Unpasteurized Cream Contains Unwanted Pathogens

• The bad bugs that unpasteurized cream, also referred to as raw cream, can contain include E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella. These harmful pathogens can cause serious illness in those that ingest them, especially pregnant women and people with a compromised immune system. To avoid spreading foodborne illness, pasteurize and cool your cream prior to adding it to your baked goods if it won't be heated along with them and is used as a filling or topping instead. You can also include the cream as an ingredient in dishes that cook long enough and at a high enough temperature to pasteurize the cream during the baking process.

A Little Heat Today Will Keep the Pathogens Away

• When mixed into your baked goods, raw cream will pasteurize during the baking process when heated between 145 to 161 F for 30 minutes, or 161 F or higher for 15 seconds. To use your unpasteurized cream as a whipped topping or filling for your baked goods, pasteurize it first. Heat the cream itself to 145 to 161 F for 30 minutes or 161 F or more for at least 15 seconds to kill any harmful pathogens in it. Use a thermometer to ensure that they cream stays consistently at the necessary temperature for the allotted time. To avoid burning or curdling the cream, do this in a double boiler. Remove the pot of cream from the heat and place it in an ice bath to cool the cream down before refrigerating it.

Cool Temps for All Cream

• Most store-bought cream is pasteurized and doesn't require any heating to make it safe to consume; farm-bought cream may not be pasteurized. If mixing pasteurized and unpasteurized cream together, treat the mixture as you would unpasteurized cream in your baked goods. Refrigerate either pasteurized or unpasteurized cream at 40 F or less to prevent the growth of spoilage bacteria before using it in your baked goods. Note that the shelf life of unpasteurized milk is much shorter than pasteurized milk, usually only lasting a few days.

Keeping Cream from Turning Bad

• You can substitute both pasteurized and unpasteurized cream for each other in recipes without adjustments to the amounts of either. Once pasteurized by proper heating, raw cream and the goods made with it will have the same shelf life as those made with store-bought pasteurized cream. Any baked goods topped with whipped cream, containing custards made with cream or cream-filled pastries require refrigeration at 40 F or less. Cakes, cookies or other baked goods that were simply baked with the cream, but aren't dairy-filled or topped can last in the pantry for at least a few days.