not a typical ingredient in savory recipes.

Regular cream cheese, thanks to its tangy yet mild taste, is used more broadly. It tastes great on its own if you slather it on bread or bagels, makes spreads, dips, and soups creamy, and works wonders in cake icings and frostings with a bit of sugar and maybe heavy cream added.

In other words, cream cheese is much more versatile than its Italian counterpart.

Of course, If you’re looking for that silky sweet mascarpone flavor, subbing it with cream cheese mixed with some heavy cream will be a subpar experience at best. But if you’re mixing that with a bunch of other ingredients anyway, going with that substitute shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Things are more difficult the other way around, as it’s probably impossible to mute mascarpone’s sweet taste without a significant change in overall flavor. That’s why I recommend playing to its strengths and using it only in sweet dishes.

And if you need a savory sandwich spread or want to thicken a spread or dip, stick with cream cheese.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of mascarpone and cream cheese are noticeably different. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

The crucial difference between mascarpone and cream cheese in terms of nutrition profile is the amount of fat.

While cream cheese has 33 percent of fat or a bit more, mascarpone has at least 40 percent of fat, and often more than 50 percent. That makes it a much more calorie-dense option than regular cream cheese.

There are also some minor differences in how much carbs and proteins are in both types of cheese, but these are negligible compared to the difference in fat content.

If you’d like to reduce your fat intake, you can choose a light variety of cream cheese that has about half the fat the regular version has. But last time I checked, there’s no “light” mascarpone available.

Overall, both are packed with calories, so if you’re looking to limit your caloric intake or watch your calories, I suggest you control the portion sizes of both. It’s easy to overeat on these, given the deliciousness of both cream cheese and mascarpone.

Production

While mascarpone is a type of cream cheese, the production processes of both cream cheese and mascarpone have some differences.

In both cases, it starts with cream or a combination of milk and cream. And since mascarpone contains much more fat, it uses higher-fat cream.

The next step is when it’s different for both dairy products.

When making cream cheese, the milk and cream mixture is fermented using lactic acid bacteria. The bacteria thicken the mix and make it a bit sour and tangy.

(That’s what makes cream cheese taste the way it does.)

When making mascarpone, instead of lactic acid bacteria, there’s an acidity regulator involved, such as cream of tartar, citric acid, or lemon juice. That regulator helps thicken the mixture.

(Lack of fermentation makes mascarpone a mildly sweet cheese that doesn’t have the tanginess of cream cheese.)

Now that the mixtures are thickened, both are strained to separate the whey from the curd. And that resulting curd is what makes up the cheese.

That’s the high-level comparison of the production process of mascarpone vs. cream cheese.

The post Mascarpone vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

So a recipe calls for ricotta cheese, and the closest you can get is cream cheese. Can you substitute cream cheese for ricotta?

Or maybe you wanted to make some appetizers with cream cheese, but you only got ricotta on hand. And you’re wondering if you can use it instead.

If either sounds familiar, or you’d like to learn how ricotta and cream cheese compare regarding taste, texture, uses, nutrition, or production, you’re in the right place.

Let’s dive right in.

When to Substitute

Despite being quite different in terms of nutrition and production process, you can use cream cheese and ricotta interchangeably in many recipes, which is great news if you have one but need the other.

Can I Use Cream Cheese Instead of Ricotta?

You can use cream cheese instead of ricotta, but keep in mind that cream cheese is much richer and thicker. You might want to add a splash of milk to loosen it up a bit. Also, cream cheese is saltier and a bit tangy, so the resulting dish will taste slightly different.

The difference in flavor might be perfectly fine for some dishes, but some might come out too salty. To help combat that, consider reducing the amount of salt or salty ingredients to better balance out the taste.

If it’s possible to taste as you go, start with half the salt you normally use and add more if needed. Of course, it’s not always that simple, especially if your primary source of salt is something like soy sauce.

As usual with substitutions, it’s best to know the ins and outs of the dish you’re preparing. This way, you should have a rough idea of how to adjust the proportions of other ingredients to get the dish where you want it to go.

Alternatively, try finding a similar recipe that uses cream cheese instead of ricotta, and use it instead. That shouldn’t be an issue for dips, spreads, salads, and casseroles.

And even if you want to stick with your recipe, at least take a close look at the ingredient lists of those alternative recipes. They should give you some idea of how to adjust yours.

Can I Sub Cream Cheese for Ricotta in Lasagna?

You can use cream cheese instead of ricotta in lasagna. When doing so, make sure you first soften the cream cheese so it’s easy to spread it over the lasagna noodles.

Or, if your recipe includes eggs, mix the eggs with cream cheese, and spread that mixture over the noodles.

The taste and texture of both cheeses are slightly different, but it’s not a big deal when making lasagna. The dish likely includes other cheeses (such as parmesan) and tomato sauce, both of which tend to dominate the overall flavor.

In other words, the lasagna won’t taste exactly the same as if using ricotta, but the difference won’t be that big. And who knows, you might like it better than the original.

Can I Substitute Ricotta for Cream Cheese?

Using ricotta instead of cream cheese works well in many recipes. To make ricotta resemble cream cheese more, drain the water using a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth (or both), and whip it using a stand mixer or a rubber spatula.

Ricotta is more grainy than cream cheese, and it will continue to be so even after the mentioned treatment. But the two should be reasonably close texture-wise.

And if you need a bit of tang that ricotta lacks, adding a splash of lemon or lime juice should help. You might also consider adding a few tablespoons of heavy cream to make the ricotta richer and creamier. Use a blender, food processor, or hand mixer to combine.

Prepared that way, ricotta as a cream cheese substitute should work well in spreads, salads, dips, and casseroles.

