One of my favorite uses for crème fraîche is to make a simple whipped cream. It is tangier than regular old whipped cream, it holds together better and, oh yeah, it sounds awesome when you say you topped your pie with homemade, whipped crème fraîche. I’ve heard foodies gasp. Really. I got the idea from a Food52 genius whipped cream recipe from Nancy Silverton. The idea that adding something a little acidic to whipped cream would make it set better stuck with me until it dinged that a straight crème fraîche would be easy and the perfect tang for sweet pies.
So put on your ready-to-impress pants and get out your mixer.
This is one case where you need to keep a close eye on the stand mixer so you don’t overwhip. Then again, if you do overdo it, you can just make butter so really not that much of a catastrophe, is it?
I made my latest batch of whipped crème fraîche to top a pumpkin pie we brought to a friend’s amazing pumpkin carving party this past weekend. It was fun!