What is fresh cream? Is it the same as whipping cream? If the answer is no, can I substitute whipping cream for it?

 We really must find a way to convince the recipe writers of this world to have a little consistency in the naming of ingredients in their recipes. In English-speaking countries, there is light cream, heavy cream, coffee cream, table cream, whipping cream, light whipping cream, heavy whipping cream, single cream, double cream, and probably some others we haven't come across. These are essentially categorized by the amount of fat they contain, ranging from 18% at the low end of light cream to 48% for double cream. Some of these categories overlap.

Of course, there is also sour cream, and we're assuming your recipe writer is calling on you to use fresh cream instead of sour cream. What kind of fresh cream should you use? Sour cream is most often made from light cream (generally 18% to 20% fat), so if light cream is available where you are, use that.

If "whipping cream" is defined where you are in Barbados as it is in the US, it generally refers to light whipping cream, which has 30% to 36% butterfat. Without knowing what you're cooking or baking, you may well be able to simply use whipping cream for your needed fresh cream. If you think the added fat will make the finished dish too rich, you can dilute the cream with some milk, in a ratio of two parts cream to one part milk.

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