But if you need cream cheese for a cake icing or frosting, you’ll probably be better off subbing mascarpone for cream cheese instead. It’s basically a richer and sweeter version of it.

Ricotta vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and Similarities

Now that you know when subbing one for the other makes sense, let’s talk about the similarities and differences between the two in more detail.

Taste and Texture

The taste and texture of both cheeses are fairly similar but have some notable differences. Here’s how they compare:

Cream cheese has much more fat than ricotta, which makes it rich, dense, and spreadable. Ricotta has a lot more water, making it grainy.

But if you drain the ricotta and whip it, as mentioned in the section on subbing, it becomes quite similar to cream cheese in terms of texture. You’ll still be able to tell the difference just by looking at it, though.

Taste-wise, cream cheese is slightly tangy but pretty mild overall. Ricotta lacks that tanginess and is somewhat sweet instead. That’s why I suggest stirring a bit of lemon juice into your ricotta if you want to make it more cream cheese-like.

(When it comes to taste, ricotta is fairly similar to mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese.)

Because of those similarities, both kinds of cheese are used in similar dishes. And if you’re short on one of them, you can usually find a similar recipe that uses the other.

Let’s talk about how both are used.

Uses

Both cream cheese and ricotta are quite versatile and are used in both sweet and savory dishes, though ricotta is most commonly used in savory ones.

Both cheeses taste great slathered on bread, bagels, and other baked goods. They also work well in dips, spreads, and salads.

Casseroles and pasta dishes are other areas where the two shine, though it’s easier to find a pasta dish with ricotta than with cream cheese. It might have something to do with ricotta originating in Italy, while cream cheese comes from the US.

The area where cream cheese is a much better option than ricotta is cake toppings. Ricotta is grainy and fluffy (even after draining and whipping), and it’s just not a great fit for icings and frostings.

Sure, you can use it in a pinch, but the results probably won’t be all that great. So instead, I suggest you look for a different frosting recipe for which you actually have the ingredients. Chances are it’ll work out much better.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of ricotta and cream cheese are quite different. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

The crucial difference between ricotta and cream cheese, nutrition-wise, is the fat content. Full-fat cream cheese has about three times more fat than full-fat milk ricotta.

That makes cream cheese much creamier instead of fluffy and grainy.

Of course, there’s the reduced-fat cream cheese that has about half the fat of the full-fat variety, but that’s still noticeably more than ricotta contains.

The difference in fat content drives the difference in overall calories as cream cheese typically has more than double the calories of ricotta.

So if you’re looking for a simple way to reduce calories in your meals, sub in ricotta for cream cheese whenever possible. And when a direct substitution doesn’t work particularly well, find a similar recipe that uses the Italian cheese instead.

Production

When it comes to the production of ricotta and cream cheese, the two aren’t anything alike.

Cream cheese is made the same way most cheeses are, meaning a combination of milk and cream is curdled, and that curd is collected, processed, and packaged as cheese.

Ricotta is quite different, as it’s cheese made from whey. The same whey that gets drained after curdling the milk. In other words, ricotta is often produced as a byproduct of cheese making, not as the “main” dairy product.

Here’s how a ricotta production process might look like:

1. The creamery curdles the milk (e.g., by adding rennet).
2. The curds are strained and used to make cheese (e.g., mozzarella). The liquid that’s been strained is called whey.
3. The whey is combined with some salt, water, milk, and fermented whey. Then it’s heated, and it curdles once again.
4. The curds go to the surface and are collected, and that’s how your ricotta is made.

There are also recipes for homemade ricotta, which you can make by heating non-UHT milk with some acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice. Here’s an example recipe.

The cheese you make this way isn’t “real” ricotta (as it’s not made from whey), but it’s a good ricotta substitute. So if you don’t have ricotta on hand but got a few bottles of not ultra-pasteurized milk and feel so inspired, go make your own.

The post Ricotta vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

Cream cheese is much thicker than sour cream, and it has a mild, somewhat tangy taste.

Sour cream, on the other hand, tastes sour and tangy and is like a thick yogurt in terms of texture.

Those make the products similar, but definitely not direct substitutes. Subbing one with the other only works well only in specific settings.

Interested in learning more about the similarities, differences, and when substituting makes sense?

Read on.

When to Substitute

Cream cheese and sour cream aren’t direct substitutes, but swapping works well in many contexts.

It’s easier to sub cream cheese for sour cream because all you need to do is to thin it down with water. And you can add some lemon juice to adjust the taste.

It’s a bit more difficult the other way around, as there’s no easy way to make sour cream nice and firm and remove its tang to make it taste more like cream cheese. But in some dishes, the taste difference isn’t a huge issue, and you can adjust the amounts of other ingredients to fix the texture.

That’s the high-level overview. Next, let’s get into the details.

Can I Use Cream Cheese Instead of Sour Cream?

You can substitute cream cheese for sour cream in most cooked or baked dishes. To do so, mix in one tablespoon of milk or water per cup of cream cheese to adjust the texture. Then, if sourness and tang are essential to the dish you’re cooking, add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

(A couple of drops of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar should work in a pinch.)

After making the above mixture, taste it and add more water or acid if necessary. You can easily make it as thin or sour as you need by adding those two ingredients.

As I mentioned, that substitution works well in cooked and baked recipes (think pancakes, soups, casseroles, or cakes), as these are usually quite forgiving. The taste and texture of the sour cream don’t (typically) make or break those dishes.

But that sub might not work as well in salads, toppings, and other recipes that aren’t cooked. You can use it in a pinch when making a relaxed weeknight dinner, but unless tested in the specific recipe, I wouldn’t use it for a family gathering dinner.

Can I Substitute Sour Cream for Cream Cheese?

You can use sour cream instead of cream cheese in equal amounts, but that’s not a direct substitution.

