Vegan Substitute for Double Cream

Baking Resources Editorial · Reviewed by Joan Ramos · Updated October 13, 2026 · 17 min read

The best vegan substitute for double cream is chilled canned coconut cream for anything that has to whip or set, and blended raw cashews for anything that just needs body and richness. Both are plant fat suspended in water, which is the only structure that behaves like cream.

Here is the number that decides everything. UK double cream is 48 percent fat, which is richer than US heavy cream at 36 percent and far richer than any carton on the plant-milk shelf. So the swaps written for American heavy cream will leave you short, and you have to correct for that gap rather than pretend it is not there.

Need the ratio for your exact amount? Our free substitutions finder converts it in one step.

Why double cream is a harder target than heavy cream

Cream whips because milk fat globules, chilled below about 50°F, partially crystallize. Beat air in and those semi-solid crystals collide, link up, and build a scaffold around the bubbles. Below roughly 30 percent fat there are not enough globules in the liquid to reach each other, so the foam collapses as fast as you make it.

Double cream sits at 48 percent, which is why it whips in under a minute and why it curdles into butter if you look away. That headroom also means it can be boiled, reduced, and dropped into acidic sauces without splitting.

Nothing sold as a plant-based cream reaches 48 percent. The honest workaround is to add a little solid fat back, which is exactly what the worked examples below do. Our heavy cream substitute guide covers the dairy side of the same problem if you are only avoiding cream, not avoiding dairy.

Picking a vegan substitute for double cream by job

Answer one question before you shop: does the recipe need the cream to whip or set, or does it just need fat and liquid?

• Whip or set (whipped topping, mousse, ganache, panna cotta, ice cream): coconut cream, a dedicated plant whipping cream, or a cocoa butter blend. Short list, no shortcuts.
• Fat and liquid (scones, cakes, custard bases, creamy sauces, coffee): cashew cream, soy cream, oat cream, silken tofu, or full-fat coconut milk. Almost everything works with small adjustments.

Get that backwards and you will stand at a mixer for twenty minutes watching a bowl of oat milk refuse to become anything.

The full chart

Each row replaces 1 cup (240 ml) of double cream.

Two rows deserve a warning. Aquafaba is not a cream substitute. It makes a beautiful foam with zero fat, which is useful for mousse and meringue but useless anywhere the cream was supplying richness. And oat milk plus oil, which the internet loves, fails for the same reason milk plus melted butter fails: free oil is not a fat globule, so it separates out and leaves greasy specks instead of a whip.

Coconut cream, done properly

This is the workhorse, so it is worth doing right.

Buy the right can. Full-fat canned coconut cream separates more reliably than canned coconut milk, and both beat the refrigerated carton, which is far too thin for either job. Read the ingredients: if there is guar gum or another emulsifier high on the list, the can is designed not to separate and it will not give you a solid layer.

Chill it upright and undisturbed for at least 12 hours, ideally 24. The back of the fridge, not the door.

Open it without shaking. Scoop the thick white layer off the top and leave the clear water behind for a smoothie or for thinning a curry. A 400 g can yields roughly 1 cup of solid cream.

Whip it cold, in a cold bowl, with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar per cup and a splash of vanilla. Soft peaks land in 2 to 3 minutes. It holds shape for hours in the fridge, which is better than dairy whipped cream manages.

The flavor. It tastes of coconut, and that is either perfect or a dealbreaker. Chocolate, coffee, lime, and mango bury it completely. Vanilla sponge and strawberries do not. Refined coconut oil and refined coconut cream are noticeably milder than virgin, so buy refined if the coconut note bothers you.

Our whipped cream guide has the peak stages and the stabilizing tricks, and most of them transfer straight across.

Whipping cream dairy free substitute options, ranked

If your recipe ends in soft peaks, you have four real paths. Here they are honestly ranked by how well they hold.

1. A carton plant whipping cream. Oat and soy whipping bases are built with stabilizers to do exactly this job. They pipe cleanly, hold overnight, and taste neutral. They need a hard chill (both the carton and the bowl) and 3 to 5 minutes of beating, which is longer than dairy. This is the practical answer for a decorated cake that has to sit out.

2. Coconut cream. Whips fastest, holds 4 to 6 hours refrigerated, tastes of coconut. Best flavor match with chocolate and tropical fruit.

3. Coconut cream plus a stabilizer. A teaspoon of cornstarch or 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar per cup thickens the foam noticeably, because the starch soaks up loose water. Use it if the cake has to travel.

4. Aquafaba meringue. Not a cream, but often the better answer. Three tablespoons of aquafaba whipped with 2 tablespoons of sugar makes a glossy, stable foam that is lighter than any cream and holds for a day. Perfect on a pie, wrong inside a ganache.

What does not work, no matter what a roundup tells you: oat milk with oil, almond milk with cornstarch, soaked cashews, silken tofu, or any barista carton not labeled for whipping. You can thicken all of those. Thick is not whipped.

