Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators". In many countries, cream is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. Cream can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets.
Cream skimmed from milk may be called "sweet cream" to distinguish it from whey cream skimmed from whey, a by-product of cheese-making. Whey cream has a lower fat content and tastes more salty, tangy and "cheesy".
Cream produced by cattle (particularly Jersey cattle) grazing on natural pasture often contains some natural carotenoid pigments derived from the plants they eat; this gives the cream a slight yellow tone, hence the name of the yellowish-white color, cream. Cream from goat's milk, or from cows fed indoors on grain or grain-based pellets, is white.
Read more about Cream: Types, Processing and Additives, Other Cream Products, Ingredient, Other Items Called "cream"
Famous quotes containing the word cream:
“After a few months’ acquaintance with European “coffee,” one’s mind weakens, and his faith with it, and he begins to wonder if the rich beverage of home, with its clotted layer of yellow cream on top of it, is not a mere dream after all, and a thing which never existed.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“When you’re alone in the middle of the night and you wake in a sweat and a hell of a fright
When you’re alone in the middle of the bed and you wake like someone hit you in the head
You’ve had a cream of a nightmare dream and you’ve got the hoo-ha’s coming to you.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“How wonderful to meet such a natural little girl. She knows what she wants and she asks for it. Not like these over-civilized little pets that have to go through analysis before they can choose an ice cream soda.”
—John Lee Mahin (1902–1984)