How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea

How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea. It takes very little effort and really just time to make thick, rich, velvety cream. Perfect for slathering on fresh scones with your favourite jam.

Homemade Clotted Cream on Proper English Scones

Originally published Feb 2016.

One of the purist of pleasures there can be is thick, rich dairy cream and clotted cream just has to be the ultimate example.

Here in Newfoundland we have a very great fondness for “thick cream”. It has been enjoyed by generations atop pies and tarts or served with fruit and jelly for Sunday supper dessert. 

Fussels brand is an iconic pantry staple in many homes here.

Fussell’s Cream. The perfect topper for pies, tarts and many desserts.

Because of strict dairy import laws supplies it can be scarce to non-existent in the fall of the year. That’s when people begin to hoard it for Christmas or to use in some traditional baked goods for the season, like Cherry pound cake. 

Victoria Sandwich Cake with Jam and Homemade Clotted Cream

Shortages have on occasion even caught the eye of the national news media. Our fondness for the product is that great.

Childhood memories.

I remember well when growing up here, whenever the first blueberries of the season were turned into jam.

We would bake fresh homemade bread and enjoy thick slices slathered in a layer of Fussels cream and the freshly made wild blueberry jam. That remains to this day, one of my ultimate indulgences. There’s just nothing better.

Fussell’s Cream. A Newfoundland favourite for decades.

At 23% milk fat, Fussels Thick Cream is indulgent indeed. However, it pales in comparison to British clotted cream which can have twice the milk fat content.

Commonly associated with the  dairy producing counties of Cornwall and Devon, clotted cream is an essential part of a traditional cream tea. 

Traditionally it is served with jam on freshly baked scones.

Homemade Clotted Cream

Residents of both counties are very particular about which goes first, the jam or the cream. They can be quite adamant about which is the better way, with the Cornish preference being jam first, then cream.

Be sure to check out my recipe for Proper English Scones and conduct your own taste test to see if you have a preference.

How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea

British cuisine

Long-time readers of Rock Recipes know that I have a particular fondness for British food.  I’ve featured many, many recipes from traditional roasted potatoes to Sticky Toffee Pudding.

I’ve had readers from all across North America ask if the was a substitution for clotted cream when serving scones. That’s because it is not commonly available in many places, especially small towns.

When I received the latest question about clotted cream I decided to do a little online research. Surprisingly, I found that it wasn’t that hard to make at home using whipping cream.

I experimented with a few of the variables in what is essentially the same method of slow heating of the cream in the oven overnight. That’s followed by a thorough 2 stage cooling before skimming the rich clotted cream of the top.

Clotted cream after skimming.

This is not so much of a recipe, it’s more of a relaying of the method variations I used that worked best in making this decadent cream.

I’ll be reminding all of my Newfoundland friends of this method that next time there is a Fussell’s crisis in the province. I’ve come to discover that clotted cream is even better!

Clotted cream after stirring the skimmed cream.

Looking for more brunch inspiration?

Be sure to check out this amazing collection of our 25 Best Scone Recipes.

Like this Clotted Cream recipe?

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Homemade Clotted Cream on Proper English Scones

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Yield: 40 servings (1 tbsp)

How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea

Prep Time: 1 minute

Cook Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 12 hours 1 minute

How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea - it takes very little effort and really just time to make thick, rich, velvety cream perfect for slathering on fresh scones with your favourite jam.

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Ingredients

• 1 quart (or litre) whipping cream (35% milk ft or higher)
• Do not use any cream labelled as "Ultra Pasteurized".

Instructions

1. Set your oven to regular bake at 170 to 180 degrees F. (170 is the lowest setting on my oven so that's what I used.)
2. Pour the cream into a small covered casserole dish. The dish I used was about 8x8 inches. In my experiments that was the best size for 1 litre of cream but a 2 or 2 1/2 inch depth of cream in the casserole dish is a good guide. Having too large a casserole is a problem.
3. Place the covered casserole dish in the oven for 10-12 hours. I usually do it overnight.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool to about room temperature before refrigerating for 8-10 hours as well. I usually let it go overnight in the fridge and skim it in the morning.
5. Skim the solid cream off the top in to a small mixing bowl. There will be liquid white cream underneath the solid cream as well, so skim off as much of that as you can too. It gets stirred into the thicker cream to create the right consistency although many Brits do like to use it in that state for a mix of textures, I think.
6. Store the cream in a covered container in the fridge. Clotted cream is meant to be consumed quickly, so use it up within a few days.
7. Do not discard the liquid beneath the cream, use it as a milk substitute in baking. It can even be used in preparing the scones.
8. Clotted Cream makes a great topping for pies and tarts too or on practically any dessert where you would add a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition Information

Yield

40

Serving Size

40 servings (1 tbsp)
Amount Per Serving Calories 81Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 27mgSodium 6mgCarbohydrates 1gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 1g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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