Baking with it: where the swap is invisible

Baking is the forgiving end. The cream supplies fat and liquid, the batter is full of starch and flour holding everything together, and nothing gets held at a boil.

• Scones and biscuits: cashew cream or full-fat coconut milk works one for one. If the cream was the only liquid and fat in the recipe, use 3/4 cup soy milk plus 1/4 cup melted refined coconut oil, and keep everything cold so the fat stays in pieces.
• Cakes and quick breads: oat single cream straight across, or soy milk with 2 tablespoons of oil per cup. This is the easiest swap in the entire list.
• Custard and pastry cream: cashew cream, or soy milk plus cornstarch. Soy protein sets more like dairy than any other plant milk because it actually coagulates.
• Ice cream: you need the fat. Coconut cream is the clear winner and makes genuinely good ice cream. Oat bases go icy.
• Caramel: coconut cream, and stand back. It will foam violently when it hits hot sugar exactly the way dairy does.

For the wider set of dairy swaps, including butter and buttermilk, see our dairy free baking substitutions guide.

Worked example: a ganache written for 200 g double cream

The recipe: 200 g dark chocolate and 200 g double cream, for a truffle filling that has to hold its shape at room temperature.

Step 1. What the cream is doing. Supplying fat to the emulsion and controlling how firm the set is. This is not a whipping job, but the fat percentage is load-bearing.

Step 2. The fat you are replacing. 200 g of double cream at 48 percent is 96 g of fat and about 104 g of water.

Step 3. What coconut cream alone gives you. 200 g of the scooped solid layer at roughly 25 percent is 50 g of fat. You are 46 g short, and the ganache will set soft and sag off a truffle.

Step 4. The correction. Use 175 g coconut cream plus 25 g melted refined coconut oil. That is 200 g total with about 69 g of fat, or 34 percent. Still under 48, but coconut oil is solid below 76°F while butterfat is soft at the same temperature, so the ganache sets firmer than the percentage suggests. In practice it lands right where the original did.

Step 5. Method. Heat the coconut cream and oil to just steaming, pour over the chopped chocolate, wait two minutes, then stir from the center outward in small circles until it comes together. If it breaks, whisk in a tablespoon of warm plant milk at a time until it comes back.

Step 6. Sanity check on the ratio. Standard dark ganache is 1 part chocolate to 1 part cream for a spreadable filling and 2:1 for truffles that hold a shape. With coconut cream you can stay at 1:1 for truffles because the coconut oil does the setting work that extra chocolate would otherwise do.

Worked example: whipping 300 ml of double cream

The recipe: a UK dessert calling for 300 ml double cream, whipped, to top a tart. That carton is 1 1/4 US cups, and our cups to ml converter handles the rest of the metric translation.

Step 1. Volume you need. Double cream roughly doubles in volume when whipped, so 300 ml of liquid becomes about 600 ml of whipped topping.

Step 2. Coconut cream math. A 400 g can yields about 1 cup, or 240 ml, of solid cream. Coconut cream also roughly doubles, so one can gives you 480 ml whipped. You need 1 1/4 cans, so open two and use the leftovers in a smoothie.

Step 3. Sugar and stabilizer. 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar per cup of coconut cream, so about 2 1/2 tablespoons total, plus 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch if the tart has to sit out for more than an hour.

Step 4. The carton alternative. If you buy an oat whipping cream instead, 300 ml is 300 ml, no conversion at all. Chill the carton hard, whip 3 to 5 minutes, and expect a slightly softer peak that pipes fine but does not hold a sharp star tip as long as coconut does.

Step 5. What to skip. Do not try this with cashew cream, silken tofu, or any oat milk that is not labeled for whipping. You will spend twenty minutes and end up with a thin, foamy puddle.

Vegan heavy cream substitutes for US recipes: 14 options with ratios

American recipes call for heavy cream at about 36 percent fat, which is a lower bar than double cream and much easier to hit with plant ingredients. Each row below replaces 1 cup (240 ml) of heavy cream. "Whips" means it holds soft peaks; "Boils" means it can simmer in a sauce without splitting when handled as described.

Two practical notes. The butter-and-milk blends (rows 5 and 6) are for baking and cooking only; as the chart above explains, free fat does not whip. And for any savory dish, start with an unsweetened, unflavored plant milk, since vanilla oat milk in a mushroom sauce is a mistake you only make once.

The best vegan substitute by recipe

For the ganache ratios themselves, see our ganache ratio guide. If the recipe really wants sour cream or buttermilk rather than cream, our sour cream substitute and dairy-free buttermilk substitute pages are the better match.

How to make cashew cream that is actually smooth

1. Use raw, unsalted cashews. Roasted cashews taste roasted and blend grainier.
2. Soak them. 4 hours in cold water, or 15 to 20 minutes in just-boiled water if you are in a hurry. Drain and rinse.
3. Blend with less water than you think. Start with 3/4 cup water per cup of cashews for a heavy-cream thickness. Blending thick first gets it smoother; you can thin it afterward.
4. Blend longer than you think. 1 to 2 minutes in a high-speed blender, or 3 to 4 minutes with rests in a regular one. Rub a drop between your fingers. Any grit means keep going.
5. Strain if needed. A standard blender may leave fine grit; pass it through a fine sieve for sauces you want silky.
6. Season for the job. A pinch of salt for savory, a teaspoon of maple syrup and a drop of vanilla for sweet.

