Homemade Clotted Cream ~ (aka Devonshire or Cornish Cream) this luxurious spreadable cream is a must for afternoon tea and scones, but no need to buy those pricey little imported bottles, because now you can make it right in your own kitchen with my easy recipe.
“I have done this clotted cream several times now and have been successful each time. The family is looking forward to scones and clotted cream this Christmas morning.”
~ Jean
If you’ve never had a classic English afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream, you’re missing out!
Last week I was treated by the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to their classic English afternoon tea. If you’ve never had a classic afternoon tea, you need to experience it, and the roaring twenties era Biltmore is the place to do it. Every inch of the hotel is carved, muraled, frescoed, tapestried, guilded, mosaic’d and generally so eye-poppingly gorgeous that it’s easy to forget you’re in Los Angeles. I almost forgot to drink my tea!
The highlight of any afternoon tea, besides the tea, is the array of tiny treats that comes with it, and I always zero right in on the scones and clotted cream. (That’s them on level two of our tiered tea tray.)
What is Clotted cream?
If you’ve never had it, is a very thick rich spreadable form of heavy cream that was first invented ages ago by some very smart British farmers. It’s not like whipped cream, or cream cheese, it’s not like butter…it has a unique decadent consistency and a wonderful soft flavor. It’s quite thick and spreadable, and when you slather it on a freshly baked scone there is no better thing in the world.
The little pot of clotted cream that we got at the Biltmore had me craving more, and happily I made the most astounding discovery…you can actually make clotted cream at home in your own kitchen. No more tracking it down in specialty stores and paying big bucks for the imported stuff. My homemade clotted cream was actually way better (and a whole lot fresher) than the British stuff I usually buy.
What does clotted cream taste like?
Clotted cream tastes like lightly ‘cooked’ cream, but it’s not the taste it’s famous for, it’s the amazingly thick, silky texture! The mouthfeel of clotted cream is like nothing else, and definitely shouldn’t be missed.
How to make clotted cream ~
This is an amazing process, I hardly had to do anything, and I end up with a ton of the richest, silkiest clotted cream I’ve ever had.
- I used 2 pints of cream, poured them into a baking dish, and left it overnight in a 180F oven (the lowest my oven will go.)
- In the morning I let it cool and then refrigerated it for the rest of the day.
- Then I scooped it into jars, which was a little sloppy at first, and put them back in the refrigerator. Any little bit of liquid gets absorbed right into the clotted cream after you put it in the jars, and by the next morning when I had it with my scones, it was absolutely to die for.
How long does clotted cream last
- This is a fresh cream product, and will need to be stored in the refrigerator. It will keep for about 2 weeks, but honestly, it disappears faster than that every time.
What to do with the whey leftover from making clotted cream
You can use the whey in baking, for making oatmeal, or in smoothies.
I can’t say enough good things about this project, the results far exceeded my expectations and it was absurdly easy. The only catch is that you can’t use ultra-pasteurized cream, which is cream that’s been processed for a longer shelf life. Many stores only sell ultra-pasteurized cream, so you have to search a bit for regular cream. I found mine at Whole Foods. Just read the labels… if it doesn’t say ultra-pasteurized on the label, you’re good to go.
What to eat with your homemade clotted cream
You will definitely want to make scones to go with your homemade clotted cream. I have lots of recipes for scones on the blog, but this time I made Jennifer’s Cardamom Vanilla Cream Scones, and they were wonderful. Jen doesn’t use any egg in her recipe like I usually do, and I have to say I really liked the texture of her scones. And how can you go wrong with cardamom and vanilla? I highly recommend them.
Tips for making clotted cream
- Make sure your cream is not ‘ultra pasteurized’, you will need to find regular pasteurized cream at a Whole Foods or other similar store. Ultra pasteurized cream has been treated in a way that prevents it from ‘clotting’.
- An oven thermometer is an essential kitchen tool, and really comes in handy for this project. If your oven is too cool or too hot your homemade clotted cream will not ‘clot’.
Homemade Clotted Cream
Ingredients
- 2 pints heavy cream, not ultrapasteurized
- a heavy casserole dish
Instructions
- set your oven to 180F
- Pour the cream into the casserole dish. It should come up about 1-3 inches on the side.
- Set the dish, uncovered, in the oven and leave undisturbed for 12 hours. Be sure to leave the oven on the whole time. I do this overnight.
- Remove the dish from the oven and set to cool. Then cover and refrigerate. Note: the cream may seem thin at this point, but is going to thicken considerably overnight.
- The next morning scoop the thickened cream into a jar or jars, and cover and put back in the refrigerator. You can use the leftover cream for baking..
- Spread the clotted cream on freshly baked scones.
Hi! I apologize if you already answered this- I skimmed the comments but didn’t read all 330 of them closely. I’ve tried this recipe twice. I get a gorgeous crust on top, and the cream separates into a heavier and a much thinner product, but the crust is only a millimeter or so thick and the “thicker” part of the cream is yogurt consistency, rather than a spreadable creamy product like I remember from the UK. I tried one batch in an 8×8 at 180 and the second in a 9×13 at 200. Same end results.
I tried the clotted cream and I love it. I didn’t use a deep enough dish and will next time. This goes on my list for good. My husband, a retired airline pilot, tasted it and said “wow, we used to get this on our European flights.”
Thank you –
Love this Janet ~ and really, they used to hand this out on flights? Those were the good old days 😉
I tried clotted cream at a tea room where the owner ordered it from England and picked it up in Tampa. Delish!! Is it thick like that?
Yes, it comes out the same 🙂
I have done this clotted cream several times now and have been successful each time. The family is looking forward to scones and clotted cream this Christmas morning. I reserve enough of the liquid from the pan to make a batch of scones to have with the clotted cream. Our favorites have become the orange cranberry scone and the cinnamon raisin, although plain scones disappear as quickly as any of the flavors, especially with strawberry jam on top of the clotted cream. Sinful, yes, but for an occasional treat – lots of fun and good taste.
I finished first batch yesterday and it appears to have turned out perfectly. I scooped into a jar this morning and put back into fridge. My question: when the liquid is re-absorbed, does the “skin” soften and become more creamy?
Homemade clotted cream is a little less refined in texture than some of the jarred stuff, Eva, but you can stir it as much as you like for a smoother texture. Authentic clotted cream can vary in texture, but can be quite lumpy, and it’s that crusty part that’s the most coveted in England 🙂
Have you tried covering the dish in the oven during the 12-hour baking time? Wonder if that would prevent the skin from forming but still allow the clotting…
I haven’t tried that…
Can this be done in a slow cooker
I’ve tried and it didn’t work because the slow cooker, even on low or warm is too hot.
Does it matter if the oven is fan forced?
If it maintains an even temp it should be fine.
Can I leave a candy thermometer in the dish in the oven to verify the temperature is at 180?
My oven temperature isn’t the same temperature as what I tried to set it to. I have the knob to turn to desired temperature. I put an oven thermometer in the oven. I tried to set the oven at 180, and then checked the oven thermometer. It said it was 200 degrees.
I use an inexpensive oven thermometer, made to hang right on the rack so you can check it without opening the oven door.
By a good oven thermometer that will give you your oven temperature.
1) I’m assuming that you don’t do any stirring during this process, until, maybe at the end. Is this correct?
2) You said that we can use the leftover cream for baking. Is there some of the cream that doesn’t turn into the clotted cream?
3) How much clotted cream does this make?
I made mine in crock pot last night and the side burned and fell into the middle of my cream…help!