Cocktails with Single cream/half-and-half
Single cream and half-and-half are pourable, non-whipping cow's-milk creams in the lower milk-fat range, used to enrich and lighten rather than to whip.
Taste profile
Mild and faintly sweet with a clean dairy note, carrying a light, silky body well short of the thick richness of heavier creams.
How it's used
Poured to enrich and opacify a drink, it lends pourable body and a pale, lightening colour when shaken or built in; its lower fat means it will not whip and can curdle or separate against acidic ingredients such as citrus or wine, or under hard heat, more readily than high-fat cream.
Substitutes for Single cream/half-and-half
Any dairy cream in a comparable fat range reproduces the pourable body and pale, opacifying effect; the mid-fat pouring consistency can also be approached by thinning a higher-fat cream or enriching milk. It cannot replace a whipped or stiff, high-fat cream where a firm body is needed.
Often confused with
Single cream and half-and-half sit in the lower milk-fat range and lack the fat to whip stably; double and heavy cream carry substantially more milk fat and whip to a firm body.