One cup of cashews makes roughly 1 1/2 cups of cream. Our cups to ml converter turns that into metric if your recipe is written in milliliters.

Storing homemade vegan cream

These are typical home-kitchen windows, not lab-tested shelf lives. Anything that smells sour, tastes off or shows mold goes in the trash.

Troubleshooting vegan cream substitutes

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of double cream if I am vegan?

Chilled canned coconut cream for anything that whips or sets, and blended cashews or soy cream for anything that just needs richness. For a close match to double cream's 48 percent fat, blend 7/8 cup of coconut cream with 2 tablespoons of melted refined coconut oil, which lands around 30 to 35 percent.

Is oat cream the same as double cream?

No. Oat single cream is around 12 to 18 percent fat, closer to UK single cream, so it pours and thickens sauces but will never whip. Oat whipping cream is a different product, usually 25 to 31 percent, and it does whip. Read the carton rather than the brand name.

Can you whip coconut milk instead of coconut cream?

Only the solid part. Chill a full-fat can of coconut milk for 12 to 24 hours, open it without shaking, and scoop off the thick layer, which is usually about half a can. The clear water underneath will not whip at any speed. Refrigerated carton coconut milk is too thin for either job.

Why did my dairy free whipped cream go runny?

Almost always fat percentage or temperature. Below about 30 percent fat there is not enough structure to hold air, and warm fat cannot crystallize into a scaffold. Chill the cream, the bowl, and the beaters for 15 minutes, and check that your carton is actually a whipping product rather than a barista or single cream.

What is a good whipping cream dairy free substitute for piping?

An oat or soy whipping cream carton, because the stabilizers already in it hold a piped edge for hours at room temperature. Coconut cream pipes beautifully too but softens faster in a warm room. Aquafaba meringue holds the longest of all, though it tastes of meringue rather than cream.

Does vegan cream curdle in hot sauces?

Soy and oat creams can split with high heat or acid, the same as low-fat dairy. Whisk a teaspoon of cornstarch per cup into the cold cream before it goes in, add it off the heat, and stir any lemon or wine in at the very end. Coconut cream is the most heat-stable of the group and handles a simmer without trouble.

Can I make a vegan double cream at home?

Yes, and the cocoa butter version is the closest. Blend 3/4 cup of hot soy milk with 1/4 cup of melted cocoa butter until completely emulsified, then chill overnight. Soy protein is an unusually good emulsifier, so the mixture stays together, and the cocoa butter sets it hard. It is excellent in ganache and set fillings, and only marginal for whipping.

Do vegan creams work in cheesecake?

Very well, though the structure comes from a different place. Silken tofu blended with oil, or cashew cream plus melted coconut oil, both set firm once chilled because the coconut oil solidifies. Baked vegan cheesecakes usually need a starch as well, since there is no egg protein doing the setting. Our egg substitute guide explains which jobs an egg can and cannot hand off.

What is the best vegan substitute for heavy cream?

Canned coconut cream if the recipe needs to whip or set, and cashew cream if it just needs richness. For baking, 2/3 cup soy milk blended with 1/3 cup melted vegan butter replaces 1 cup of heavy cream in cakes, scones and biscuits.

Can I use almond milk instead of heavy cream?

Not on its own. Almond milk is very low in fat, so it thins sauces and will never whip. Blend 3/4 cup almond milk with 1/4 cup melted vegan butter for baking, or thicken it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch per cup for a sauce.

How do I make vegan heavy cream for soup?

Blend 1 cup of soaked raw cashews with 3/4 cup water until silky, or blend 1 cup of cooked white beans with about 1/2 cup of stock. Stir either into the soup at the end and warm it through without a hard boil.

Is coconut milk the same as coconut cream?

No. Coconut cream has more coconut and less water, so it is thicker and richer. Full-fat coconut milk works for cooking and batters, while coconut cream, or the solid layer from a chilled can of coconut milk, is what whips.

Can I freeze vegan heavy cream substitutes?

Cashew cream and coconut cream freeze well for up to about 3 months, ideally in ice cube trays so you can thaw only what you need. Reblend after thawing. Tofu blends and milk-and-butter mixtures separate and are best made fresh.

Does vegan heavy cream taste like coconut?

Only the coconut-based ones, and refined coconut products are milder. Cashew cream, soy whipping cream and oat cream are neutral. In chocolate, coffee or curry, the coconut note is usually welcome or hidden anyway.

Related guides: Heavy cream substitute | Dairy free baking substitutions | How to make whipped cream | Cups to ml converter | Substitutions finder | Whipped cream without heavy cream | All-purpose cream substitute

Need the exact amount for your recipe? Our gelatin substitute page has a free calculator that works it out.