* All-natural dry dairy cream
* No strange chemicals
* Use for cooking and baking too

Dried cream is slightly higher in carbs than liquid heavy cream (cream is basically fat, so it has to be dried on something else -- in this case non-fat milk), but ExpertExtras RealCream dry dairy cream has only one-fourth the carbs of commercial non-dairy creamers (per the USDA database). It also has a somewhat milky flavor, a bit like evaporated milk, which many of us actually prefer to fresh heavy cream.

It also contains very little in the way of additives. While most people consider this to be a good thing, it does affect performance. Unlike the commercial creamers, RealCream contain no whitener (usually titanium dioxide, a chemical also used for whitening paint and paper), so it doesn't lighten your coffee as much. Use it by taste, not color.

RealCream also can't be counted on to dissolve as well as the commercial creamers -- although, just to keep things confusing, sometimes it does. We selected this product (the only one we don't make ourselves) because the test samples dissolved beautifully with just a little stirring. We figured that the vendor added lecithin, which can help cream dissolve, and an anti-caking agent, to make it work so well. However, it turned out that the vendor adds only enough for their drying process and, sometimes, we found to our dismay, that isn't enough to make a completely-dissolving-with-just-stirring product. (Our packages were already labelled before we found this out.)

Therefore, if you use RealCream as a coffee creamer, and just stir it into your cup, you are likely get some little white specks and sometimes even small lumps that don't stir away. They can be noticeable in dark liquids like coffee and cocoa. However, these little specks melt in your mouth and taste wonderful -- after all, they are concentrated cream. So while this product doesn't look as good as the synthetic stuff, RealCream tastes great.

Need less to say, being Expert Foods, we couldn't resist seeing what this product can do in cooking and baking. Some of the uses are obvious, using it instead of liquid cream in making portable mixes for hot cocoa and creamed soups. And some are not so obvious, including flourless crepes and sugar- and flourless butter cookes.

Use a blender (at any temperature) or stir it into a hot liquid to dissolve. (If you prepare it ahead of time and chill it, the fat will rise to the top, so it will need a good stirring.) Even though it is made from heavy cream, drying breaks it down enough so it does not whip. Use it in hot beverages, for cooking, and for shakes.