Any trick to making super rich cream sauces?

[chris_s]

I've never quite been able to match the ludicrously rich texture/taste of restaurant cream sauces. That texture that you can just feel clogging your arteries and you can taste in your mouth for the next 6 hours. 

 

My stuff always ends up too thin, scrambled-eggy, or just "not quite there"

 

Is there any trick to this, any ingredients on a recipe to watch for? I've had some modest success with a creamy carbonara recipe that calls for a TON of eggs, but feel like I'm still not getting it. 

 

thanks!

[AlaMoi]

a white roux extended with heavy cream + last minute adjustment with water is pretty rich.....

 

I use milk, light cream or heavy cream depending on how 'rich' I want

 

(scrambled) using egg yolks - are you onto the 'tempering' trick?  dumping yolks into a hot sauce will give you scrambled right quick.....

[jmacnaughtan]

If you're getting scrambled eggs, it's because you're overheating the sauce.  Try to remove it from the heat when it's thick enough, or add some starch to the sauce to stabilize it.

 

For rich and creamy, try reducing double cream before you add it.

 

Also, use butter.  Lots and lots of butter.  

[cdh]

When you say "cream sauces", what do you mean?  If you're talking hollandaise or bearnaise, you might want to look at your technique with the eggs if they're turning out scrambled.  If you're talking about sauces that actually use cream, you'll need to be more specific about what else is in them... the mouthfeel you're looking for is more likely to come from gelatin than cream...

[CatPoet]

I dont know if it the same  but a simple gravy with  cream for dinner and I have time , I just add  the cream to the  pan juices and slowly let it simmer until thick and  lovely  but if I am in a hurry  1 tablespoon of  flour  to   100 ml  hot pan juice or stock,  whisk of the heat  and then  slowly pour into  200 ml  warm cream or a mix of cream and stock and  whisk like mad over a medium heat,

 

I use a  sieve to make use I get to lumps.

[paulraphael]

Cream sauces from the Nouvelle era were generally reduced, and sometimes even had butter swirled in at the end. It's hard to get more rich than that.

 

Hilarious that this tradition is still thought of as "light."

 

You can get the same mouthfeel today with a lot less fat (and the associated flavor-masking) by using hydrocolloids, like carrageenan, locust bean gum, and xanthan.

[jmacnaughtan]

Cream sauces from the Nouvelle era were generally reduced, and sometimes even had butter swirled in at the end. It's hard to get more rich than that.

 

Hilarious that this tradition is still thought of as "light."

 

You can get the same mouthfeel today with a lot less fat (and the associated flavor-masking) by using hydrocolloids, like carrageenan, locust bean gum, and xanthan.

 

Still hard to top butter as a sauce-enhancer though

[KennethT]

Cream sauces from the Nouvelle era were generally reduced, and sometimes even had butter swirled in at the end. It's hard to get more rich than that.

 

Hilarious that this tradition is still thought of as "light."

 

You can get the same mouthfeel today with a lot less fat (and the associated flavor-masking) by using hydrocolloids, like carrageenan, locust bean gum, and xanthan.

Right, and there are also a lot of modern starches that will thicken and give a great creamy mouthfeel, but you don't have to use very much, so it's not flavor masking. Some need heating, some are cold-swelling.

But depending on the restaurant, they may not be using these modern thickeners... instead, they may just be using a lot of cream and butter!

[takadi]

you are probably not reducing the cream enough

[chris_s]

made some basic alfredo sauce tonight, made a point of reducing the cream extensively and slowly. turned out really well, exactly what I've been trying to accomplish

 

thanks for advice! 

[gfweb]

I often cheat using Wondra flour to thicken a cream sauce.  When it is of the volume and flavor that I want, I whisk in Wondra until its right.  Different taste? Maybe a little, but I think you'd have to know I did it to suspect a difference

[torolover]

What are the pros and cons of using each of these thickeners?

 

Wondra

Xanthan

Ultra Tex

Gelatin

[KennethT]

Xanthan is a stabilizer more than a thickener. It can give a little body, but use too much and your liquid will turn to a mucous like substance. Xanthan is excellent at keeping liquids from separating, or used synergistically with other hydrocolloids (like agar).

There are actually many types of Ultra-tex, which is a modified starch. There are hot-swelling versions, cold-swelling versions, some versions which require very little to thicken (very potent). The hot and cold swelling are not interchangeable. Add a cold swelling starch to hot liquid and you will have a clumpy mess. Used properly though, they're great - they impart a creamy mouthfeel and do not change the original flavor or intensity of what you're thickening.

Gelatin is good for thickening liquids used cold, but when hot, it does not add much viscosity, but will add a "gelatinous" mouthfeel - sorry - I couldn't think of another word.

[paulraphael]

I'd think of xanthan as much more than a stabilizer. It's true that you have to go easy on it. This often means using it in combination with other things.

 

I make a really nice, easy last-minute sauce thickener with a 1:10 blend of xanthan and arrowroot. If it's well mixed you can make a slurry with it and stir it in. The xanthan hydrates instantly; the arrowroot needs to be heated to around 140F to thicken.

 

On top of this, xanthan is synergistic with many other hydrocolloids, including guar, carrageenans, methylcellulose, and locust bean gum. This means the combined effect is greater than (and sometimes different from) the sum of the components. So you can use less of everything, and in most cases minimize or eliminate their negative effects. 

 

The drawback to some of these blends is that you have to precisely mix minute quantities, and some of the ingredients are less convenient to hydrate (you may need a blender and / or a lot of heat).

[gfweb]

Wondra is a treated flour that can be shaken into a sauce without clumping if whisked briskly while being added to hot liquids. Doesn't take a lot to thicken several tbsp sauce esp if it is already partially cooked down. It isn't hard to use...just shake in a bit...whisk for a moment ...shake in a bit more if needed. Hard to overshoot with.

[rotuts]

I keep my wondra in thew refrig.  for some reason  the local Flora and Fauna love the stuff ....

 

[gfweb]

Gelatin is good for thickening liquids used cold, but when hot, it does not add much viscosity, but will add a "gelatinous" mouthfeel - sorry - I couldn't think of another word.

 

Mouthfeel like demi-glace.