Click to return to Creme Fraiche home page
Welcome Professional Chefs and Pastry Chefs!
Before going any further, you simply must taste Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche. Taste it against the crème fraîche you make in your kitchen or any commercially available brand. Its taste and texture alone should convince you that it’s the best. Just wait until you learn how the unique functionality of Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche can save you time and make you money!
HERE’S WHY:
  • A combination of heirloom cultures, a long and cool fermentation process and the exclusive use of milk from Holstein cows contribute to the unique flavor, texture and function.
  • Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is a fine emulsion that mixes equally well with fat or water-based liquids to stabilize fragile sauces or whipped manufacturing cream.
  • The fine emulsion provides a generous absorptive surface for carrying the volatile oils of flavor-rich substances to create flavor that insinuate and last rather than overwhelm.
  • The patented combination of bacterial cultures allows Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche to retains its thick, luscious texture when stirred or heated eliminating the need for reduction.
  • Both the fermentation process and the nature of the cream contribute to the gentle acidity and clean finish of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche.
  • The long shelf life is the result of the naturally occurring acidity, fat content and lack of free water molecules in the product. No preservatives are added.
  • Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche whips faster, higher and lasts longer than whipped cream. Pastry Chefs, click here for detailed whipping properties.
  • Click here for a detailed description of what makes Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche unique.

HERE’S HOW:

  • GO BEYOND THE DOLLOP
    Many chefs that use crème fraîche are familiar with its role as an accompaniment to caviar, smoked seafood, pureed soups or desserts.
  • DISCOVER A NEW ALCHEMY OF SAUCEMAKING
    No other crème fraîche will allow you to transcend all notions of conventional saucemaking. Click here for a comparison of Classic Sauces vs. Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche Sauces.
  • LEARN HOW TO SAVE TIME ON THE LINE
    Turn out consistently perfect pan sauces when you use Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche instead of reduced cream. Click here for a comparison of Crème Fraiche vs. Reduced Cream.
  • EXPLORE THE VERSATILITY
    Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche can improve dishes from every station in the kitchen: pantry, sauté, banquets and pastry. Click here to see our list of Suggested Uses.
  • ENLIST OUR HELP IN A KITCHEN CRISIS
    Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is the ultimate kitchen “quick fix” that will save the day when sauces break, when the flavors of soups or sauces just don’t come together or when you need an instant dessert. Click here to find out how Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche can come to your rescue.
  • ENHANCE YOUR DESSERT SELECTION
    Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche adds elegance and interest to a variety of desserts. Click here for a list of Quick Dessert Ideas as well as ways to improve on some of the classics.
  • EXPAND THE POSSIBILITIES
    Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is not for fine dining restaurants only. Click here to see how Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche fits a variety of needs in “The Tale of Three Chefs.”
On the Whipping Properties of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche
The control is 1 cup (8oz) manufacturing cream, whipped to stiff peaks. Well-whipped cream doubles in volume, has small, uniform air cells, and a fine sheen. All other samples consisted of 1 cup (8oz) manufacturing cream plus some number of tablespoons of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche. All samples were whipped to stiff peaks in a chilled bowl and with chilled beaters.
Sample:
1 cup manufacturing cream 		Elapsed Results
Time 		 
plus 4 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche 24 hours
36 hours 		good loft, small even cells
weeping but could be rewhipped to original state
plus 3 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche 24 hours
36 hours 		good loft, small even cells
weeping but could be rewhipped to original state
plus 2 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche 24 hours
36 hours 		no weeping, good loft
weeping, but could be revived
plus 1 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche 24 hours
 weeping, but could be revived
no Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche (the control) 12 hours
24 hours 		losing loft and weeping
collapsed and could not be revived

I have been making and using Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche for twenty years. Down all these days, I have observed that Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche whips faster, higher, with finer cell, and lasts longer than plain whipped cream. I have discoursed with chefs and dairy scientists and it is now time to venture an explanation of these observations.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche contains a large dose of starter culture (1,300,000 mo/gm). The cell wall of each of these micro-organisms contains lecithin. Lecithin is an emulsifier. Emulsifiers improve the whipping quality of cream by reducing surface tension. As a result, Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche whips in less time and the air cells produced are smaller and more evenly distributed. Because these air cells are smaller, uniform in size, and evenly distributed, the foam endures. (The larger the cell, the faster the collapse.)

