1 tablespoon of heavy cream weighs 14.9 g. Cream is slightly lighter than milk per tablespoon because fat is less dense than water, and the difference is small but consistent. The tablespoon is the natural unit for cream, because cream is usually added a spoonful at a time to finish a sauce, enrich a soup, or loosen a frosting.
All figures on this page are approximate, and they come from USDA, measured poured. When a recipe has to work the first time, verify with a kitchen scale.
Putting the numbers to work
Finishing a tomato soup
A tomato soup for four is finished with 4 tablespoons of heavy cream, about 60 g, swirled in just before serving. The cream softens the acidity of the tomatoes and gives the soup a silky texture. Add it off the heat, because boiling cream can split, and swirl it in rather than stirring it, so the soup keeps its marbled appearance.
Enriching a pasta sauce
A pasta sauce for two is enriched with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, about 30 g, stirred in at the end of cooking. The cream rounds out the flavour and thickens the sauce slightly. Two tablespoons is enough for a sauce serving two, and more would make it taste of cream rather than of tomato.
Loosening a chocolate ganache
A ganache that has set too firm can be loosened with a tablespoon of heavy cream, 14.9 g, warmed and stirred in. Add it a tablespoon at a time, because a little goes a long way, and too much will make the ganache too soft to hold its shape.
The numbers in a table
| Amount | Grams of heavy cream |
|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 14.9 g |
| 2 tablespoons | 29.8 g |
| 3 tablespoons | 44.6 g |
| 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) | 59.5 g |
| 1/3 cup | 79.3 g |
| 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) | 119 g |
| 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) | 178.5 g |
| 1 cup (16 tablespoons) | 238 g |
One tablespoon is one sixteenth of a cup, so every figure above is simply the cup weight divided by 16, rounded to one decimal place. All figures are approximate; verify with a kitchen scale when it matters.
Tips for best results
Dairy products vary in thickness, so the method matters. Thin dairy like milk and buttermilk is poured into a jug; thick dairy like sour cream, yogurt and cream cheese is spooned into a dry cup and levelled, pressing out air pockets as you go. Bring dairy to room temperature before adding it to a batter unless the recipe says cold, because cold dairy can seize melted butter and leave lumps. If a recipe gives dairy by weight and you only have cups, use the table below rather than guessing: a cup of cream cheese is noticeably heavier than a cup of milk, and the two are not interchangeable by volume.
Scaling with tablespoons is easy once you know the weight of one spoon. To measure 100 g of heavy cream, count out about 6.7 tablespoons, and for 50 g, about 3.4 tablespoons. Halving a recipe that calls for 4 tablespoons means using 2 tablespoons, or 29.8 g, and doubling it means 8 tablespoons, or 119 g. The key is to scale every ingredient by the same factor, because changing one ingredient without changing the others throws the recipe out of balance. For large amounts, switch to a cup measure or a scale: counting out 16 tablespoons is slow and error-prone, and a cup is faster and more accurate.
When should you weigh heavy cream instead of measuring it? Whenever the recipe has to work the first time, and whenever the amount is large. A kitchen scale costs less than a single failed cake, and it removes the biggest source of variation in home cooking: the way ingredients pack into a cup or a spoon. Put the bowl on the scale, press tare, and add the heavy cream until the display shows the number you need. There is nothing to wash afterwards except the bowl, and the result is the same every time. For small amounts, a level spoon is accurate enough, and for liquids, a jug is fine, but for anything where precision matters, the scale is the tool to reach for.
Storage. Refrigerate; use within 1 week of opening.
- Add cream to hot dishes off the heat.
- A tablespoon of cream is 14.9 g.
- Swirl cream into soup rather than stirring it in.
Method and source
The figure on this page comes from USDA, measured poured. Cream with at least 36% fat that whips to firm peaks. Whipping, ganache, sauces and soups.
A note on disputed figures. USDA lists heavy cream at about 238 g per cup; King Arthur rounds it to 227 g.
All results on this page are approximate. Ingredient weights vary with brand, humidity, temperature and how firmly you pack the cup, so when a recipe has to work the first time, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale and use the numbers here as a guide.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is a tablespoon of heavy cream?
One tablespoon of heavy cream weighs 14.9 g, and one teaspoon is about 5 g. A cup of heavy cream is 238 g, and a tablespoon is one sixteenth of a cup.
Is a tablespoon of cream the same as a tablespoon of milk?
Nearly. A tablespoon of cream is 14.9 g and a tablespoon of milk is 15.2 g, a difference of 0.3 g. The real difference is fat content, not weight: cream is 36 percent fat and milk is 3.25 percent.
Can I whip a tablespoon of cream?
Not really. A tablespoon is too small to whip, because the whisk cannot catch it. Whip at least half a cup of cream, and use the tablespoon measure for adding cream to sauces and soups instead.
How do I measure a tablespoon of cream accurately?
Pour it into a tablespoon measure and level it off, or use a small jug. Cream coats the sides of the measure, so let it settle for a moment before reading. For a tablespoon or two, a spoon is more accurate than a cup.
Does cream split when added to hot dishes?
It can, if it boils. Add cream off the heat, or at the very end of cooking, and stir it in gently. Full-fat cream is more stable than light cream, and a little flour or cornstarch in the sauce helps stabilise it.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common mistake with dairy is measuring a thick product like sour cream or cream cheese in a jug, where it clings to the sides and reads low. The second is adding cold dairy to a hot mixture, which can make it split or curdle, especially with cream cheese and sour cream. The third is boiling a sauce after the cream has been added, which breaks the emulsion and leaves a greasy, separated sauce. The fourth mistake is measuring dairy that has just been shaken or stirred vigorously, because the air bubbles take up volume and the reading comes out high. Finally, do not freeze dairy products that you plan to use in baking, because freezing changes their texture: cream cheese becomes grainy, sour cream separates, and yogurt turns watery, and none of them recover properly on thawing.