We make sour cream with the Thermomix® whenever a jacket potato evening is on the menu and we don’t want to reach for a plastic tub from the supermarket. Classic American sour cream is made by fermenting cream with lactic acid bacteria. That takes 24 hours at room temperature. Here we show the quick version: 280 g quark, 120 g creme fraiche, 20 g lemon juice. The acidity and creaminess come from the ratio of these three ingredients, not from fermentation. Ready in ten minutes and it tastes just like the steakhouse original.
We have been making this dip for years, whenever jacket potatoes, burrito bowls or chilli con carne are on the table. Over time we have calibrated the quantities so the creaminess is spot on and the acidity doesn’t overpower. The quark provides body and a touch of sourness, the creme fraiche brings the fat that makes sour cream creamy, and the lemon juice pushes the flavour towards fresh. Mayonnaise sounds like a dressing ingredient but it works quietly in the background: two teaspoons emulsify the mixture and make it smoother on the palate.
Sour Cream with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 8 ✓
- 1 bunch chives
- 120 g creme fraiche
- 280 g quark (20% fat)
- 20 g lemon juice
- 2 tsp mayonnaise
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 pinch sugar
Instructions 0 / 2
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1
Chop the chives.
Wash the chives, pat dry and cut into fine rings.
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2
Blend the ingredients.
Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 sec / speed 3.
Tip: If you like, you can add 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce in step 2 for extra flavour.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Quark instead of fermentation: why the acid balance works
Genuine American sour cream forms when whipping cream rests for 24 hours with lactic acid bacteria from buttermilk or a starter culture. The bacteria convert milk sugar into lactic acid, the cream thickens and develops a tangy, creamy flavour. We skip the waiting time by bringing the acidity directly: quark has a pH of around 4.5, which is exactly the range that fermented cream reaches. 280 g of quark at 20% fat combined with 120 g of creme fraiche hits creaminess and acidity straight away. Anyone who has tried the version with low-fat quark knows why we stick to 20%: low-fat tastes immediately like a quark dip, not like sour cream.
The mayonnaise in the recipe is not a makeshift addition. It takes on the job that milk fat from the cream has in a fermented version: it emulsifies. Without mayonnaise the mixture feels grainy, because quark and creme fraiche have different fat contents. With two teaspoons of mayo the texture becomes silky. If you don’t have mayonnaise in the house, you can use an egg yolk, but the result is different rather than better.
The Thermomix® works at speed 3 here, not higher
The crucial point for the texture is the low speed. We blend all ingredients except the chives for 10 seconds at speed 3. Speed 3 stirs without whipping the creme fraiche. If you go to speed 5 or higher, the mixture turns to butter in ten seconds because the fat in the creme fraiche breaks apart. We had that happen on our first attempt and had to start again. Speed 3 is enough to distribute the quark, creme fraiche, lemon juice, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and the pinch of sugar evenly. Nothing more is needed.
We chop the chives by hand into fine rings beforehand and fold them in at the end using the spatula. If we blended the chives in with everything else, they would release their water into the mixture, turning the sour cream bluish-green and tasting of spring onion. One bunch of fresh chives is enough for the quantity in the recipe. If you don’t have fresh chives, leave them out rather than using frozen ones, because defrosted chives go mushy.
Salt, pepper, sugar: the invisible backbone
Three quarters of a teaspoon of salt sounds like a lot for 400 g of dip, but it isn’t. Quark and creme fraiche need salt, otherwise they taste flat. The pepper (a quarter teaspoon) gives a brief kick of heat on the finish without disturbing the creaminess. The pinch of sugar is a trick we borrowed from classic salad dressings: it lifts the acidity of the lemon juice without tasting sweet. Leave the sugar out and you won’t notice immediately, but the dip ends up one-sidedly sharp rather than rounded.
If you like Worcestershire sauce, add four dashes before the mixing bowl runs. That pushes the flavour towards a steakhouse profile and works especially well with jacket potatoes and fried beef. If you want garlic in there, use a small, very finely chopped clove (we chop it by hand beforehand, because the Thermomix® doesn’t work cleanly with such a small quantity). No more seasoning than that belongs in it, otherwise sour cream turns into a herb quark dip.
What we serve the dip with
Classic alongside a jacket potato with chives on top. On griddled tortillas with minced meat and beans. As a topping for chilli con carne. With pulled pork, tacos, burritos or nachos. We also put it with roasted vegetables when the main course needs something fresh. On mixmyday.com you will find great accompaniments: main courses made in the Thermomix®, side dish recipes, and our spreads and dips. If you like steakhouse vibes, pair the sour cream with homemade herb quark on a sharing board. Both have a similar base but different strengths: sour cream is rounder, herb quark is fresher.
Texture, shelf life and storage
The finished sour cream is already perfectly spreadable straight after blending, but it firms up a little after an hour in the fridge. We always fill it into a sealed jar and chill it for at least 30 minutes before serving. That lets the salt work through and the chives release their flavour without going watery. In the fridge the dip keeps for three days. Not longer, because the fresh chives turn yellow and the creme fraiche starts to taste overly sharp. Freezing does not work: on defrosting the quark and fat separate, leaving a crumbly and unusable result.
If the dip releases water as it stands (which happens with some brands of quark), simply stir briefly with a spoon and the texture comes back. If you want to serve it the next day, blend in a teaspoon of fresh creme fraiche. That restores the fat balance and the dip tastes just as good as the day before.
Goes well with: Nachos.
