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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

crème légère

English translation:

light cream

Added to glossary by margaret caulfield
Aug 15, 2009 15:28
14 yrs ago
7 viewers *
French term

crème légère

French to English Other Cooking / Culinary
What do you call créme légere in English (UK)? Is there a similar type of cream sold in supermarkets? Or perhaps, could it be that the French term commonly used in the UK?
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 light cream (pls see below)
3 +10 single cream
5 -1 Reduced Fat Cream
5 -2 a light version of crème patissière
References
Pastry cream lightened with whipping cream
Change log

Aug 18, 2009 17:11: margaret caulfield Created KOG entry

Discussion

cmwilliams (X) Aug 16, 2009:
Hi Rosafoyle - yes, as I suspected, it may be the German creme fraiche they mean. As a matter of interest, I've just seen a French brand (Isigny Ste Mère) that is made in Normandy and sold here in the UK. It seems to have the same ingredients mentioned by Jacqui - Cultured half fat cream, thickeners (modified maize starch, milk protein) and stabilisers. The carton is all in English and it's just called Crème Fraiche and then underneath it says it is half fat. Other supermarkets such as Sainsburys call it 'Half Fat Creme Fraiche'. Hope this helps.
Rosa Foyle (asker) Aug 16, 2009:
Hi Jacqui,
I am actually translating a cookbook from German into English (UK)and they are referring to the creme legere sold in Germany. Your comments have been extraordinarily helpful. Since it maybe that the creme legere that they are referring to could in the recipe is the Oetker brand of low fat creme fraiche. I hadnt thought about that before. All of your comments and remarks have been very helpful. Many thanks to all.
Jacqui Audouy Aug 16, 2009:
My carton of said product was fabriqué en Normandie, for what it's worth.
cmwilliams (X) Aug 16, 2009:
context Hi - Could you tell us if the source text is from France? I've just noticed that 'crème légère" seems to be used in Germany and I just wondered if this is what you might mean: http://www.oetker.de/oetker/html/default/mson-537k3q.de.html If so, It looks like it would be more like a light version of créme fraiche. Supermarkets in the UK sell 'half fat creme fraiche' which has 15% fat. Single cream is liquid and cannot be whipped.
Karen Vincent-Jones (X) Aug 16, 2009:
Yuck! This sounds really nasty - full of starch and seaweed derivatives and unspecified 'thickeners'. Makes you wonder what they put in the 'creme épaisse'.
Jacqui Audouy Aug 16, 2009:
Help or hindrance My carton of crème légère contains 12% fat, amidon transformé, stabilisants, émulsifiant, épaississant (carraghénanes)...which makes it a kind of adulterated half-cream I would think!!!

Proposed translations

+4
18 mins
Selected

light cream (pls see below)

What is Light Cream? - [ Traducir esta página ]Brief and Straightforward Guide: What is Light Cream?
www.wisegeek.com/what-is-light-cream.htm - En caché - Similares
What is light cream? - [ Traducir esta página ]I have a recipe that calls for light cream and heavy cream. What exactly is light cream?
askville.amazon.com/light-cream/AnswerViewer.do?... - En caché - Similares
light cream - Kitchen Dictionary - Recipezaar - [ Traducir esta página ]Learn about light cream in the Kitchen Dictionary on Recipezaar.com.
www.recipezaar.com/library/light-cream-362 - En caché - Similares
Resultados de imágenes de light cream - Informar sobre las imágenesInformar de contenido ofensivo en las siguientes imágenes. Confirmar CancelarGracias por tus comentarios.

