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.
How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea
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. Because of strict dairy import laws supplies can be scarce to nonexistant in the fall of the year when people begin to hoard it for Christmas or to use in some traditional baked goods for the season, like Cherry pound cake. Shortages have on occasion even caught the eye of the national news media; our fondness for the product is so great. 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.
At 23% milk fat, Fussels Thick Cream is indulgent indeed, but 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 where it is served with jam on freshly baked scones. Residents of both counties are very particular about which goes first, the jam or the cream and 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.
Long-time readers of Rock Recipes know that I have a particular fondness for British food, having 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 because it is not commonly available in many places, especially small towns. When I received the latest question about clotted cream I did a little online research and 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 esentially the same method of slow heating of the cream in the oven overnight, followed by a thorough 2 stage cooling before skimming the rich clotted cream of the top. 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 Fussels crisis in the province. I’ve come to discover that clotted cream is even better!
How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea
Clotted cream after skimming.
Clotted cream after stirring the skimmed cream.
How to make Clotted Cream for the Perfect Cream Tea
Victoria Sandwich Cake with Jam and Homemade Clotted Cream
Find the Victoria Sandwich Cake Recipe here.
Like this chocolate Banana Cake recipe?
You’ll find hundreds of other sweet ideas in our Cakes & Pies Category and even more in our Desserts Category.
To keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes plus daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals, be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram Instagram.
- 1 quart litre whipping cream Do not use any cream that is labelled as "Ultra- Pasteurized" , 35% milk fat or higher
-
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.)
-
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.
-
Place the covered casserole dish in the oven for 10-12 hours. I usually do it overnight.
-
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 again and skim it in the morning.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
It’s a coincidence that you just posted this. I tried this very method last week to go with scones and it turned out beautifully! It reminds me of my neighbour and her cow, she would milk the cow and do whatever processing needed to have drinking milk, scaling and whatnot, and then put some of the creamier milk in a a glass container on the back of her wood burning oven to have cream for the next morning. Yum yum yum!! This is an excellent recipe and even nicer than canned cream if you could believe in that being possible.
Yes, this works perfectly, even though I was a sceptic when I made it for my daughter’s High Tea Bridal shower this past summer. The length of time waiting for it to preform magic was my problem,, My friend who ran a tea shop in Manitoba had given me instructions and laughed at me to stop looking at it! The cream was a show stopped for my husband’s mini scones!
Can this recipe be scaled down?
I think it would take a little experimenting with times and the size of baking dish. Truthfully though if it were successfully scaled down by half it would only yield 3/4 cup or so of clotted cream.
Thank you. I plan on making this and will make the full amount. I did some sleuthing and found out that clotted cream can be frozen so there is no need to make a lesser batch.
I was in Newfoundland in August and there was a dearth of bakeapples. Did they ever ripen? I did manage to buy up more than a few jars of bakeapple jam at the tea room where Random Passage was filmed so I am not totally bereft. But I sure missed the fresh ones……..
Yes they did indeed ripen. I’m told they were plentiful although I’m not much of a berry picker myself. I prefer to buy a winter stock from those that enjoy the activity. There is nothing quite like the flavour of bakeapples.
This is fascinating! Who would have thought of cream in the oven? I have to try this you know! I’m not even sure what else to use it on except the scones. Your picture makes it look delicious.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
An English Victoria Sandwich Cake is a great use ( I added a photo to the post) or anywhere you’d add a dollop of whipped cream to a dessert.
Oh my gosh and to top it off I find the clotted cream recipe! And then the cake I have been searching for not knowing a name for it and here it is Victoria Sandwich Cake! I’m so happy. I’m going to be doing some baking. The clotted has me a bit scared to be honest. I will let you know how I do. Happy Day to you.
Karla
Barry, I’m glad I found you on Pinterest. I am in the US but make lots of British recipes (it’s my heritage). So many times when I click on a clotted cream recipe, it’s actually a “faux” version. But this is the way I make clotted cream. I believe in the recipe I posted I used a pint (16 fluid ounces) of cream. It makes 1 cup of clotted cream.
Hi, most whipping cream in Australia contains gelatine. We do have pure cream as well which is 25% fat from memory. And some which is about 55%.
So, should I use the one with gelatine or try and find some 35% cream without gelatine for the clotted cream recipe?
I would definitely not use a product that contained gelatine.
One of my favorite recipes!
I make yogurt in a similar way using milk and a yogurt starter. I make it in a crock pot. I would think that using a crock pot instead of an oven for 4 hours or so, letting it cool to .uckwarm( here I add my starter) allowing it to rest over night ( I put mine in a cold oven with a kettle of boiling water) would result in clotted cream. The only difference is in the milk fat.
I think you’d have to test the temperature of the liquid in the crock pot. If it’s above 170 F there may be an issue. I don’t think cutting down the time is a good idea.
I attemped this last night and my husband turned off the oven about two hours in, thinking our child had turned it on. (Never mind that I told him specifically I was cooking something at low heat). How important is the heating process? He seems to think it is still going to be ok based on experience of making butter with raw milk that wasnt refrigerated.
I would think the heating process would have to go the full length of time.