There are two ways to proceed when making sour cream at home: you can either pasteurize it, or not bother. This recipe does not pasteurize the cream, making it properly a "clabbered" cream. this one does include pasteurization. The flavor in this recipe may be better than in the other one, depending on the quality of your cream. But if you are in any doubt about the cleanliness of your raw materials, play it safe and use this the pasteurizing version of the recipe instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Get about half a liter of "regular" cream ("double" cream isn't necessary) and allow it to warm to room temperature. Scald out a glass or metal bowl (we prefer glass: it's easier to see what's going on in there).

Pour in the cream and stir. Add the buttermilk. Stir well.

Cover with clingfilm / Saran wrap and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. (We put ours in a cupboard near our central-heating burner.)

After 24 hours, the cream should have gone fairly solid. If you shake the bowl, the contents should jiggle a little, but should no longer be liquid.

Line a large sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth (or preferably, if you have one, with a linen dishtowel) and spoon the cream into it. Pull up the corners of the cheesecloth/towel to make a bag, tie the whole business up, and hang in a cool place to drain.

How long you leave it depends on how thick you want it. We usually leave ours for about six hours, or until it starts driving the cats crazy.

Remove from the bag and chill.

This will not have exactly the same texture as one of the big brands like Breakstone's (partly because they put artificial gelling agents like agar or guar gum in theirs). But it's so much richer and creamier, we don't think you'll mind much.