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Artificial vs Real Cream

Cream Recently, every time I’ve eaten out in a restaurant and had dessert the curse of the artificial cream has lost the dessert some serious points. Personally I cannot stand artificial cream. It’s not cream!! (Hence why it’s called artificial). It tastes foul, horrible and I don’t know why anyone would want it. But people do like it (I guess). However this is not my point. I’m all for choice, providing that choice doesn’t ruin my food.

So what’s my point? First off, restaurants and cafes, or more accurately, waiters/waitresses and the menus, need to understand that saying something is “served with cream” should mean just that. Real cream, either poured or whipped. Not squeezed rubbish out of a tin can! When we were away in Scotland the other week, all 3 nights I had dessert, all 3 nights it said it contained cream, and all 3 nights I was not served something with cream! Last night (restaurant review to follow) was the same. In fact it was worse as it came with artificial cream, and icecream so watery that when it melted it looked like water with bits in.

Restaurant owners, Cafe owners, are you honestly telling me that for a dessert that you charge £2.50-£5 for, you cannot afford to offer real cream? In fact, Elmlea cream (a long life cream in the UK) is a good second place and will last up to 8 weeks in the fridge! A pot of 284ml of Elmlea costs around 60 pence. You can get 4-5 servings out of this, more if you whip it. So that’s just 12p per dessert. Is it honestly worth losing a customer because you were so tight to not allow 12p for a bit of real cream?

I’m quite tempted to start sending desserts back if it states, and I ask for it to be with cream and it comes with artificial rubbish. Am I overreacting? Do you prefer real or artificial cream? I’d love to know if it’s just me! Maybe this is a perfect time for a poll!

4 Responses to “Artificial vs Real Cream”

  1. Jem, on September 28th, 2007 at 14:16 Said:

    Dragging up a bit of an old entry to say that The New Inn in Hook-a-Gate, Shrewsbury uses real cream in their desserts.

    When I took my mum out for dinner on August 20th I was really impressed by the quality of their food and the pudding was no exception. I had this meringue nest creation and it was absolutely packed with real cream, with strawberry ice cream on top full of real strawberry pieces.

    Now THAT is good food!

  2. Sarah, on September 28th, 2007 at 15:16 Said:

    You’re making me hungry now ;)

    A few places luckily still use real cream but surely it’s false advertising to state something comes with cream when it’s artifical rubbish?!

  3. Jem, on October 1st, 2007 at 16:51 Said:

    I thought of this post this weekend!

    Went for a family meal to celebrate my partner (Karl)’s Nan’s birthday (too many apostrophes there?) and Karl had “choc fudge cake with cream” for dessert. It came with a minuscule blob of squirty cream, no bigger than a 10 pence piece.

    So not only was it artificial, it just wasn’t even worth asking for it. I’m beginning to think it must be a conspiracy.

  4. Sarah, on October 1st, 2007 at 20:48 Said:

    It’s certainly a let down at a good restaurant in my opinion. It’s such a cheap ingredient (50p for a carton that’d cover 4 people?). I’m so tempted to take my own little carton if I ever go out for dinner so that I have some just in case! But then again I’m trying to avoid desserts, they don’t do well for the hips!

    Although the fresh cream on the chocolate flake frescato from Costa today was very nice ;)

    PS. Happy Birthday Karl’s Nan ;)

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