Preferably use whole milk in cooking. It contains about 3,5 % milk fat. Whole milk can be replaced with low-fat milk (see below), however, especially in making milk-based porridges, béchamel sauces etc, whole milk gives much better tasting and creamier result than low-fat milk. It also stands up to heating better than low-fat milks because of its higher fat content.

Low-fat milk contains about 1,5 % milk fat. It can be used in all cooking and baking instead of whole milk when you want to lower the fat content of foods.

Nonfat or skim milk is not recommended to be used in cooking. It burns easily to the bottom when heated. It is best used in hot or cold drinks like coffee, cappuccino, low-fat hot chocolate, milk shakes etc.

Heavy or whipping cream has a milk fat content of about 36 to 40 %. It cannot be replaced with light or single cream (see below), at least in recipes where cream needs to be whipped or cooked for a long time.

Finnish light or single cream has a milk fat content of about 10 %. Light cream cannot be whipped. It is best used in drinks like coffee or creamy cocktails. In cooking, it is best to add light cream to foods or sauces towards the end of cooking to prevent curdling.

Note: real heavy cream never contains any additives, like preservatives, colours or emulsifying agents. It should be noted, that most light cream products available today contain hydrogenated vegetable fats, additives like emulsifying and thickening agents and various other artificial ingredients.

Buttermilk is the thin, watery liquid resulting when cream is churned into butter. During churning, cream is separated into solid butter and liquid buttermilk. This by-product is consumed as a beverage, although it is nowadays mostly replaced with cultured buttermilk, see below.

Cultured buttermilk or cultured milk, also called soured milk or fermented milk, is a creamy, pourable drink made by fermenting low-fat or skim milk with special buttermilk culture bacteria. These microorganisms convert part of the milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid. The acid curdles the milk protein, giving the buttermilk a thick consistency and a refreshingly sour, aromatic taste. In Finland, cultured buttermilk is consumed as a drink, usually during meals. It is also used in baking of various breads and cakes. The milk fat content of regular Finnish buttermilks usually ranges between 0 to 2,5 %.

Note: in modern cooking  —  and in the recipes of this site  —  the term "buttermilk" is used to mean the thick, cultured milk rather than the traditional, thin buttermilk.

See a recipe for homemade butter.

Traditional kefir is a thick, pourable drink made by fermenting milk with a special kefir culture, including eg lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, causing some carbon dioxide and even a low amount of alcohol to develop in the drink. Kefirs manufactured today have a much milder and fresh, slightly sour taste, resembling more of the cultured buttermilks than the original kefir.

Kefir originated in the Russian Caucasus region and is especially popular in Russia, the Baltic countries, Poland, Germany and Scandinavia. In Finland, the consuming of kefir has declined during the recent decades, with dairy companies dropping it from their product line and replacing it with various other cultured buttermilk products (see left). Nowadays kefir may be found in ethnic Russian or Estonian stores. Kefir usually contains between 0,1 and 3,8 % milk fat.

Evaporated milk  —  also called unsweetened condensed milk  —  is concentrated milk, made by removing about 60 % of the water in whole, low-fat or skim milk. After evaporating, the milk is homogenised and vitamins and preservatives are added in it. It is then canned and sterilized, making it keep almost indefinitely. Evaporated milk has a thick and sticky, custard-like consistency and a "cooked" taste, slightly sweeter than that of regular milk. Mixed with equal amount of water, it can be used instead of fresh milk in cooking. Evaporated milk made with whole milk contains about 7 to 8 % milk fat.

Condensed milk  —  also called sweetened condensed milk  —  is concentrated milk with added sugar. It contains 40 to 45 % sugar and about 8 % milk fat. Made similarly to evaporated milk (see above), condensed milk is not sterilized, because its high sugar content acts as a preservative. Condensed milk has a thick and sticky, custard-like consistency and it tastes very sweet.

Evaporated or condensed milk can be used in various sauces, fruit salad dressings, puddings, custards, ice creams, pies, candies and beverages. Cocoa or coffee flavoured condensed milk is also used to prepare hot beverages.

Condensed milk and evaporated milk are almost never used in Finnish domestic cooking. Many Finns have never even heard of the products. In former times, one of the closest places to purchase condensed milk for home consumption was the former Soviet Union (my mother used to bring a couple of cans back with her whenever she went there on a business trip). Nowadays, condensed milk is found sold in well-equipped Finnish grocery stores and some ethnic Russian, Estonian or Asian stores.

In picture on right: not much in the appearance of this Russian condensed milk can has changed over the years. On the left, there is a condensed milk can pictured in a 1950s Soviet cookbook, and on the right, a can of condensed milk found sold in the early 21st century (manufactured for a German food-wholesale company).

See a recipe for easy lemon pie.

Smetana  —  сметана  —  is a Russian-origin, thick, yellowish-white and slightly sour-tasting cream which contains about 40 % milk fat. It is made by curdling pasteurised cream. In Russian cooking, it is used virtually in everything from appetizers and main courses to desserts. Smetana is also widely used in Finnish cooking.

Smetana can be replaced with full-fat crème fraîche, although smetana is usually slightly sourer in taste.

Unlike some lower-fat types of crème fraîche, smetana is ideal to be used in dishes requiring a long cooking time in the oven. It will not curdle when cooked or added to hot dishes. In uncooked dishes, smetana can be replaced with thick crème fraîche or sour cream with a similar fat content.

Formerly in Finland, smetana had to be made at home, until the Finnish dairy company Valio Ltd started to manufacture it in the 1960s. Finnish smetana contains 34 to 42 % milk fat.