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche can be whipped to stiff peaks and will not collapse—not even in a week. Try it, you'll see.

For pastry chefs who want a natural whipped cream, use Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche instead of a product with artificial stabilizers. In response to the question, “How much Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche must I add to manufacturing cream to see benefits?” Kathleen deChadenèdes, Chef and Kendall Farms sales representative, did the work.

CONCLUSION: The best cost-benefit ratio is 1 cup manufacturing cream plus 2 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche (8 oz manufacturing cream to 1 oz Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche) EXCEPT for cakes. Cream used in cake decoration has to be firmer than in other applications. The best ratio is 1 cup manufacturing cream plus 4 tbs Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche (8 oz manufacturing cream to 2 oz Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche).

On the UNIQUENESS of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche

1. Heat Stable Sauce Thickener
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche thickens sauces “as is”. No reduction is necessary.

(a) Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche does NOT lose viscosity when added directly to finish a hot pan sauce. Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is heat stable.

(b) Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche may be pre-mixed into a sauce base and held in a steam table. Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche will not “oil out”.

(c) Sauces made with Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche may be refrigerated, held over, and used another day.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche saves sauce, saves time, saves money.

2. Superb Emulsifier
ALL emulsified sauces can be stabilized by the addition of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche. Traditional beurre blanc and Hollandaise made with Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche can be refrigerated and reheated without breaking.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche saves emulsified sauces, saves time, saves money.

3. Whippability
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche whips to a lofty, fine foam. Added to whipping cream (or used alone), Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche produces a stable foam that will not collapse. Foams made with Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche hold their pristine, glossy glory for days. KENDALL FARMS CRÈME FRAÎCHE CONTAINS NO STABILIZERS OR EMULSIFIERS; IT DOES WHAT IT DOES DUE TO ITS NATURE.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche saves whipped cream, saves time, saves money.

4. Flavor
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche has a non- assertive, gentle, nutty-lactic flavor that insinuates without imposing, enriches without being heavy. Its flavor can prolong and even sublime other flavors.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is the only crème fraîche that goes with caviar. Because of its clean finish, the flavor of caviar lingers.

5. Body
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is silky smooth, heavy bodied but spoonable. “It is all silk and cream.”

6. Shelf-life
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche, properly refrigerated, stays fresh and lively for 12 weeks. Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche contains no preservatives. IT DOES WHAT IT DOES DUE TO ITS NATURE.

7. Health Considerations
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is lower in calories than reduced cream, butter or oil. Since there are NO CARBOHYDRATES in Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche, its glycemic index is low. Roux is flour and butter. Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is cream and culture.

FAT FACTS % fat Calories/tablespoon

crème fraîche 40% 50 calories

reduced cream 50-60% 75 calories

butter 80-85% 100 calories

ALL oils 100% 120 calories

Do the math. It's your choice.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is NOT French. It is Franco-American.

Pan Sauces with Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche

1. Sauté meat or fish.

2. Remove meat or fish from sauté pan. Keep warm.

3. Deglaze pan with wine (vinegar, cider, etc.) and reduce until about 2 tablespoons remain.

4. Add stock (and, if desired, demi-glace/concentrate) and reduce until about 3 fluid ounces remain.

5. Turn down heat and whisk in crème fraîche.

6. Taste, adjust, serve.

French Classical Sauces Versus Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche
Classical Sauces.

In the beginning, sauces were thickened with bread. In the 18th century, Careme “invented” roux. Roux is a cooked paste of starch (usually flour) and fat (usually butter) used to thicken sauces.

The starches in roux have many shortcomings. They have poor heat- and acid-tolerance and poor stability during holding. Hydrated starch granules are fragile and so a roux can “weep”.