Sour cream will make whatever you’re cooking more tangy and zingy and make the texture noticeably thinner. Because of that, it works best in cooked and baked dishes.

When using this substitution, you might need to adjust the amounts of other ingredients to achieve the desired texture.

For instance, if you’re making pancake batter, you might need to lower the amount of milk or water used. Or, when making muffins, you might need to add more flour to get the muffin batter to where it needs to be consistency-wise.

As usual with substitutions, the more familiar you are with whatever you’re cooking, the higher the chance subbing will go just fine. And if you’re cooking the dish for the first time and aren’t that confident in the kitchen, I suggest making something else.

Or, instead of subbing sour cream, search for a recipe that uses that ingredient natively, and use it instead.

For instance, if you want to make cream cheese muffins and don’t have cream cheese on hand, search for “sour cream muffins.” Chances are you’ll find a recipe you have all the ingredients for.

Sour Cream vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and Similarities

Sour cream and cream cheese have many differences, but there are also enough similarities to make subbing one with the other in specific contexts possible.

Below, I divided all the information into a few categories so that it’s easier for you to find what you’re interested in most.

Taste and Texture

The taste and texture are where the differences between sour cream and cream cheese are the most obvious. Here’s how the two compare:

Cream cheese is creamy, spreadable, and has a slightly tangy but mild taste. It also makes a great base for flavoring. All you need to do is mix in some herbs or aromatics. Or buy a flavored one.

On the other hand, sour cream has a thinner, spoonable texture and rocks its signature tangy and somewhat sour flavor.

Both products are close to each other, but you definitely wouldn’t mistake one for the other.

Because of those differences, you can sometimes use sour cream instead of cream cheese (and vice versa), but that usually calls for some other adjustments to get things right.

Uses

While sour cream and cream cheese are often used in similar recipes (think sauces, dressings, dips, and pie and cake toppings), they aren’t necessarily used to achieve the same result.

Cream cheese is often used to make a dish more creamy, be it a soup, salad, or a spread, but it doesn’t offer much in terms of flavor. Sour cream can also add richness and texture to some extent, but it’s also a great source of tanginess.

Because of that, both products are often used in combination. Cream cheese adds a lot of richness and creaminess, while sour cream adds some sourness and tang without diluting everything too much.

That said, cream cheese is most often used as a sandwich spread. You can slather it on bread, bagels, toasts, flatbreads, or any other piece of bread. And if you’re feeling fancy, you can mix in some herbs or aromatics to get different flavors.

And sour cream will never replace cream cheese in that use case.

On the other hand, cream cheese isn’t particularly popular in baking, unlike sour cream, which is an essential ingredient in hundreds of muffins, cupcakes, and pancake recipes.

(Sure, there’s cream cheese frosting, but that’s just a notable exception.)

That’s the way things are because the taste and texture of sour cream work well in baked goods, and that of cream cheese doesn’t fit the bill nearly as well.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of sour cream and cream cheese are noticeably different, except for the amount of carbohydrates. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

The most important nutritional difference between sour cream and cream cheese is the amount of fat.

Sour cream typically has 12 to 20 percent fat, depending on the brand and variety you buy, while cream cheese has at least 33 percent. That makes the latter a much more calorie-dense product.

That said, you can also find light cream cheese that has about half of the usual fat content. That variety is comparable to sour cream in terms of calories and overall macronutrient profile.

(Of course, you can also find a fat-reduced version of sour cream if you want to go that route.)

Overall, cream cheese is a much more calorie-dense dairy product. So if you’re watching your caloric intake, limiting it and using sour cream whenever possible seems like a smart thing to do.

That’s not to say that sour cream is a low-calorie product. It also packs a fair amount of calories, and it’s not something to go overboard on (say, with your mashed potatoes) if you’re watching your calories.

Production

The production processes of cream cheese and sour cream are actually quite alike.

For sour cream, everything starts with regular cream, while cream cheese starts with either cream or a mix of cream and milk.

Then, lactic acid bacteria (not necessarily the same exact strain) are added to the mixture. Those bacteria make sour cream taste somewhat sour and tangy and make cream cheese slightly tangy.

That’s the moment when both products go their way.

In making cream cheese, the milk and cream mix is fermented, which makes it thicker. Then it’s run through a separator that separates the mixture into curd and whey. The curd is then collected, stabilizers are added to maintain the texture, and sometimes nitrogen is mixed in to add volume and make the cream cheese spreadable.

When making sour cream, the fermentation takes longer, and it ends up with a nicely thickened cream that just needs to be packaged and refrigerated.

Of course, knowing that cream cheese has much more fat than sour cream, it’s pretty obvious that it starts out with cream that’s higher in fat than the one used for sour cream.

The Bottom Line

Sour cream and cream cheese have some similarities but are also quite different.

Both are made from cream and fermented using lactic acid bacteria, but that’s where the similarities end.

Cream cheese has much more fat, is spreadable, and tastes pretty mild. Sour cream, on the other hand, has less fat and is noticeably thinner than cream cheese (yet still spoonable). It also offers its signature tang and a bit of sourness, which nicely compliments many dishes.

Cream cheese is a popular sandwich spread, and since it has a pretty mild and neutral flavor, it’s great for experimenting with various herbs and aromatics to build various flavors.

Its other uses, such as making creamy salads, spreads, dips, cake icing, and the like, are kind of secondary to its main use.

Sour cream is much more versatile in this manner, and there’s no “default” use of this dairy product.

The post Sour Cream vs. Cream Cheese: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

Heavy cream is much thinner and somewhat sweet, while sour cream is yogurt-like thick and a bit sour. Unfortunately, that also means they aren’t direct substitutes.

You can sometimes substitute sour cream with heavy cream and some lemon juice or vinegar, but that works only in several uses. And it’s even more difficult the other way around.

