Double cream?

can anyone please tell me when a recipe requires double cream what this is? can we purchase it in new Zealand?

Can we purchase it in NZ? - Yes and no. Lewis Road Creamery were making double cream but because of the lack of rain in the Waikato, they have temporarily stopped. When they do produce it, only some stores stock it.

Real double cream (a la Lewis Road) is thicker. I believe it is about 48% fat whereas normal cream is only 35% fat. It can be 'heaped' onto a spoon if you are very careful.

Mostly, I've seen a lot of advice on here to just use ordinary cream instead of double cream but I've never tried doing that. It would all depend on the recipe. I cannot remember what else others have recommended but any other thickened cream sold in NZ is usually made with all sorts of additives.

p.s. Lewis Road double cream is sooo wonderful. I cannot wait till they start producing it again.

I wondered what had happened to the LR double cream. Thanks for the heads up.

New Zealand standard cream works just as well as double cream.
A slight comparison between creams:
Double cream/ whipping cream = NZ cream,
single cream or half n half = NZ lite cream or half cream, half milk.
Thickened cream=NZ thickened cream but check as it can have additives such as gelatine.
I have always found that our standard cream works fine for recipes from the UK and US which often have different names for cream.
What buzzy said about the fat content is about right but check the pottle to get a real idea, as with milk cream is standardised.
I buy my cream direct from the farm gate so it tends to be richer/thicker/higher fat content than supermarket cream.

That's my understanding, too. It's only over the last couple of years or so, that double cream has been available in NZ, as it's a UK thing apparently.

Double cream (UK) is a whipping cream and NZ cream works the same for whipping and in recipes. Single cream (UK) is a pouring cream same as NZ lite cream.