In the 1970s, chefs thickened sauces with reduced cream. The resulting sauces seemed lighter (because the muddying taste of flour was gone) but, in fact, they were not lighter.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche (KFCF) fulfills the promise of lighter classical sauces. Not only do they seem lighter, they are lighter.

Classical Sauces: Bechamel, Veloute, Demi-glace (Bordelaise, Espagnole), Mayonnaise, Hollandaise, Bearnaise.

Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche takes the place of roux in classic sauces. Add it at the end instead of butter. It thickens and binds sauces, and, so, no roux is needed.

Using KFCF instead of roux produces lighter, fresher-tasting sauces. They do not solidify, weep, break, or oil-out when cooled. KFCF classic sauces can be re-heated (and are better for it).

No roux, no finishing butter means less fat and less calories!

French Classical White Sauces

Versus KFCF White Sauces

Bechamels and Veloutes. Veloute is concentrated (chicken or fish) stock thickened with roux. Bechamel is a Veloute made with milk or cream.

Bechamel: stirred KFCF.
flavor gently with: onions, nutmeg, clove, thyme, any herb, lemon juice/zest, cheese, ham, etc. Serve with: white meat, egg, and vegetable dishes.

Veloute: reduction of chicken/fish stock finished with KFCF. (Veloute is richer tasting than Bechamel. So, choose flavors that enhance its mellowness.)
To flavor: herbs, garlic, mushrooms, etc.
Serve with: chicken, fish, sweetbreads, mushrooms.
A classic Veloute dish (Chicken Supreme) is chicken that has been poached and dressed with veloute sauce.

French Classical Brown Sauces Versus KFCF Brown Sauces

Demi-glaces are sauces based on brown stock. Variations are Bordelaise and Espagnole. Bordelaise is a demi-glace, made by enriching a red-wine reduction with diced beef marrow and finishing with butter.

Demi-glace: The Demi-glaces are made with a reduction of beef (or veal) stock and finished with KFCF. Variations are Espagnole and Bordelaise.
Bordelaise: brown stock, reduced red wine and beef marrow.
(Madeira sauce: use Madeira instead of red wine. Espagnole: use dry sherry instead of red wine.)
Serve with: grilled steak, roast beef, veal, poultry.

French Classical Emulsified Egg Sauces Versus KFCF Emulsified Egg Sauces

Mayonnaise, Hollandaise, and Bearnaise.
(a) Mayonnaise: emulsified egg with oil.
(b) Hollandaise: emulsified egg with butter.
(c) Bearnaise: same as Hollandaise but flavored with reduction of vinegar (or white wine), tarragon, and parsley.

Bechamels, Veloutes, and Demi-glaces historically are thickened with roux.

Start emulsion with oil/butter; add KFCF one tablespoon at a time.
(a) Mayonnaise: use 50:50 oil and KFCF (lighter, fresher, less calories).
(b) Hollandaise: use 75:25 butter and KFCF. KFCF lightens and stabilizes the sauce. The sauce will not break when refrigerated and can be re-heated. It is lower in calories.
(c) Bearnaise: use 75:25 butter and KFCF. Flavor with Bearnaise flavoring base.
(Click here for KFCF EGGS BENEDICT reicpe.)