Meaning "fresh cream", crème fraîche in France can be either thick (épaisse) or liquid (fleurette, liquide) cream. In many other countries the term is mostly used to mean the thicker version, a slightly sour-tasting cream that has the thickness of sour cream. It is made by curdling pasteurised cream.

Use crème fraîche that contains about 28 % milk fat (or more). If not available, it can be replaced with good-quality sour cream or soft cream cheese in some recipes, or made at home by simply fermenting heavy/whipping cream with buttermilk. Some types of crème fraîche (usually with a low fat content) may curdle if heated or cooked (like sour cream) and cannot be added to hot food until the end of cooking.

Light crème fraîche contains about 12 to 18 % milk fat. If not available, light crème fraîche can be replaced with sour cream. Light crème fraîche curdles if heated or cooked and cannot be added to hot food until the end of cooking.

Picture above: pourable yogurt (left) and thick Greek yogurt (right)

Yogurt is made by curdling (usually pasteurised and homogenised) milk with special yogurt culture bacteria.

Natural yogurt is unflavoured, unsweetened yogurt. There are many types of natural yogurt available, from thick to drinkable and low-fat to fatty. The milk fat content of regular Finnish yogurts usually ranges between 0 and 3,9 %.

Preferably use thick (and fatty) Greek or Balkan type yogurts in cooking. They are perfect to be used in dishes like tzatziki and other dips and sauces. Thinner yogurts may be eaten with fruit, muesli or other cereals and desserts.

A versatile product, yogurt may be used in cooking and in baking breads, cakes, muffins etc. Yogurt may be further thickened by pouring it in a paper coffee filter, letting the excess whey run out.

Picture above: smooth Finnish quark (left) and firm Russian quark (right)

Also called baker's cheese, quark is a kind of unripened, soft cheese that resembles a very thick sour cream or cream cheese. Finnish quark is made by curdling pasteurised low-fat/nonfat milk with lactic acid bacteria.

Quark can be used instead of butter in pie crusts and pastry doughs, as a filling in sweet or savoury cakes and pies and in various desserts like cheesecakes, mousses, puddings etc. It is much used in cooking in Finland, Germany and Russia. It is called творог (tvorog) in Russian. It is a main ingredient in many Russian traditional dishes, like syrniki, paskha etc.

Note: the Finnish and Russian quarks differ from each other a great deal. The Russian quark is much firmer in consistency and contains about 15 to 30 % milk fat. This is the "genuine" type of quark. The Finnish quark, on the other hand, is smoother and contains too much liquid to be used in original Russian dishes without letting it drain first. It contains between 0,2 and 0,3 % milk fat. The Finnish-type quark is mainly used in the recipes of this site. It can be replaced with Russian-type quark, but you may have to dilute it with a dash of milk or cream to make it softer.

Quark can be replaced with homemade, smooth-textured ricotta-type cheese.

See recipes for homemade quark and ricotta.

A popular brand of Finnish cream cheese is the Viola cheese manufactured by Valio Ltd. It is made by enriching quark with cream or butter.

Regular Finnish cream cheese contains about 30 % milk fat. Although in some recipes regular cream cheese may be replaced with low-fat cream cheeses, with their milk fat content ranging between 2 to 13 %, it is strongly recommended to use full-fat cheeses (like in cheese cake recipes etc).

Picture above: rough-textured (left) and smooth-textured (right) cottage cheese

Cottage cheese is made by curdling low-fat/nonfat milk. The resulting curd is cut into small granules. The size of granules varies depending on the product.

Cottage cheese with smaller sized granules may be used in various sweet or savoury fillings, spreads and desserts, and those with large-sized granules may be used in salads, on sandwiches etc. Finnish cottage cheeses contain about 0,3 to 2 % milk fat.

A traditional Finnish speciality of Swedish origin, curd milk is a cultured milk product with a thick and viscous, almost slimy, consistency and a mild, fresh flavour. It is made similarly to other fermented milk products, by curdling milk with special starter bacteria. The milk used is unhomogenised, which causes a layer of cream to rise on the surface of viili, upon which a mould called Geotrichum candidum grows a thin, velvety surface. If stirred, viili becomes very ropy and difficult to eat.

Viili is eaten fresh and chilled, usually for breakfast or as a snack. It may be eaten plain or sprinkled with various flavourings, from sugar, cinnamon, honey, powdered ginger or other spices to fresh fruit or berries, jams, nuts, muesli or the traditional talkkuna flour, a mixture of half-cooked, dried and powdered grains (barley, oats, peas and/or beans). Various Finnish viili products contain 0,1 to 3,5 % milk fat.

Another, considerably thicker and more viscous variety of viili is the longmilk. Similar products have also been manufactured in Sweden (långfil), Norway (tettemelk) and Iceland (skyr), with a more or less viscous consistency.

See a recipe for making your own viili.

A Finnish and Swedish speciality, curd cream is a cultured milk product made by curdling cream with special starter bacteria. Unlike the Finnish viili (see left), kermaviili does not have a viscous consistency, but is lighter and creamier. It is also sourer in taste. When stirred, it becomes rather smooth, resembling low-fat sour cream or thick yogurt in consistency. Similar curd cream is called gräddfil in Sweden.

Kermaviili is perfect to be used as a base for cold sauces, dips and dressings. It can be replaced with sour cream or, more ideally, low-fat sour cream. Kermaviili curdles easily if heated on its own, but it may still be used as a filling in various pies, cakes etc, that are baked in oven. Kermaviili may be further thickened by pouring it in a paper coffee filter, letting the excess whey run out.

Kermaviili contains 10 % milk fat. There is also low-fat kermaviili available, containing 2 to 3,5 % milk fat.

See a recipe for making your own kermaviili.