Cream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - [ Traducir esta página ]Cream (including light whipping cream) is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream - En caché - Similares
Cream, Types of Cream, Definitions of Cream, What is Cream - [ Traducir esta página ]Light cream is not available everywhere. Whipping Cream. 30%. Cream with enough butterfat in it to allow it to thicken when whipped. ...
Light Cream - [ Traducir esta página ]At Hood, we heat our creams to a higher temperature to eliminate virtually all of the bacteria naturally found in cream. This means that Hood's cream stays ...
www.hphood.com/products/prodDetail.aspx?id... - En caché - Similares
Love Light Cream from Zazzle.com - [ Traducir esta página ]Buy this premium quality Love Light Cream. Most Zazzle orders ship in 24 hours! Browse the best brands or create your own products online.
www.zazzle.com/love_light_cream_postage-172057017051306256 - En caché - Similares
Alfredo Sauce Recipe (With LIght Cream)? - Yahoo! Answers - [ Traducir esta página ]just need a good recipe for Alfredo sauce, but all we have is light cream ... How about NO cream. According to Saveur magazine, this is the orginal recipe ...
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid... - En caché - Similares
|| My Own World || - Tutorial #6 // Effect Light-CreamTutorial #6 // Effect Light-Cream. Aqui mi sexto tutorial con un efecto nuevo que me inventé, sirve tanto para psp como para photoshop. ...
inma-ny.livejournal.com/30252.html - En caché - Similares
Light cream (The Webtender) - [ Traducir esta página ]Light cream, also called coffee or table cream, can contain anywhere from 18 to 30 percent fat, but commonly contains 20 percent. It can not be whipped. ...
www.webtender.com/db/ingred/41 - En caché - Similares

Peer comment(s):
agree jean-jacques alexandre
22 mins
Thanks, jean-jacques!
agree Saoussane : In the US, cream is sold in either light, regular or heavy form
51 mins
Thanks, Saoussane!
agree Jessica Cade : yes light creme
54 mins
Thanks, Ingrid, but it is "cream" and not "creme" in English.
neutral Colin Morley (X) : I think there is disparity between US and British English here - In the UK single and double cream vary according to thickness, but neither is necessarily lower in fat content
58 mins
But I didn't mention "single cream", Colin!
neutral cmwilliams (X) : The asker wanted the term used in the UK and 'light cream' is not really used here.
1 hr
neutral Lorraine Bathurst : 'light 'isn't so common in the uk
1 hr
neutral Tony M : I think this is the US term, I'm not familiar with it in the UK; Colin is i'm afraid wrong about single/double, they do, very specifically, refer to the fat content.
2 hrs
neutral B D Finch : "Light cream" is US English and is not a term covered by the UK Cheese and Cream Regulations 1995. So I think it is not legal to sell cream in the UK as "light cream".
6 hrs
agree MatthewLaSon : I think it's just light cream, for the US market. I'm not sure about what it would be in the UK. But it couldn't be that complicated, could it? lol
1 day 1 hr
Thanks, Matthew!
agree bozhana : On my carton, it is written light cream and creme legere (sorry for the accents) but this is Quebec.
2 days 14 hrs
Thanks, Bozhana!
disagree Carol Gullidge : we dont have "light cream: in the UK!
2801 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "For this particular case, where the term was being translated out of German, I have to say that light cream (reduced fat) fits better - reduced fat cream as . However, thanks to Clair and others for provided their insight into the meaning of single cream."
+10
9 mins

single cream

is probably the nearest equivalent, I'd have thought. Crème légère has 15% fat, whereas single cream has 18% and half cream (haven't seen that for years though!) has 12%. I certainly don't think we'd use the French term although both crème fraiche and fromage frais have slipped into UK English.
Peer comment(s):
agree cmwilliams (X)
53 mins
Thanks
neutral Colin Morley (X) : In my experience in the UK single cream is just thinner than double cream and not necessarily lower in fat or "lighter"
1 hr
If you actually check the definitions of the various types of cream, you'll see that single cream has 18% fat
agree Karen Vincent-Jones (X) : Yes, single cream, as opposed to double cream/whipping cream in the UK
1 hr
Thanks
agree Lorraine Bathurst : yes it has roughly half the fat of double cream 18g / 100 for single as opposed to 34 / 100 for double
1 hr
Thanks
agree Kari Foster : I think so too
2 hrs
Thanks
agree Tony M : Yes, the fat content determines how it will whip; single cream, like crème légère, can't be whipped. Colin is I'm afraid wrong about single/double, they do, very specifically, refer to the fat content.
2 hrs
Thanks Tony - my point entirely!
agree Astrid Elke Witte
6 hrs
agree Linda Sansome (X)
17 hrs
agree Lianne Wilson
1 day 16 hrs
agree George C.
2 days 1 hr
agree Carol Gullidge : definitely for the UK. Light cream is US usage afaik
2801 days
Something went wrong...
-1
1 hr

