CRÈME FRAICHE:

1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream

¼ cup cultured buttermilk

Pour the cream and buttermilk into a clean, sterile jar, screw it closed, and shake it until well combined. Leave it out overnight or until the mixture starts to thicken.  Shake and refrigerate; use within a week. 

The flavor is nutty and slightly sour; perfect for dabbing on fresh fruit or slices of tea-cake. You can also use crème fraiche in savory cooking; it’ll enrich a meat jus into a creamy sauce, give your pasta a lift, and combines wonderfully with mushrooms.

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A slightly more complicated (but oh so rewarding!) endeavor is making fromage blanc, also known as fromage frais or maquée. 

FROMAGE BLANC:

1 liter of milk

3 drops of coagulant: lemon juice, animal or vegetable rennet, cardoon, fig juice, bay leaves, or whatever. This may take some experimenting. Human history hasn’t taken thousands of years to figure out cheesemaking without reason. 

Put a bowl of milk (covered) out in the sunlight or in a warm place, like on top of a simmering stew. To coagulate it, add a bit of lemon juice, rennet or a few tablespoons of junket (coagulated milk) made recently, like in the last couple of days. 

The next day, cut the junket into four pieces with a butter knife and pour the mixture into a colander lined with a folded piece of linen or even a stocking (clean!). Let the whey drain out. If you like your fromage blanc juicy, don’t let all the whey drain out; if you prefer it chunky, leave it to drain a little longer. This is totally up to personal taste. 

Eat the fromage blanc with sugar, jam, fruit cordial or fresh fruit. If you prefer savories, sprinkle it with salt, pepper and fresh herbs like tarragon, chervil or chives.