Cooking with Clotted Cream: A Rich and Creamy Delight (2024)
Clotted cream is a traditional English breakfastalternative with a rich fat content and a nutty, creamy flavor.
History of Clotted Cream
Clotted cream dates back to old English days.The origin of clotted cream is a bit uncertain, but despite its occluded origins, its production is mostly associated with southwest England. Cornwall and Devon are the two counties most often associated with clotted cream. The famous Devon cream tea and the Cornish cream tea derive their names from these counties. Famously, in 1998, the term “Cornish Cream Tea” became a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) by European Union directive. A cultural tradition in southwest England is to send tins of clotted cream to their friends and relatives in other parts of the British isles. Outside of England some deep-rooted clotted cream lineages can also be found in France and Ireland.
The Flavor of Clotted Cream
Clotted cream is made by gently heating heavy cream over a long period of time so that the whey separates from the fat. The fat solidifies on top of the container in which it is heated and is scraped off to be enjoyed as clotted cream. Clotted cream has a rich and nutty flavor with a creamy texture and subtle saltiness. For those who have never enjoyed clotted cream the taste falls somewhere between whipped cream and butter.
With a minimum butterfat content of 55%, clotted cream is high in fat with a rich mouthfeel. While not advisable to enjoy copious quantities of clotted cream daily, it does possess a good amount of vitamins A, B12, and D, calcium, magnesium, protein, zinc and phosphorus.
Culinary Benefits of Clotted Cream
Where to start? Let’s start with the most famous culinary item for which clotted cream is used. The Devon Cream tea or the Cornish Cream tea is specifically made with clotted cream. Clotted cream is served with scones, tea, and jam. It is a delightful traditional Southwest English breakfast. Clotted cream is also used as an accompaniment in both hot and cold desserts. In Southwest England, clotted cream is used in the production of ice creams and fudge.
Clotted cream is also used in some savory dishes, namely risotto and egg dishes. Try stirring clotted cream into our Spring Risotto for added richness and flavor.
In India, clotted cream is known as malai. It is widely eaten for breakfast along with tea and bread. Malai sometimes is sprinkled with sugar to give it a sweet, nutty taste. Other culinary uses of clotted cream can be seen in meringues, caramel sauce, and also in clotted cream truffles.
Storage
Clotted cream should be kept in a sealed container and can be stored for up to two weeks. Clotted cream must remain refrigerated when not used or it will start to go bad. If properly refrigerated, clotted cream does last up to 14 days, but normally once opened it tastes best when consumed within 4 days.
Contemporary cooks have also incorporated clotted cream into recipes like fudge, ice cream, and chocolate truffles. Easy British Scones (Serve with clotted cream and jam on top.) Chocolate Truffles (Replace the cream cheese with clotted cream.) Vanilla Fudge (Swap out the sour cream for clotted cream.)
Butter is classified in America as clotted cream for its high fat content. It has the same thickness and creamy taste to that as the clotted cream. Buy 3 or more & receive a 5% discount or 6 for a 10% discount!
So to answer your question, you probably won't get exactly what you want. The fresh cream you add will likely whip, and the clotted cream is thick enough that you might not have the stability issues I had, but it definitely won't be a regular whipped cream. I would be careful whipping it at all, however.
With its ultra-thick consistency, clotted cream can even be mistaken for butter. But butter is churned, rather than separated, and while clotted cream may be closer to butter in terms of fat content, its flavour is more milky than buttery.
In the U.K., it's common to serve a dollop of clotted cream with fresh strawberries or other summer berries. You can use clotted cream in place of butter to accompany baked goods such as muffins and quick breads. Additionally, In the U.K., it's used to make confections such as fudge, ice cream and truffles.
The legal importation and sale of clotted cream in the United States are impeded primarily by regulations enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA stipulates rigorous standards for the safety of all dairy products entering the U.S. market, prominently featuring requirements for pasteurization.
While states are able to make some of their own rules regarding raw and unpasteurized dairy, the distribution of such products is banned by the FDA, so you'll have a hard time finding clotted cream in any U.S. grocery store.
Crème fraîche is a cultured cream similar to sour cream, but it's thicker, richer, and much less tangy. Look for one with a high fat content to get the closest thing to clotted cream in both texture and flavor.
Please refrigerate your cream as soon as it arrives. It is sent out frozen to ensure it remains fresh. It is best consumed within 7 days of your order being dispatched.
Clotted cream originated in southwest England and has become a traditional British topping for baked goods at afternoon teas. Depending on which county the product was made in, it's also sometimes called Devonshire/Devon cream or Cornish cream.
"The Canadian Government" has not allowed companies the quota to import Clotted Cream from England. If/when independent retail locations import Clotted Cream they would be (and are) subject to a tax and tarrif around 70% of the retail price of the cream.
Clotted cream is sweet cream that has been heated using a specifc process to change its texture. Creme fraiche is a cultured product made from cream. It has at least 30% fat and is made with a special strain of mesophilic cultures. Buttermilk in the modern sense is a cultured product made from milk.
It may seem confusing but in actuality, clotted cream and Devon cream (or Devonshire cream or Cornish cream) are the same thing. Thought to have been first introduced to England by Phoenicians around 2000 years ago, clotted cream is a thick (and high fat) spreadable compound.
The consistency of clotted cream should not change at all when it is put in the fridge. The only time the consistency changes is if you put it in something really hot, when it melts, or when you freeze it.
Once the watery whey is poured off, the result is a thick and creamy spread that's smooth in texture and lightly yellow in color. Clotted cream is incredibly rich, requiring 55 percent butterfat to be properly classified as clotted cream. For comparison, heavy cream has a mere 36 percent butterfat.
I love clotted cream. If you haven't had it, it's kind of like a mix between whipped cream and whipped butter, but with a deeper flavor. It's thick, it's creamy, and it's absolutely dreamy on scones warm from the oven.
Introduction: My name is Saturnina Altenwerth DVM, I am a witty, perfect, combative, beautiful, determined, fancy, determined person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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