Strawberries and Cream

A few weeks ago was National Strawberries and Cream day, and I wanted to celebrate.  Then, when I got to the grocery store to buy my cream, I realized that I'm not really sure what kind of cream people generally associate with strawberries and cream.  After a bit of internet research, I realized that no one really has a definitive cream in mind, but I wanted an answer.

So rather than picking up one type of cream, I picked up 5 different cream products, and today I'm going to compare them to find out which cream goes best with strawberries.

Whipped Cream - The taste of the whipped cream is exactly what I like with my strawberries.  Whipped cream calls out for a sweet partner, and these fresh strawberries delivered.  The problem I have with the whipped cream is the texture.  The whipped cream texture was just too light next to the strawberry.  When I think of strawberries and cream, I think of a fruit with a heavy textured cream.

Creme Fraiche - I have to be honest, this is the first time I've ever had creme fraiche on it's own.  I think I've had it as an ingredient in recipes before, but never just next to a piece of fruit.  It has a very interesting flavour, slightly sweet with a bit of a sour after taste.  The sweet flavour works well with the strawberry, but the sour not so much.  The texture on the other hand is really nice.  It holds onto the strawberry very well, but also melts into it a little too.

Sour Cream - I know that most people probably wouldn't ever think of putting strawberries in sour cream, but I wanted to see if it worked.  After all, I use sour cream all the time when I cook, and it often works very well. I think however, that sour cream probably works best when accompanying something warm.  The sour flavour seems to calm down a bit when heated up, and the sweetness of the strawberry just couldn't compete when it was cold.  The texture was a little thick too, but not bad.

Yogurt - Of all of the combinations I've tasted today, this is the one that I've had most often in the past.  Strawberry yogurt is a fairly regular part of my diet.  While this tasted fine, I think it would have been better if the strawberries were mashed up into the yogurt and not just side by side.  It took a few chews before I got that flavour that I'm used to with strawberry yogurts.

Regular Coffee Cream - While the texture of this cream wasn't as nice as the creme fraiche , the flavour was actually a little nicer.  It had a nice sweet flavour, like the whipped cream, but it coated the strawberry a little bit better.  Of all of the combinations I've tasted today, this simple cream is my favorite.  If the cream could have been just a little thicker, it would have been perfect.

CC