There are no brands of cream that are sold nationally. Milk, cream, buttermilk, and many other dairy products are packaged and marketed regionally by large dairies and cooperatives. But there are broad standards for identifying different grades of cream, and, indeed, there are two varieties of whipping cream - heavy and light.

Light whipping cream has a butterfat content of 30% to 36% and heavy whipping cream has a butterfat content of 36% to 40%. (Double cream tops out the scale in Britain, with a fat content of 48%.)

The problem is in this country, you mostly buy "whipping cream" - the terms "light" or "heavy" seldom modify the name on the carton. If all you have available in your grocery stores is "whipping cream," you can assume that it is light whipping cream. You may see "heavy cream," though (without the "whipping"), and that is heavy whipping cream. In some parts of the country, heavy cream is hard to find outside specialty stores and gourmet markets.

Without knowing what you are making, we suggest you go ahead and use light whipping cream if, after a thorough search, you cannot find heavy whipping cream. The difference in the fat content is not likely to cause your recipe to fail.