Interested in learning about the differences, similarities, and when substituting makes sense?

If so, this article is for you. Read on.

When to Substitute

Heavy cream and sour cream aren’t interchangeable, but swapping might be an option in specific contexts.

It’s much easier to sub heavy cream for sour cream by adding a bit of an acid, like lemon juice or vinegar. But, of course, the texture will still be different, so that substitute works only in certain dishes.

Things are even complicated the other way around, as you can’t whip sour cream, and thinning it with milk and sweetening it with sugar don’t help all that much.

That’s the overview. Now, let’s jump into the details.

Can I Use Sour Cream Instead of Heavy Cream?

You can’t whip sour cream, and using it as a substitute for heavy cream is quite tricky.

You can try combining four parts sour cream with 1 part milk to make the texture similar to that of heavy cream. Then you might add half a teaspoon of sugar per cup to adjust the taste.

Having that mixture ready, you can use it in baked goods, like muffins, cakes, or foods cooked on the stove, such as pancakes or egg scrambles.

That said, go with this sub only when making dishes you’re familiar with. You need to know what texture of the batter you’re shooting for when making the cake or pancake batter. This way, you can adjust things by adding more milk (or water) or flour if necessary.

And assume that whatever you’re cooking might not turn out that great. It should be okay to eat, but the flavor most likely won’t impress anyone.

That said, if you need a quick heavy cream substitute that doesn’t whip but is quite rich, combining three parts milk with one part melted butter works better. Or you can use less butter if you want to reduce calories.

Can I Substitute Heavy Cream for Sour Cream?

You can substitute heavy cream for sour cream by mixing heavy cream with one tablespoon of lemon juice or a half tablespoon of white vinegar per cup. This substitute should work well in cooked and baked dishes, but it won’t work in toppings, dips, dressings, and creamy sauces.

In other words, using this substitute depends heavily on what you need the sour cream for.

It should work okay for baked goods, like muffins, cookies, scones, and the like.

The taste is similar, and lemon juice or vinegar provides the acidity to activate baking soda. The texture will be much thinner, but it shouldn’t be a huge issue in baked goods, which are usually quite forgiving.

Or you can always add a bit of flour to thicken things.

Unfortunately, this sub doesn’t work in toppings, creamy sauces, and dips. Those rely on the thick texture of sour cream, and simply combining heavy cream with an acidic agent won’t cut it. In those dishes, you can try substituting cream cheese for sour cream.

(For similar reasons, buttermilk isn’t a good substitute for sour cream, either. It’s got a bit of the acidic and tangy flavor going, but the texture is quite different.)

So before using this mixture, know the purpose of sour cream in whatever you’re cooking. If it’s supposed to make the dish creamier or make the sauce or dressing nice and thick, you need something else.

In many cases, a thick yogurt makes a decent sour cream alternative. It’s tangy and dense, so the taste and texture are similar. Plus, yogurt contains less fat, so it’s a good option if you want to reduce the calories at the same time.

Heavy Cream vs. Sour Cream: Differences and Similarities

There are many differences between heavy cream and sour cream, but there are also a couple of similarities. I divided all the info into a couple of categories, so it’s easier to find what you’re interested in and skip parts you don’t care about.

Taste and Texture

Both taste and texture of heavy cream and sour cream are quite different.

Sour cream is like a thick yogurt that’s rich, creamy, and definitely not pourable. Compared to it, heavy cream is much thinner, and you can pour it just fine.

(You can sometimes find thick heavy cream that’s actually quite similar to sour cream texture-wise, but in most cases, heavy cream is thin and pourable.)

Here’s how the two compare:

In terms of taste, heavy cream is rich and somewhat sweet. Not a lot, but just enough for one to notice. Sour cream, on the other hand, is a bit sour and acidic. Again, not a super strong flavor, but one that gives many foods that mild acidic kick.

Because of those differences, neither works as a simple substitute for the other and is used for very different purposes. And even if you decide to make heavy cream sour by adding lemon juice or vinegar, using it as a sub works only in certain dishes, as that only fixes the taste difference without addressing the texture issue.

(Heavy cream is a better substitute for evaporated milk than it is for sour cream.)

Uses

Both heavy cream and sour cream have several unique uses, and the only area where both are used and you can try substituting one with the other is baked goods. In muffins, cakes, and the like, you need fat and liquid to make things happen, and both dairy products fit the bill here.

That’s why I suggested replacing one with the other pretty much only in those recipes.

For unique uses, making whipped cream is the first that pops up. And as you probably know, you can make whipped cream from heavy cream but not from sour cream.

For sour cream, it shines in making pie and cake toppings, dipping sauces, and salad dressings. All of those rely on the thickness of the product. Without it, the sauces and dressings would end up thin, and that topping would pour right off.

(Okay, you can top your cake with whipped cream instead of sour cream topping, but that’s hardly a substitute.)

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of heavy cream and sour cream are noticeably different, except for the amount of protein. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

The most important nutritional difference between heavy cream and sour cream is the amount of fat.

Sour cream typically has 12 to 20 percent fat, depending on the brand and variety you buy, while heavy cream has between 30 and 40 percent. In other words, heavy cream has one and a half to two times more fat than sour cream.

And while you can find a light or fat-reduced version of sour cream, you can’t find a similar option for heavy cream. The reason is quite simple – it wouldn’t whip.

Because of the disparity in fat content, heavy cream is a much more calorie-dense dairy product.

So if you’re watching your overall caloric intake, you should watch closely how much heavy cream you use. And since sour cream isn’t a low-calorie product either, you should probably keep an eye on it too.

Production

The production process for both sour cream and heavy cream starts with cream.

