How to Freeze Heavy Cream Step-by-Step (With Pics)

You ever have this experience? The one where you use a half cup of heavy cream and then, in about a week, you throw the rest away? Yeah, story of my life. It’s wasteful, it’s annoying, and it doesn’t have to be that way…

Believe it or not you can freeze heavy cream easily with very little effort and almost no loss of quality if you know what to do. It’s the perfect way to portion your heavy cream so it’s ready to use the next time you have need of it and a recipe, for adding to coffee or tea, or just to prevent waste entirely.

Best of all you’ve got everything you need in your kitchen right now. Keep reading and I’ll give you a quick and easy step-by-step plan for freezing heavy cream.

What You’ll Need

Heavy Cream: Obviously you’ll need heavy cream in the first place if you want to freeze it! I mention it here because the quality of the cream matters.

Only try to freeze fresh heavy cream. If it’s already old or tipping towards going bad, don’t waste your time. Freezing is an excellent method of preservation but it can’t roll back the clock.

Ice Cube Trays: If you need small portions of heavy cream, for putting in beverages or particular recipes that just need a little bit of richness or thickening, consider freezing it in ice cube trays.

Any size or material will work here, but I strongly recommend you use a new, fresh tray for the purpose. Older trays tend to deposit a funky odor which will taint the taste of your cream when you thaw it later.

Freezer Storage Bags: Needed for storing your frozen cubes of heavy cream or larger quantities. Any kind of plastic freezer bag will work here, but you’d be smart to get a quality one that won’t blow out or leak.

Freezer Container: As an alternative to the freezer storage bags, you can use any other kind of airtight freezer safe container. Plastic, glass or anything else will work fine.

As with the ice cube trays above, use a container that is fresh and extremely clean, one that hasn’t been stained or tainted with colors or odors from things like pasta sauce and other foods. That will transfer to the frozen cream you put inside over time!

Whisk or Mixing Spoon: Typically, when you want to use your frozen heavy cream you’ll have to thaw it first. When it thaws, the fats will separate. You can restore the texture and consistency of the cream by stirring it briskly once it is liquid again. A whisk or a mixing spoon is just the ticket.

Measuring Spoons (optional): I like to pre-measure how much liquid is held in the individual cells of my ice cube trays.

That way when I pull out some frozen cubes of cream later I’ll know exactly how much I’m adding to a recipe. You don’t have to do this yourself, but if you do a lot of cooking with heavy cream it is helpful.

And that is absolutely everything that you might need for this procedure. I’ll give you step by step instructions in the next section.

Instructions

Step 1: Pour cream into ice cube tray or container. Take your heavy cream and pour it out of the original container and into the ice cube tray or other freezer-safe container at your preference. If using ice cube trays, do not overfill the individual cells.

Resist the temptation to freeze it in its original container. This is recommended by some other outlets online, but I’ve never gotten good results from it: these waxed paper containers have a nasty tendency to burst and I swear they affect the consistency of the cream once it is thawed.

Step 2: Adjust for headspace, if needed. If you are pouring a large quantity of heavy cream into a container, or multiple smaller containers, you might need to adjust headspace. You don’t want to fill the container all the way up because it will split or burst since the cream will expand as it freezes.

Instead, leave anywhere from a half inch to an inch of space at the top. If you’re using a freezer bag, leave an inch between the top of the cream and the zipper or slider closure.

Step 3: Remove as much air from container as possible. For smaller quantities or extra large containers, try to remove as much air as possible prior to sealing. This will help your cream stay fresh longer and taste better. Air, as always, facilitates unpleasant odors and freezer burn during storage!

Step 4: Place in freezer, keep level. With the ice cube trays or containers filled, simply place them inside your freezer on a level surface. Give the cream time to freeze, a process that will take about an hour, maybe a bit longer for large quantities.

Step 5: Transfer frozen cubes to freezer container, if needed. If you’re using ice cube trays, don’t leave the cream in the trays once it is frozen! Take the tray out of the freezer and pop out the individual cubes:

… then transfer them to a freezer bag or other freezer container.

This matters for quality; cream that’s left uncovered in an ice cube tray will suffer from freezer burn quickly, and often pick up an unpleasant odor or taste from the tray itself.

Once transferred, seal the container after removing as much air as possible and then place it back in the freezer.

Step 6: Label and date, done!

Pop a freezer label or use a marker with a piece of masking or painter’s tape to label and date your frozen heavy cream. You are all done!

Shelf-Life

Three to four months at most according to the USDA, but I’ve learned from experience that it will taste best if you use it up within 2 months and preferably 30 days. Most of the time heavy cream only lasts about 2 weeks in the fridge when opened, so this is still a significant bump in storage life.

Thawing Heavy Cream the Right Way

To return your heavy cream to a liquid state, you should thaw it in the refrigerator. Simply pop out the number of cubes you need or pull the whole container out of the freezer and transfer to the fridge. It’ll usually take about 24 hours for it to return fully to its liquid state.

As mentioned above in the material section, you should expect the milk fat to separate from the liquid; this will give your heavy cream a distinct yellowish appearance and a grainy texture that is distinctly unpleasant.

Not to worry, though, because you can return it to its original consistency by shaking the container or by stirring it briskly using a whisk or spoon. Good as new and good to go!

You Might Not Need to Thaw Your Heavy Cream at All!

If you’re adding smaller quantities to a large pot of soup or stew, or just a cube’s worth or two to tea, coffee, hot chocolate or some other hot beverage you can just drop it in straight away and stir as it melts. It will taste perfect!

This is actually a method that I’ve started to use routinely with hot beverages around my household because a single cube of frozen heavy cream will cool down a piping hot mug of coffee or hot chocolate just enough to make it drinkable.