Last week, in preparation for making Spiced Maple-Broiled Peaches, I made Nik Sharma’s Kefir Crème Fraîche from his Season cookbook.

The recipe is super simple: just kefir and heavy cream. I’ve never purchased kefir before, but there were plenty of options at YDFM. They were unfortunately out of small bottles of the plain full-fat, but I was able to get a plain lowfat.

The kefir and cream are mixed together and then left out at room temperature until thickened, around 24 hours. I kept swirling the jar to see how it was doing. At the 24-hour mark, it still seemed a little thin, so I stirred in a little more kefir. In stirring, I found that the bottom had thickened more than the top. I let it sit for another couple of hours and then put it in the fridge.

The final product was almost fluffy in consistency and hardly sour, which was surprising given how sour the straight kefir was. I’d make crème fraîche like this again, but I’d also be interested in trying with buttermilk, which is what Sharma contrasts this recipe with in his comments, and we normally have on hand already.

I am cooking my way through Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. Read more about it.