Once you got cream separated from fresh milk, you can turn it into a whole variety of products, including half and half, heavy cream, double cream, and other popular cream varieties. What’s made depends on what part of the world you live in.

For heavy cream, it boils down to reducing the amount of water in the cream so that the amount of milk fat in the product is sufficiently high. Once that’s taken care of, heavy cream is ready, as it’s sold as a “fresh” dairy product.

Sour cream requires noticeably less fat than heavy cream, but there’s an extra step involved in the production process: souring. Prepared cream is inoculated with lactic acid bacteria and fermented at about room temperature for 12 to 36 hours.

The added bacteria turn lactose into lactic acid, making the cream thicker and tasting sour.

To put it simply, heavy cream is fresh cream with a high amount of fat, while sour cream is fermented cream with a significantly lower (but still noticeable) fat content.

The Bottom Line

Sour cream and heavy cream are quite different.

They’re both made from cream, but the former is fermented, while the latter is sold fresh and noticeably higher in fat.

Texture-wise, sour cream is thick and spoonable, while heavy cream is quite thin (thicker than milk, of course) and pourable.

For taste, sour cream is a bit sour and acidic, giving that tangy kick to your dishes. Heavy cream, on the other hand, is rich and somewhat sweet, which works great in all the dishes it’s added to, but it doesn’t offer anything particularly unique in the flavor department.

Finally, you can whip heavy cream, but not sour cream.

Given those differences, it doesn’t come as a surprise that you can’t easily substitute one with the other. And while in some recipes you can use heavy cream mixed with lemon juice instead of sour cream, it’s far from a perfect sub, and you should only use it in a pinch.

The post Heavy Cream vs. Sour Cream: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

You can often substitute sour cream for buttermilk (with some added milk), but it’s not that simple the other way around.

Interested in learning about the differences, similarities, and when swapping makes sense?

If so, this article is for you. Read on.

When to Substitute

Buttermilk and sour cream aren’t interchangeable, but swapping is an option in specific contexts.

It’s easier to sub sour cream for buttermilk because if you mix sour cream with milk, you get a mixture that’s quite similar to buttermilk.

Things are much more difficult the other way around because you can’t turn light and pourable buttermilk into a rich and creamy sour cream.

That’s the high-level overview. Next, let’s get into the details.

Can I Substitute Sour Cream for Buttermilk?

In many cases, you can sub sour cream for buttermilk.

To make “buttermilk” from sour cream, combine three parts sour cream with one part milk or water, whisk the mixture to combine, and see if the texture is right. If it’s still too thick, add more liquid.

The resulting mix won’t taste exactly like buttermilk, but it will be close enough and work okay in most cooked dishes.

(Kefir is a great substitute for buttermilk if you are looking for one.)

This mixture isn’t a perfect substitute and sometimes won’t do the trick. For instance, if you’d like to enjoy a glass of fresh buttermilk, swapping in that sour cream with milk mixture won’t be nearly as good.

But if you’re making pancakes, waffles, muffins, or anything else where buttermilk is part of the batter that’s then cooked or baked, the mentioned mixture should work okay.

You can also try swapping it in dressings and sauces, but in those, add only the sour cream, mix everything else in, and slowly add milk until the texture is just right. Follow this process because dressings and sauces aren’t as forgiving as cooked and baked goods.

Finally, keep in mind that sour cream is much more calorie-dense than buttermilk, so if you’re trying to limit your caloric intake, subbing in sour cream is a bad idea.

(Subbing heavy cream for buttermilk is an even worse idea if you’re worried about your caloric intake.)

Can I Substitute Buttermilk for Sour Cream?

Substituting buttermilk for sour cream highly depends on the dish you’re preparing, and there’s no simple ratio.

You can often make buttermilk work in cooked or baked dishes where sour cream is added to the batter. But if you need sour cream for a creamy sauce, to top your pie or cake, or need a couple of dollops for your roasted potatoes, buttermilk won’t do the trick.

In other words, it’s not a simple swap, and it’s usually easier to find a similar recipe that uses buttermilk instead of sour cream and use it instead. But if you’re up to the challenge and the dish you’re cooking is a low-stakes weeknight dinner that’s okay to mess up, feel free to give it a go.

(I hereby excuse you for ordering pizza if things go south.)

So if sour cream is used to add tanginess to something like pancake or muffin batter, or to activate baking soda in baked goods, here’s what you can try. Sub half a cup of buttermilk for every cup of sour cream, and see if the batter’s texture resembles what you’re looking for.

If it doesn’t, you can add more buttermilk to thin it out or more dry ingredients to make it thicker. You can also add an extra egg yolk or two to make up for the loss in fat content and to add some richness that buttermilk lacks.

Another way to add more fat is to add more butter or oil, depending on what the recipe uses.

That said, subbing sour cream with buttermilk will likely result in a dish lacking richness and depth. And that’s going to be the case even if you get the texture of the batter right.

Anyway, what you’re trying to achieve here is to get the batter to the consistency it is supposed to have before you cook or bake it. And because of that, if it’s your first or second time with a recipe, it’s better to choose another one, as chances are you won’t get the texture right and will end up with a mediocre dish at best.

(The same is true if you’re trying to sub heavy cream for sour cream.)

Next, let’s discuss the differences and similarities between the two dairy products.

Buttermilk vs. Sour Cream: Differences and Similarities

There are some similarities between buttermilk and sour cream, but there are also some crucial differences that might make or break whatever you’re cooking. I divided everything into a few sections, so it’s easier to read about what you’re actually interested in and skip the rest.

Taste and Texture

Both buttermilk and sour cream have a similar, slightly tangy taste, though the latter tastes a bit more acidic. But the thing that differentiates the two is the texture.

