If you have seen fresh milk in a bottle or jar you will notice that after it has been standing for some time there’s a thick layer on the top of the milk.

That’s the cream.

You just can’t make cream without fresh cow’s milk, and by fresh that really does mean straight from the cow. Fresh cow’s milk contains an amount of butterfat and that’s what we use as cream.
Butterfat is the fatty part of the cow’s milk that separates when the milk stands for some time Cows grazing on natural pastures will sometimes produce a yellowish buttermilk cream, however cows reared indoors and fed on grain or grain based pellets produce a white cream.

Why can’t you use shop bought milk to make cream?

The cream supplies you get from your store are made from the fresh milk before the milk has been homogenized. Homogenized means that the fresh milk is forced under high pressure through tiny holes to break down the fatty particles in the milk to very small sizes. This makes the fatty parts unable to re-join to create the cream.
This is why you can't make cream from supermarket milk only from fresh cow’s milk.

I have fresh milk so how do you separate the cream from the milk?

Now if you have your fresh cow’s milk to hand we can begin on how to make cream?

1. Leave the milk to separate by putting the milk in a shallow dish in a cool place.
2. Leave it alone for a day. You can check it every 6 hours or so to see if the cream has risen to the surface.
3. Using a spoon or ladle, gently skim it off and store in the fridge.
A simpler way to make cream is to put the fresh milk into a spigot jar. A spigot jar is also known in the UK as an infusion jar or beverage jar.
A spigot jar is a container usually made of glass that has a small tap on the bottom.
When the cream has separated from the milk you gently drain the milk off with the tap into a bottle and what's left over is fresh cream.
Mm - naughty but nice!

How do you make cream? Other ways this question is sometimes asked.

How to make clotted cream?
The fresh milk is left to stand overnight and scalded in a milk pan  It is Left to cool overnight again and the yellow cream is scooped off.

What is a Cream Maker?
Usually these refer to ice cream makers these stir the ingredients and then freeze them so really they fit under the question, How do I make ice cream?

Cream Supplies and tools.
Many tools can be employed for preparing and piping cream and a useful one is a cream whipper.
Making whipped cream by hand is laborious and if you use cream in a lot of dishes a cream whipper can save a lot of time and effort.

Good cream whippers can be found easily on the web and are an inexpensive and useful kitchen implement. They work by using little n2o gas cartridges to force the expansion of the cream and often you can pipe the cream straight from the container.

How to make crème
This usually refers to crème frais or creme fraiche and is a French variation of cream using butter milk. This type of cream can be used in any cream recipe that needs cooking as it doesn't curdle.