Suggested Uses for Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche
  • SAUCES
    Pan Sauces: Add crème fraîche "as is" to make a pan sauce. (Crème fraîche needs no reduction before it is added to the pan.)
    Pasta: chopped fresh herbs stirred into crème fraîche = sauce
  • THE BAKERY
    Whipping Cream: Crème fraîche greatly improves whippability, adds density, stability, and it tastes better. Visually, it adds a lovely sheen. (Nancy Sliverton uses 3 parts crème fraîche to one part whipping cream.)
    Compound Cakes: Crème fraîche gives strength to layers. Each layer can carry its own flavor.
    Baked Goods: Crème fraîche gives solidity and richness to baked goods. It improves "crumb".
  • MISCELLANEOUS USES
    French fries dipped in (unstirred) crème fraîche. Eric Ziebold, Chef de cuisine, French Laundry.
    Crème Fraîche Ice Cream: Egg yolks, a little milk (or buttermilk) and crème fraîche.
    Sherbet: Fruit sorbet plus a few tablespoons of crème fraîche.
    Chantilly Cream: Crème fraîche plus vanilla and sugar to taste. Whip to soft peaks.
    Cooked Caramel Sauces: Crème fraîche adds another dimension of flavor.
    Blue Cheese Salad Dressing: Crème fraîche, buttermilk, fresh herbs, and blue cheese.
  • ET CETERA
    There are times whipping cream will not whip. Add crème fraîche, it whips.
    If your reduced cream sauce breaks, add crème fraîche. It puts it back together again.
    Broken Hollandaise? Crème fraîche puts it back together again.
    Crème fraîche and Pepperidge Farms Hearty Wheat crackers. Try it, you'll see.
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche versus Reduced Cream
  Crème Fraîche Reduced Cream
1. reduction no reduction must be reduced: 1/3 to 2/3 volume lost
2. breaking will not break breaks if overheated
3. butterfat 40 % butterfat 55% to 60% butterfat
4. texture velvety smooth texture and mouth feel. stays creamy as sauce cools. chalky texture that requires finishing with butter, egg yolks, etc. to improve mouth feel. may oil out if over reduced.
5. left-overs end of day; put back in refrigerator end of day; if careful, one more day
6. flavor fresh, bright, delicate flavor cooked flavor, flat, lacks vitality
7. acidity natural lactic acid: adds acidity and refines acidity acid needed to balance flavors
8. shelflife twelve weeks two days maximum
9. liason because it is a fine, emulsion, crème fraîche can bind with both oil and water; it connects various parts of the dish in a harmonious fluid whole the long heat of reduction changes interfacial properties of the emulsion lessening its ability to creat liaison; not the same mouth-feel (add crème fraîche to improve mouth feel)
10. flavor extraction mix fresh herbs, etc. with crème fraîche and refrigerate for a few hours  

Kendall Farms Crème fraîche added to reduced cream puts vitality back into reduced cream sauces.

“Quick Fix” Ideas

  • Save a broken Hollandaise Sauce or Beurre Blanc by gently heating a small portion of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche to match the temperature of the broken sauce. You can either whisk the broken sauce into the crème fraîche or combine the two in a blender or food processor.
  • Bring together all the flavors in a long-simmering sauce or soup that just doesn’t come together by adding some Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche to a small bowl and whisking in a small amount of soup or sauce into the crème fraîche to thin it out and make it easier to incorporate. The crème fraîche smoothes out any harsh or awkward “edges” and brings out subtle flavors.
  • Replace a scorched béchamel sauce with Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche in any pasta dish. Try it in a sophisticated version of Macaroni and Cheese.
  • Keep stuffed pasta or empanada fillings moist with the addition of a little Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche without sogging out the pasta dough.
  • Need an instant dessert? Macerate sliced fruit (berries, stone fruits or poached dried fruits work well here) with a bit of sugar, maybe some lemon juice and a splash of cognac or complementary eau-de-vie. Portion out into a shallow crème brulée dish. Whip some Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche with a little of the macerating liquid and top each portion of fruit to cover. Sprinkle some finely granulated sugar on top and immediately torch for a crackling finish.
  • Pastry cream disaster? Fill baked tart shell with slightly sweetened and flavored Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche (whipped or not), top with fruit and glaze.

Quick Dessert Ideas and Updated Classics Using
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche

  • Use whipped, slightly sweetened and/or flavored crème fraîche along with fresh or poached fruit to fill tart shell, pâte a choux shells or crepes.
  • Make a parfait by layering whipped crème fraîche with fresh fruit or lightly whipped ganache, adding thinly sliced toasted almonds, toasted coconut or crumbled Amaretti for crunch.
  • Combine chestnut or roasted winter squash puree with a beaten egg and some crème fraiche. Add sugar to taste and desired flavoring (cognac works well with chestnuts and bourbon is nice with the squash). Pour into parbaked tart shell and bake until slightly puffed and almost firm.
  • Substitute crème fraîche for half the cream when making crème brulée for an unbelievably silky texture and added flavor nuances.
  • Substitute crème fraîche for the cream in a fruit-based or chocolate mousse.
  • Substitute crème fraîche for the cream when making ganache or caramel for added interest.
  • Working in batches of 2 cups or less, drain the whey from the crème fraîche in a muslin- or coffee filter-lined colander in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Flavor and use as a filling for cakes or a center for a chocolate-dipped candy.
  • Don’t overlook adding instant sophistication to an apple tart, gingerbread or fruit crisp by garnishing with a dollop of crème fraîche.

