How to Use Every Spoonful of Crème Fraîche

I am in the quiet, guilty contingent of People Who Buy Crème Fraîche and Ignore It, regrettably and unintentionally letting it go wild in the back left corner of the fridge next to the gochujang. This is mostly because crème fraîche is far from my regular grocery rotation, and I simply forget that it's in there.

But crème fraîche is expensive and, having convinced myself to splurge, I am vowing to make the most of it. Here's how:

Grilled Bread with Thyme Pesto & Preserved Lemon Cream

• It is a supreme dolloper: Dollop it over fresh or poached fruit, onto baked potatoes, or into soups—like this butternut one or any lentil situation you come up with.
• Or fold it into lentils for a super-creamy, buttery take on these Genius lentils and serve them over greens.
• Stir fat spoonfuls into a bowl of oatmeal or polenta—sweet or savory.
• Crème fraîche serves as the tangy binder for this cold-weather red salad.
• And it makes these mushrooms impossibly creamy. (They're just as good on toast as over the aforementioned polenta.)
• It gives this cake tangy tenderness. If you want to make this cake now, you can sub in another fruit for the plums—oranges and/or orange marmalade would be delicious.
• Crème fraîche brings buttery lightness to this cheesecake...
• ...as well as to this panna cotta.
• Get fancy with it: Add fresh herbs, honey, Angostura bitters, spices, hot sauce, chopped preserved lemons...
• And then spoon that flavored crème fraîche into egg coddlers or ramekins for creamy-as-heck eggs en cocotte.

What are your favorite ways to use crème fraîche? Share your ideas in the comments.