While living in England, I learned the joys of Clotted Cream (also called Devonshire Cream) on scones. If I mention clotted cream, a lot of people say "that just doesn't sound good". Really, it's heavenly. The best way I can describe it is that it's something between butter and whipped cream, but that doesn't really describe it adequately. It's something you just have to try for yourself.
It may be possible to buy clotted cream in the states, but I haven't found it anywhere around me yet. Even if I find it, I would guess that it's prohibitively expensive. Happily, I found some websites that talked about how to make it, and I've now tried a couple different techniques, with decent results.
The basic idea seems to be that you're trying to get more of the fat from the cream to rise to the top, which you do by lightly cooking it. Surface area is important here. So is time.
For either version that I tried, you need heavy cream or whipping cream. All the recipes I found said not to use "Ultra Pasteurized"...but I couldn't find any that wasn't ultra pasteurized. Don't use the UHT (shelf stable) cream, though. The fresher the cream you can find, the better. I used two pints each time I did it.
First I tried cooking it in a double-boiler. I actually tried twice. The first time, I cooked it for several hours, but forgot to add water to the bottom of the double boiler when I took a nap and the cream boiled a bit. Oops! The recipe said to cool it for several hours then mix the crust into the remaining cream. Umm...if it had reduced properly, it may have worked...but since it didn't reduce, it didn't work.
The recipe said that it should reduce by about half. When I tried the second time, I cooked my cream in the double boiler for 8-10 hours (adding water to the bottom as necessary) and it never reduced anywhere even close to that much. It did get a lovely golden crust, however, like it was supposed to. This time, though, I skimmed the crust from the top after it cooled, and mixed that up until it was all fairly creamy. It worked much better, but I didn't get nearly the amount of clotted cream for the amount of original cream as I would have liked/expected. Tasty...but not a good yield.
Next, I tried cooking in a crockpot (slow cooker). This worked MUCH better! The higher surface area made a big difference, as did the control over the temperature. I cooked it on a "warm" setting (lower than low) overnight. I put two pints of heavy cream in the slowcooker, which covered the bottom and was about two inches(?) deep. The next morning, I set the slow-cooker outside in our three-season room to cool. (There wasn't enough room in the fridge.) After several hours, I skimmed the top off, stirred it well, and had about two cups of clotted cream to put on fresh scones.
There's another method that involves putting the cream in a large, shallow pan in the oven for several hours, and I may try that at some point, but I think it's more efficient to use the crockpot. (Actually, it might work to put the cream in a large shallow stoneware pan and set it on top of my woodstove at night, letting it slowly heat through the night.)
In the future, I think I'd heat the cream for several hours during the day, then cool it at night, to be able to serve it the next morning.
So...broken down to a more simple to follow recipe/technique...here you go:
Clotted Cream
Put 2 pints fresh cream - heavy cream, whipping cream, or double cream - in a covered slow-cooker on your lowest setting for 10-12 hours. A skin/crust will form. This is good - it's what you want. Do NOT stir!
Cool the cream overnight.
Skim the skin/crust from the top into a small bowl. (Safe the remaining cream from the bottom in a separate container and use for baking or in your coffee. It has a slightly caramelized flavor after cooking) Stir until it is a creamy-ish texture. Use like butter on scones or fresh bread with some jam/preserves/lemon curd.
Store leftover clotted cream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days...if any lasts that long.
It may be possible to buy clotted cream in the states, but I haven't found it anywhere around me yet. Even if I find it, I would guess that it's prohibitively expensive. Happily, I found some websites that talked about how to make it, and I've now tried a couple different techniques, with decent results.
The basic idea seems to be that you're trying to get more of the fat from the cream to rise to the top, which you do by lightly cooking it. Surface area is important here. So is time.
For either version that I tried, you need heavy cream or whipping cream. All the recipes I found said not to use "Ultra Pasteurized"...but I couldn't find any that wasn't ultra pasteurized. Don't use the UHT (shelf stable) cream, though. The fresher the cream you can find, the better. I used two pints each time I did it.