A Tale of Three Chefs

Each is a long-time, standing-order customer of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche. Each has a very successful restaurant, each of a different style. I will call them Adam, Bob, and Charlie.

  • Adam is classically trained. His restaurant is classical European, in the California manner.
  • Bob has learned by doing. His restaurant is a grill. His cooking is eclectic and instinctive.
  • Charlie's restaurant is on the ocean and known for its seafood. His once-seasonal business has become a year-round booming success.
Each has generously shared his thoughts and techniques on crème fraîche saucemaking.
Adam demonstrated for me the making of a “small sauce”. Sauté, deglaze, reduce and finish with crème fraîche. He stresses that he turns the flame off when he adds crème fraîche not because it will break, but because he wants to keep the fresh, light flavor of crème fraîche in the finished sauce. “Modern cuisine cares about the impact of flavor in the mouth and does not want the long, cloying flavors of cooked-down roux-bound sauces.”

Bob's restaurant is a grill. Bob uses crème fraîche in all his sauces, every single one. He is not classically trained, but has a clear idea of what a sauce should be. For him, it's not about a bright finish. He makes his small sauces in advance. Minced garlic sautéed with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, basil, stock, crème fraîche, cook lightly. Stack the pans on the back of the stove, set to go for “show time”. Bob values the layering of flavors that occurs during this waiting period. Each sauce is customized a la minute with the addition of spice, sausage, nut oil, cheese, etc.

Charlie does mostly seafood, some pork, and surf and turf. I do not know his background. His style uses elements of the classical, but with a twist. Sauces are prepared once daily. Bases are boiled, strained, and become sauces by the addition of capers, citrus, pesto, mustard, garlic, tarragon, etc.. All are bound with crème fraîche. All are held in a 160 degree Fahrenheit steam table. Holding in a steam table means the sauces are hot and ready to use.

Neither Adam nor Bob nor Charlie could have what they want with reduced cream. Adam wants freshness. Bob wants his sauces to mature. Charlie wants to be able to hold his sauces in a steam table and not have butter oil float to the top. None of this is possible with reduced cream.

The moral of this tale: Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche lets you have it your way.

Return to top of page

“The finest chefs in America use Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche. Mild and nutty with a light, fresh taste and clean finish, Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche adds richness to sauces, accentuating and prolonging the taste of the food.” -Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking

 

"I only have one product to perfect. Chefs must be perfectionists about a wide range of products. My one can help your many" - Sadie Kendall, creator of Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche

 
"A great meal without a sauce is like a beautiful woman without clothes. It can provoke and satisfy the appetite, but it lacks the coating of civilization that would arouse our fullest interest." - Brillat-Savarin

 

"A sauce adds something, really two things: a taste as well as the opportunity to think about how the thing was made. This the same kind of pleasure we derive when we look at a painting; the eye is pleased, while the mind explores the esthetic windings of a technique and a willed structure." - Raymond Sokolov, The Saucier's Apprentice

 

All Natural
Kendall barn label and artwork
Fresh sauce for fresh food
*Click here for our easy "CD" guide with recipes and how to: Boil it! Emulsify it! and Whip it!
 
Creme Fraiche with a fresh strawberry
 
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche is versatile and ready to resolve culinary emergencies.
Kendall Farms Crème Fraîche • P.O. Box 686 • Atascadero, California 93423 • (805) 466-7252
Nutrition Facts About Us FAQ Chefs Only Recipes Home Cooks History Distributors In the News Words from Sadie Contact Home