Effect of replacing cream with milk

November 26, 2021 12:19 PM

If I replace cream with milk in my persimmon pudding recipe, will the texture be the same?

I like making a persimmon pudding that, in addition to a lot of persimmon pulp, includes both a full cup of buttermilk and a full cup of heavy cream. It also has an enormous amount of sugar, 3 eggs, flour, baking soda and baking powder, and a load of butter. This all makes the pudding delicious but very, very rich: people only want to eat a tiny piece, and then we have too much as leftovers. It's not that good after being frozen.

I'm wondering what would happen if I substituted milk for the heavy cream with my goal to make a slightly less rich dessert. The main feature of the pudding is the persimmon flavor and the way it forms both a hard crust and a soft center.

I am asking this question because I don't really want to experiment with these ingredients only to waste 2 precious cups of persimmon pulp on a meh dessert.

What will substituting milk for heavy cream do to the texture and rise of this dessert?

posted by nantucket to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

I haven't made this precise recipe, though man it sounds good. But I have successfully used milk instead of cream in custards and puddings that are thickened by some combination of starch thickeners (cornstarch in my case, but I imagine flour would be similar) and egg, cooked and stirred over low heat. They're just less rich. It sounds like that's similar to what you're doing (as opposed to say whipping the cream, which obviously wouldn't work) and if I were in your shoes I would do it.
posted by sy at 12:26 PM on November 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

I searched for persimmon pudding recipes and the first few results that came up all used milk instead of heavy cream like this one on Allrecipes or this one that uses milk and half and half so I think you can substitute milk in your recipe for a less rich dessert.
posted by blacktshirtandjeans at 12:33 PM on November 26, 2021

I think this is a good bet, since the thickening comes from eggs and rise from the powder, mostly. If it doesn't thicken quite properly, you could add some cornstarch or cornstarch slurry.

Some of the richness will come from the egg yolks, so another step might be to just use egg whites, or 2 whites and 1 full egg. You can also recreate the tang of buttermilk using milk + vinegar (but see posts about this; it's heresy for biscuits, for instance). Those might be steps to try on a different day, or with less precious ingredients to see how it works first.
posted by Dashy at 12:34 PM on November 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’d probably try to replace half the cream with milk and see how that goes. If that still feels too rich replace 3/4 of the cream with milk the next time and so on. And basically keep tweaking until you get the desired consistency. Perhaps start with whole milk and go to skimmed milk if that’s not enough. And consider reducing the butter some as well.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:01 PM on November 26, 2021

Once I’ve tried a new recipe as written, the next time I make it I will typically replace cream with half and half, and half and half with whole milk. I have never once noticed a difference in anything other than the dish feeling less heavy.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 4:52 PM on November 26, 2021

I can't speak to how it might affect texture, but if it's noticeably less rich with the milk you might want to reduce the sugar a little. Sometimes, things seem overly sweet without the richness to counteract.

Also - if you're happy with the recipe and the issue is leftovers being wasted, can you make a half recipe?
posted by insectosaurus at 5:11 PM on November 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Honestly with a "load of butter" I would be surprised if you noticed much of a difference in richness by swapping with milk. Persimmon pudding, in my experience, is so dense and full of spices that it's hard to eat a lot. After making one, I generally end up eating the leftovers warmed up for breakfast for the next several days.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:09 PM on November 26, 2021

Use nonfat evaporated milk. I use it all the time as a cream substitute in custards and sauces. It doesnt break when heated, either.
posted by ananci at 10:54 PM on November 27, 2021