Editing Cream (section)

{{short description|Dairy product}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox food
| cookbook = Cream
| image = 01 Mmm... Apple Crisp with Whipped Cream.jpg
| caption = Whipped cream on top of [[apple crisp]]
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[[File:Milk-bottle.jpg|thumb|A bottle of unhomogenised milk, with the cream clearly visible, resting on top of the milk]]
'''Cream''' is a [[dairy product]] composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of [[milk]] before [[Homogenization (chemistry)|homogenization]]. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process is accelerated by using [[centrifuge]]s called "[[Separator (milk)|separator]]s". In many countries, it is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. It can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets, and contains high levels of [[saturated fat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html|title=Nutrition for Everyone: Basics: Saturated Fat – DNPAO – CDC|website=www.cdc.gov|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129222042/http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html|archive-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Eat-less-saturated-fat.aspx|title=Eat less saturated fat – Live Well – NHS Choices|first=NHS|last=Choices|website=www.nhs.uk|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-date=24 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424075505/http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood/pages/eat-less-saturated-fat.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

Cream skimmed from milk may be called "sweet cream" to distinguish it from cream skimmed from [[whey]], a [[by-product]] of [[cheese]]-making. Whey cream has a lower fat content and tastes more salty, tangy, and "cheesy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/everything_is_in_butter/|title="Everything Is In Butter" – Kosher|date=8 June 2013|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220100350/http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/ation everything_is_in_butter/|url-status=live}}</ref> In many countries partially fermented cream is also sold: [[sour cream]], [[crème fraîche]], and so on.  Both forms have many culinary uses in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Cream produced by [[cattle]] (particularly [[Jersey cattle]]) grazing on natural [[pasture]] often contains some fat-soluble [[carotenoid]] pigments derived from the [[plant]]s they eat; traces of these intensely colored pigments concentrated during separation give cream a slightly yellow hue, hence the name of the yellow-tinged off-white color [[cream (color)|cream]]. Carotenoids are also the origin of [[butter]]'s yellow color. Cream from [[goat]]'s milk, [[water buffalo]] milk, or from cows fed indoors on grain or grain-based pellets, is white.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1002/0471238961.0315121513011813.a01.pub3|chapter=Colorants for Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics |title=Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology |year=2012 |last1=Marmion |first1=Daniel |last2=Updated By Staff |isbn=978-0471238966 }}</ref>