Buttermilk is lumpy and a bit thicker than milk but still easily pourable. On the other hand, sour cream is like a thick yogurt that’s rich and creamy but not pourable at all.

Here’s how the two compare:

Because of the texture difference, subbing sour cream for buttermilk is often relatively easy – you just need some liquid to thin it out, and you’re good to go.

The other way around, things are much more difficult because you can’t make buttermilk rich and thick. By adding it instead of sour cream, you’re basically replacing the liquid content but without adding any richness. That’s why I suggest adding an extra yolk or two to make up for that.

Uses

Buttermilk and sour cream have pretty similar uses, though the latter is arguably a bit more versatile. While buttermilk shines in baking, sour cream is not only great in baked goods but also often used in sauces and dressings, thanks to its richness.

Also, both products are acidic enough to activate baking soda, so don’t be surprised that baked goods that call for either usually use baking soda instead of baking powder.

(Baking powder provides its own acid to activate.)

Of course, both products have a couple of unique uses, too.

Buttermilk is often drank straight from the glass or added to cereals or granola. And in those settings, subbing it with sour cream (even mixed with some liquid) doesn’t work nearly as well as you’d like.

On the other hand, sour cream makes a great topping on its own (e.g., on roasted potatoes) or mixed with some sugar (e.g., on a cheesecake). And I’m sure you can imagine what a disaster would be to pour some runny buttermilk on roasted potatoes.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of buttermilk and sour cream are fairly similar, except for the amount of fat. Here’s what they look like (per 100g):

As you can tell, the protein and carbohydrate content are quite similar, but there’s like 5 to 20 times more fat in sour cream than in buttermilk. The exact number depends on whether you go with a full-fat or fat-reduced version of either.

(Buttermilk is most often sold fat-reduced, while for sour cream, you can find both full-fat and “light” varieties.)

Because of the disparity in fat content, sour cream is a much more calorie-dense option. So if you’re watching your fat intake (or overall calories), make sure you control how much sour cream you use.

Production

The production process for both buttermilk and sour cream is pretty similar. That’s because both are cultured dairy products, and lactic acid bacteria are added to both.

The main difference is the starting point. Buttermilk starts with milk, while sour cream starts with cream. That’s why buttermilk stays pourable and has little fat, while sour cream becomes thick and has lots of fat.

(I’m talking here about how buttermilk and sour cream are made nowadays, now how they were made way back when. Now the processes are standardized and streamlined, and there’s no guesswork involved.)

The production process looks something like this:

1. We take the base liquid. In our case, it’s milk for buttermilk or cream for sour cream.
2. We inoculate the liquid with lactic acid bacteria and let it ferment. The fermentation process is done at around room temperature and takes roughly between 12 and 36 hours. During the process, the added bacteria turn lactose (milk sugar) into lactic acid. That thickens the liquid and makes it sourer.
3. Once the taste and texture are ideal, fermentation is stopped, and the liquid is refrigerated and bottled.

That’s a high-level description of the process, and the details vary a bit between brands. But it’s always pretty similar to the above, and if you’re not interested in digging into the nitty-gritty, that’s about enough you need to know about it.

The Bottom Line

Buttermilk and sour cream are fairly similar in taste, but the latter is way thicker and denser than the former. So while they’re used in similar dishes, they’re not interchangeable, and substituting one with the other isn’t that simple.

If you want to replace buttermilk with sour cream in a cooked or baked good, simply combining three parts sour cream with one part milk or water often does the trick. The other way around, things are much more complex, and it’s best to try only if you know well the dish you’re prepping.

The post Buttermilk vs. Sour Cream: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

Because of those differences, substituting one for the other is quite difficult and can work only in specific scenarios.

Interested in learning about the differences, similarities, and swapping strategies?

If so, this article is for you. Read on.

When to Substitute

Buttermilk and heavy cream aren’t interchangeable, and swapping one with the other can only work if you adjust other ingredients in the recipe.

For instance, if you’re substituting heavy cream for buttermilk in pancakes, you also need to replace baking soda with baking powder for the pancakes to rise. And in certain contexts, swapping isn’t an option, as is the case when you need whipped cream.

That’s the gist of it. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Can You Substitute Buttermilk for Heavy Cream?

You can’t swap buttermilk for heavy cream if you need it whipped, for a dessert, as a coffee creamer, or to whiten a soup. But if you need that heavy cream for a cooked or baked dish where it’s a part of the batter (e.g., muffin batter), you might try using buttermilk instead.

To do so, you pour in a bit less buttermilk than how much heavy cream is needed and add some extra fat like melted butter, oil, or egg yolks to make up for the much lower fat content of buttermilk. And consider adding a bit of sugar, as heavy cream is somewhat sweet, and buttermilk is quite tangy.

As you can tell, it’s not a simple swap but one that requires at least a bit of cooking intuition. For instance, if whatever you’re cooking uses a lot of heavy cream, using buttermilk instead might result in a somewhat tangy taste that you might not be happy about.

And truth be told, it’s easier to replace heavy cream with plain milk and melted butter in the above context.

Long story short, subbing buttermilk for heavy cream is quite tricky. And it’s probably better to search for a similar recipe that doesn’t include heavy cream or use a better alternative, such as milk combined with butter.

(The same is true when you’re trying to use sour cream instead of heavy cream.)

Can I Substitute Heavy Cream for Buttermilk?

You can sometimes use heavy cream instead of buttermilk, but you should note that it will make whatever you’re cooking more rich and creamy. And unless you add a bit of lemon juice or vinegar, you’ll lose the tangy flavor that buttermilk brings.

Plus, if the dish uses baking soda and doesn’t include any other acidic ingredient, and you don’t add the mentioned vinegar or lemon juice, you’ll need to swap baking powder for baking soda.

