• Banana and date loaf with caramel glaze
• Kahlua-drenched tiramisu topped with delicate chocolate shavings
• Calamari, banana blossom and seaweed stirfry

Use cream in cooking

Baffled by the number of different creams – whipping, pouring, single, double – on the market and exactly what they’re best used for. Let's explain:

The main difference between the various creams is the amount of fat in each and the method used in their production.

The fat content is important when deciding what the cream is best used for – the higher the fat, the better the cream will whip and the richer the final product will taste.

Both single and double creams are good for cooking, although the former (which contains only 18 to 20 percent fat) is more prone to separating when heated.

That said, single or pouring cream is ideal for use in coffee or cocktails, or poured over fruit, although, unlike whipping cream, which contains more than 30 percent fat and added stabilisers, it cannot be whipped.

Heavy cream, on the other hand, contains 40 percent milk fat and as a result, whips easily to a thick consistency.

Finally, when it comes to double cream, you’re looking at a fat content as high as 48 percent, which makes this cream easy to whip and utterly sublime on scones.