Brown Your Cream Like Butter For A Massive Flavor Boost

If you've ever encountered a recipe that calls for brown butter, you know how magical this ingredient is. Although it's just butter that's been heated in the skillet until it turns golden, it completely changes the flavor of your recipes.

Most people don't realize that butter isn't the only dairy product you brown for added flavor to your dishes. Another simple kitchen hack you can try is to brown heavy whipping cream just like you would butter. Like browned butter, browned cream adds notes of nuts and caramel to your dishes, completely transforming the flavor.

Of course, if you want to try adding browned cream to your meals, you've got to know how to make it. Here's a rundown of how to whip up a batch of browned cream and what to do with it once you've made it! Plus, here's a quick breakdown of why browned cream tastes so good and how it gets its unique flavor.

Browned cream tastes delicious thanks to something called the Maillard reaction, which is the same reaction that takes place when you brown butter. The Maillard reaction is a number of small reactions that happen simultaneously when you heat up food. The way it works is that amino acids and sugars react when you heat a certain food. This leads to new flavors being produced and changes the color of your food, causing it to brown.

The Maillard reaction isn't exclusive to browned cream and browned butter, either. This reaction also applies when you cook meat and is what gives it its unique flavor. You'll also find the Maillard reaction in chocolate, syrup, and beer. In other words, this is a pretty complex reaction that can lead to a huge variety of flavors, aromas, and colors across different types of foods.

Although the Maillard reaction was named after a man named Louis-Camille Maillard, people have been using this reaction in cooking for centuries. However, in the early 1900s, we first started to truly understand how it works and why it changes our food's flavor thanks to Louis-Camille Maillard.

Making browned cream is actually a lot easier than it sounds. The easiest way to make browned cream is to use a sous vide circulator. To get started, heat the circulator to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. While the sous vide circulator is warming up, pour one pint of heavy whipping cream into ziplock bags. If you want your cream to brown faster, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to the cream before divvying it into bags, but this isn't necessary.

Next, remove the air from the bags and seal them. Place the bags in the sous vide circulator and cook the cream for 24 hours. Once the time is up, take the bags of cream out of the circulator and chill them in the refrigerator. That's it! You've just successfully made your first batch of browned cream! Just make sure to allow the cream to fully cool before using it in cooking, or it may change the flavor.