(That’s why it’s much easier to substitute sour cream for buttermilk, as both are acidic and activate baking soda.)

When subbing heavy cream for buttermilk, use a smaller amount, like half or a quarter of the amount, and replace the rest with milk or even water. This will make it thinner, but also cut back on the amount of fat in whatever you’re cooking.

Or simply replace buttermilk with milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice or half a teaspoon of vinegar per cup. That should be easier to work with, and you won’t be dealing with a lot of extra fat.

Alternatively, kefir is a great substitute for buttermilk if you have a bottle on hand.

Overall, you can play with swapping heavy cream for buttermilk, but there are alternatives much easier to work with. And ones that you quite likely have on hand, like the milk and lemon juice (or vinegar) duo.

Buttermilk vs. Heavy Cream: Differences and Similarities

The main differences between heavy cream and buttermilk are:

• Fat content. Heavy cream has 10 to 30 times more fat than buttermilk, depending on the varieties you compare.
• Texture. Heavy cream is similar to milk, while buttermilk is much thicker and lumpy.
• Taste. Buttermilk is tangy, while heavy cream is somewhat sweet.
• Acidity. Buttermilk is acidic enough to activate baking soda. Heavy cream isn’t.
• Whippability. You can whip heavy cream but cannot buttermilk.

That’s the short version of it.

Next, let’s talk about the similarities and differences between the two in several contexts.

Taste and Texture

Taste- and texture-wise, buttermilk and heavy cream are quite different, and it’s simple to tell which is which.

Buttermilk is tangy, similar to kefir and yogurt, and that slight acidity is why buttermilk is a staple in baking. On the other hand, heavy cream is somewhat sweet, which adds a nice contrast to soups, but doesn’t add much to the flavor of baked goods.

For texture, heavy cream is pretty thin and quite similar to milk. There’s a slight richness to it, but nothing to write home about. Buttermilk is much thicker and curdled, which, combined with its signature taste, makes it a tasty drink. Unfortunately, you can’t tell the same about heavy cream.

Here’s how the texture of both compares:

Uses

There’s a lot of overlap between how buttermilk and heavy cream are used. Both are staples in baked goods (though for different purposes), salad dressings, and marinades.

But each has its unique uses, too.

For instance, you can’t whip buttermilk, so if you need whipped cream, having a bottle of buttermilk on hand doesn’t help you at all.

Conversely, heavy cream is not good if you’re looking for something pleasantly refreshing to drink. Unless you add it to a nice cup of coffee, of course.

Finally, buttermilk is acidic enough to react with baking soda, which leavens baked goods, and heavy cream isn’t. That’s why I suggest adding some lemon juice or vinegar, or subbing baking powder for baking soda, when substituting heavy cream for buttermilk.

Next up, let’s talk nutrition.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profiles of buttermilk and heavy cream are fairly similar, except for how much fat each has got. Here’s the breakdown (per 100g):

The protein and carbohydrate numbers are both pretty low and fairly similar. The main difference lies in the fat content, as heavy cream typically has 10 to 30 times more fat than buttermilk. The exact number depends on whether you go with a reduced-fat or full-fat buttermilk.

(The fat content of heavy cream also varies a bit for different brands, but it’s typically between 30 and 40 percent, as opposed to 1 to 3 percent for buttermilk.)

That disparity makes heavy cream a much more calorie-dense product. So if you’re watching your fat intake or overall calories, make sure you don’t go overboard with heavy cream. Or stick to milk combined with lemon juice when subbing for buttermilk.

Production

The buttermilk and heavy cream production processes are quite different, but in both cases, they start with milk.

Cream is a high-fat liquid that separates from cow’s milk and ends up on top of it. Nowadays, the separation process is accelerated by using centrifuges. That fat-rich liquid is then turned into half-and-half, heavy cream, double cream, and other cream varieties.

(The separation of fat on top might remind you of oil separating on the surface of peanut butter.)

The remaining milk is then homogenized, cultured with lactic acid bacteria, and left to ferment at about room temperature. After 12 to 36 hours of fermentation that turns lactose into lactic acid, buttermilk is ready. That fermentation process is what makes buttermilk thick and tangy.

As for heavy cream, there’s no fermentation, so the flavor stays relatively unchanged and the texture thin.

The Bottom Line

Buttermilk and heavy cream are quite different.

The former is thicker and lumpy, while the latter is relatively thin. Flavor-wise, buttermilk is tangy and a bit acidic, while heavy cream is somewhat sweet, so again, two very different products.

Because of that, they’re not interchangeable, and substituting one with the other usually requires adjusting other parts of the recipe too. Plus, there are much better and easier ways to substitute both buttermilk and heavy cream that resemble the original much more and don’t need nearly as much experience to pull off properly.

The post Buttermilk vs. Heavy Cream: Differences and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.

Of course, that’s not to say that both are almost the same and the differences are negligible. Far from it.

Interested in learning about the differences, similarities, and when swapping makes sense?

If so, you’re in the right place. Read on.

When to Substitute

As I already mentioned in the intro, often you can swap buttermilk for kefir and the other way around, but that’s not always the case.

Let’s get into the weeds.

Can You Substitute Kefir for Buttermilk?

You can swap kefir for buttermilk in almost any recipe. Kefir has a similar texture and taste, and is also acidic, which means it reacts with baking soda to leaven baked goods. So if you’re baking scones, biscuits, and the like, kefir will make them light and fluffy, too.

If you’re using buttermilk on cereals, granola, or in a salad dressing like ranch, kefir will do just fine in those uses too.

The same is true if you’re drinking it straight, as the taste and texture are almost the same.

What if you’re concerned about nutritional values?

If so, you’ll be happy to learn that they’re quite alike, with both foods providing about 43kcal of energy per 100g and having a similar macronutrient profile.