First I tried cooking it in a double-boiler. I actually tried twice. The first time, I cooked it for several hours, but forgot to add water to the bottom of the double boiler when I took a nap and the cream boiled a bit. Oops! The recipe said to cool it for several hours then mix the crust into the remaining cream. Umm...if it had reduced properly, it may have worked...but since it didn't reduce, it didn't work.
The recipe said that it should reduce by about half. When I tried the second time, I cooked my cream in the double boiler for 8-10 hours (adding water to the bottom as necessary) and it never reduced anywhere even close to that much. It did get a lovely golden crust, however, like it was supposed to. This time, though, I skimmed the crust from the top after it cooled, and mixed that up until it was all fairly creamy. It worked much better, but I didn't get nearly the amount of clotted cream for the amount of original cream as I would have liked/expected. Tasty...but not a good yield.
Next, I tried cooking in a crockpot (slow cooker). This worked MUCH better! The higher surface area made a big difference, as did the control over the temperature. I cooked it on a "warm" setting (lower than low) overnight. I put two pints of heavy cream in the slowcooker, which covered the bottom and was about two inches(?) deep. The next morning, I set the slow-cooker outside in our three-season room to cool. (There wasn't enough room in the fridge.) After several hours, I skimmed the top off, stirred it well, and had about two cups of clotted cream to put on fresh scones.
There's another method that involves putting the cream in a large, shallow pan in the oven for several hours, and I may try that at some point, but I think it's more efficient to use the crockpot. (Actually, it might work to put the cream in a large shallow stoneware pan and set it on top of my woodstove at night, letting it slowly heat through the night.)
In the future, I think I'd heat the cream for several hours during the day, then cool it at night, to be able to serve it the next morning.
So...broken down to a more simple to follow recipe/technique...here you go:
Clotted Cream
Put 2 pints fresh cream - heavy cream, whipping cream, or double cream - in a covered slow-cooker on your lowest setting for 10-12 hours. A skin/crust will form. This is good - it's what you want. Do NOT stir!
Cool the cream overnight.
Skim the skin/crust from the top into a small bowl. (Safe the remaining cream from the bottom in a separate container and use for baking or in your coffee. It has a slightly caramelized flavor after cooking) Stir until it is a creamy-ish texture. Use like butter on scones or fresh bread with some jam/preserves/lemon curd.
Store leftover clotted cream in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days...if any lasts that long.
Relieved to see that you ended up using "Ultra Pasteurized" since, like you, I can't find any that isn't and have two pints of organic heavy cream from TJs. I will try this in our slow cooker overnight.
ReplyDeleteAnd indeed, worked perfectly well with TJ's ultra pasteurized organic heavy cream in the crockpot/slow cooker! Very happy.
ReplyDeleteDo you cover it with the lid?
ReplyDeleteOops! Just saw the bit about "in a covered slow-cooker" Sorry! Lol
ReplyDeleteSo just to be clear, this is how to make it with ultra pasteurized cream in a slow cooker?
ReplyDeleteIt works with fresh and should also work with the ultra pasteurized
Deletethank you :D
DeleteI've made clotted cream with ultra pasteurized heavy whipping cream several times & it works perfectly. I only fill my glass dishes about 1.5 inches & cook covered on lowest temp for 12 hours. Cool it to room temp then put in fridge for several more hours. Skim of top & separate the rest with a fine mesh colander.
ReplyDeleteI found that if you just bring your cream to a boil in a pan for like five minutes and put the cream in the fridge at the coldest part overnight its thicker then i blend it and it turns into clotted cream
ReplyDeleteWhew! Thanks for this. I had ultra-pasteurized, and thought I had just wasted all my time and money! We're having a British Tea along with our Winnie the Pooh baby shower. -Mitzi (-:
ReplyDeleteNice to see that the ultra pasturized worked. I just put a casserole dish of heavy cream into the oven at 180 F but, as most folks in the US, I could only find ultra pasturized easily at my local stores. I plan to leave it there for 12 hours, then 12 hours in the fridge to set.
ReplyDeleteMy wife likes to get up early and watch the British royal events, so I'm making scones and clotted cream for her to celebrate the wedding tomorrow morning.