🥛 A mild dairy 🎨 A pale color

light cream

1 2.0

A thin dairy product with about 18 percent fat used in cooking and on desserts

noun
/laɪt krim/

: nata ligera

light cream sauce
light cream cheese
a cup of light cream

Examples

So like most creams can be very heavy, but this is a very light cream that actually hydrates the skin.
It doesn't feel like a flat matte kind of cream to powder thing, but it's just like a light cream, almost like a firmer pressed mousse.
For a richer taste, you can substitute milk with light cream in the recipe.
The chef drizzled a bit of light cream over the dessert for a finishing touch.
I prefer using light cream in my coffee instead of regular milk.

Synonyms

cream

vslight cream

864 1.0

Thick, fatty part of milk used in cooking and on food

specifies at least 18% butterfat and also use as a topping

coffee cream

vslight cream

1 1.8

Thick cream with about 18% fat used to lighten coffee

is used more broadly beyond hot drinks including cooking and toppings

single cream

vslight cream

2.7

A light cream with about 18% fat used in cooking and coffee

is used both as a topping and more widely in recipes

Antonyms

heavy cream

11 2.0

Thick milk with a lot of fat used to make food taste rich and smooth

How Rich

double cream

1 3.0

whipping cream

5 2.0

light cream

1 2.0

Surface Forms

light cream singular

light creams plural

Morphology

light + cream

The phrase is a straightforward compositional color description: 'light' (paler/less intense) modifies 'cream' (a pale off-white/yellowish color), so the overall meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This modifier+noun color pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the intended pale cream shade.

Etymology

Light cream comes from dairy cooking: it is a 'lighter' kind of cream with less fat than full cream. That's why the name means a cream used to add richness without being too heavy.