(We cover nutrition in more detail later.)

All in all, it’s difficult to point to a scenario where substituting buttermilk with kefir would be a bad idea. So if your buttermilk has gone bad, grab that kefir and carry on.

Can I Use Buttermilk Instead of Kefir?

Using buttermilk instead of kefir works great in pretty much any recipe. Both have similar flavor and texture, and both react with baking soda, acting as a leavening agent. But if you’re drinking kefir for its probiotics, that’s where buttermilk falls short as a substitute.

Cultured buttermilk, the widely available variety, is pasteurized and homogenized milk that’s then spiked with a culture of Lactococcus lactis or Lactobacillus bulgaricus (lactic acid bacteria, to keep it simple).

In other words, it doesn’t offer much in terms of probiotic benefits.

Kefir, on the other hand, contains 8+ different probiotic cultures, up to 12 or perhaps even more, depending on the brand. Plus, unlike buttermilk, it’s widely recognized as a probiotic drink.

Long story short, if you’re looking to up your intake of probiotics, stick with kefir. But if you need kefir for a cooked recipe and your kefir has gone bad, buttermilk will do the trick.

Having substituting one with the other out of the way, let’s talk about the similarities and differences between the two in various aspects.

Buttermilk vs. Kefir: Differences and Similarities

There are many similarities between buttermilk and kefir, but there are also some crucial differences. I divided everything into a few sections so that it’s easier for you to read about what you’re actually interested in and skip the rest.

Taste and Texture

Both kefir and buttermilk look, taste, and feel quite similar. So if I gave you a glass of white, tart, pretty thick, and somewhat lumpy dairy liquid to drink and asked you to pick whether it’s kefir or buttermilk, you’d be right about 50 percent of the time.

In other words, most people can’t tell the difference.

To be fair, the fact that kefir and buttermilk from different brands have slightly different tastes and textures doesn’t help, either.

Here’s how the texture of both compares:

(I didn’t shake my buttermilk as well as I should have, so it was a bit lumpier than usual. But overall, the texture is pretty much the same, as you can tell.)

Uses

Buttermilk and kefir have pretty much the same uses.

The main difference is that most people consider kefir a dairy product to drink (like a drinkable yogurt), while buttermilk as something you buy to make baked goods or perhaps marinate your chicken.

In other words, it’s mostly a difference in perception of the product, as you can use both pretty much interchangeably.

The only significant difference is in the probiotic department, so if you want to add more probiotics to your diet, stick with kefir.

In addition, flavored kefir is widely available, whereas I’m yet to find a bottle of flavored buttermilk. Flavored kefir contains extra fruit and sugar to appeal to those who don’t particularly like the sour taste but would still like to get their probiotics in.

Nutrition

The macronutrient profile of both buttermilk and kefir is quite similar, and looks as follows (per 100g):

As you might imagine, the macronutrients aren’t that different from plain milk, as it’s the base for both products. Furthermore, both are okay sources of calcium, similar to other dairy products.

Please note that the data above are for low-fat buttermilk and low-fat kefir, as those are the most popular varieties available on the market. But like cow’s milk, full-fat varieties are also available, with a slightly higher fat content and, therefore, more energy.

An important difference between buttermilk and kefir is their probiotic content.

Kefir is a popular probiotic drink, and each bottle contains 8+ bacteria cultures. And if you’re drinking kefir to get in your daily dose of probiotics, don’t replace it with buttermilk.

Buttermilk, on the other hand, is milk inoculated with lactic acid bacteria that produce lactic acid, giving the drink its signature tartness. And it seems that the resulting drink isn’t classified as a probiotic.

Production

The general production process for both kefir and buttermilk is similar, though the details differ.

And again, I’m talking below about the process of making cultured buttermilk, the one you buy in the grocery store, not how things were done way back when or how “real” buttermilk is produced.

Making Buttermilk

To make buttermilk, milk is first pasteurized to destroy any naturally occurring bacteria, then cooled to the appropriate temperature (about 72°F or 22°C) and inoculated with a starter culture of lactic acid bacteria.

After about 12 to 14 hours of bacteria converting lactose into lactic acid (that’s how buttermilk gets its acidity and sour flavor), the mixture is stirred, cooled, packaged, and refrigerated.

The above process requires ripening the milk spiked with the starter at a specific temperature for an exact period to get the acidity and flavor right. It’s not nearly as forgiving and easy to replicate at home as the process of making kefir.

Last but not least, there are ways of making a homemade buttermilk substitute using milk and acid (such as vinegar or lemon juice), but what you’ll get is good enough for baking but probably not for drinking plain or pouring on your cereals.

Making Kefir

To make kefir, you add kefir grains to milk (cow, goat, or sheep all work fine) and leave the mixture in a container for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature to ferment. Then the grains are strained, and kefir is what’s left.

The process is super simple; the strained grains can then be used to make another batch and reused indefinitely. Plus, they grow a bit after each fermentation.

Because of this simplicity, many regular kefir drinkers stop buying the dairy product and instead make their own kefir at home. All you need to get started is to buy a starter kit that includes kefir grains and perhaps a couple of extra tools to help with the production process.

Having that on hand, you can start making your own kefir and continue doing so forever. It’s similar to having and maintaining a sourdough starter.

The Bottom Line

Kefir and buttermilk are similar in taste, texture, and how you can use them, making substituting one with the other a great option in almost all cases. Definitely better than subbing heavy cream for buttermilk or even using sour cream instead of buttermilk.

The only significant difference between the two is in terms of probiotic content. If you’re looking for a probiotic dairy drink, kefir is the one to choose, and buttermilk is a poor substitute.

The post Buttermilk vs. Kefir: Similarities, Differences, and When to Sub appeared first on Does It Go Bad?.