Reduced Fat Cream

Or you could say low fat cream, but how low is 'low'? Reduced is probably a safer bet.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lorraine Bathurst : I think it needs to be around 3% (or less than 5% at least ) fat to qualify for low-fat status in the UK
48 mins
disagree Tony M : No, this is not 'reduced fat' in the sense that it has specifically been made that way (for diets, etc. like 'allégé'/'light'); it simply refers to the intended fat content
1 hr
Something went wrong...
-2
6 hrs

a light version of crème patissière

"Crème légère
* Pour : 1 ou 2 tartes
* Durée : 30 minutes
* Difficulté : facile
Ingrédients pour Crème légère :
* 350 g de lait
* 80 g de sucre
* 2 jaunes d'œuf
* 30 g de farine
* 100 g de crème fleurette"
http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/fr/recettes/creme_le...

The following site gives a recipe in English that includes "crème legère":
2http://cooksforcooks.com/april07/2007-04-10-tuesday/brioche-...

To correct a point made in a comment by Colin Morely and any other misunderstandings, the terminology for cream in the UK is laid down in the 1995 Regulations:
"clotted cream the cream is clotted and contains not less than 55% milk fat;
double cream the cream contains not less than 48% milk fat;
whipping cream the cream contains not less than 35% milk fat;
whipped cream the cream contains not less than 35% milk fat and has been whipped;
sterilised cream the cream is sterilised cream and contains not less than 23% milk fat;
cream or single cream the cream is not sterilised cream and contains not less than 18% milk fat;
sterilised half cream the cream is sterilised cream and contains not less than 12% milk fat;
half cream the cream is not sterilised cream and contains not less than 12% milk fat."
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1995/Uksi_19953240_en_1.htm

Thick single cream complies with the single cream fat content but has been processed to make it thick.

I have found it absolutely impossible to find either whipping cream or double cream in France. What goes by the name of "crème" is either cultured or has thickeners added. I finally managed to find some cream that looked like it should be whipping cream and nearly wore a hole in the bowl trying to whip it. It seems like a conspiracy by the people who sell that horrid "Chantilly" in aerosols.

Various products, such as crème fleurette and crème fraîche have "legère" tacked on the end to indicate a lower fat content.
Peer comment(s):
disagree Anne Bohy : Certainly not a kind of "crème pâtissière" ! And by the way, if you find "crème fraîche" too thick, just add a little milk before making your Chantilly...
1 day 8 hrs
If 'not a kind of "crème pâtissière"', then how do you explain the recipes? You can't make Chantilly with crème fraîche. What the French call Chantilly just doesn't compare with English whipped cream (the thicker the better).
disagree Tony M : As Bohy syas, not 'crème pâtissière' — the recipes simply describe a 'light (pastry) cream'. Crème diplomate is excellent: ½ whipped cream / ½ crème pâtissière. Mascarpone is the best substitute I've so far found for 'double cream' and whips well
2 days 18 hrs
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

25 mins
Reference:

Pastry cream lightened with whipping cream

http://rubbernecker.typepad.com/pastryproject/2007/05/sessio...

A number of cookery sites describe crème légère as a mixture of pastry cream and whipping cream

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2009-08-16 11:17:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

pastry cream = crème patissière
Something went wrong...
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