Reading about How To Make Clotted at Home

I was browsing through a pile of old cookbooks in a second hand bookshop last week and can across a small book telling you all about the delights of cream and various ways to use the different types. In these times when people see cream and dairy as the enemy, it was nice to see recipes on how to make clotted cream at home and how to make clotted cream ice cream.

Desserts have always been a part of our family life and my kids do not think that a meal is complete without something sweet to finish it off. This is why I have always tried to make sure that we have something ready for dessert, even if it is just a scoop of ice cream, or some berries and tropical fruit. I decided to buy the book and try out a few of the recipes in it and the first thing that I learned was how to make clotted cream. This is so easy and requires the minimum effort and ingredients. There was also a small section on the history of clotted cream, which was very interesting.

In the 19th century it was regarded as better nourishment than “raw” cream because that cream was liable to go sour and be difficult to digest, causing illness. An article from 1853 calculates that creating clotted cream will produce 25% more cream than regular methods. In Devon, it was so common that in the mid-1800s, it was used in the formative processes of butter, instead of churning cream or milk. The butter made in this way had a longer lifespan and was free from any negative flavours added by the churning.

Traditionally, clotted cream was created by straining fresh cow’s milk, letting it stand in a shallow pan in a cool place for several hours to allow the cream to rise to the surface, then heating it either over hot cinders or in a water bath, before a slow cooling. The clots that had formed on the top were then skimmed off with a long-handled cream-skimmer.

To make at home simply follow the recipe below and enjoy:

Ingredients

• 5 cups heavy cream (not ultra pasteurized)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 175°F.
2. Pour the cream into a wide, heatproof bowl and place in the oven. No need to cover. Let it “cook” for 12 hours.
3. Remove the bowl from the oven, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning you will have a bowl that contains 2 layers — one very thick, one, very thin. With a slotted spoon, scoop the thick layer into another bowl or jar. You can eat it immediately, slathered over warm scones, or cover and chill for up to 5 days.

Once you know how to make clotted cream at home, you can make it easily and then use it to make clotted cream ice cream which is also delicious and has a richer taste and creaminess than regular ice cream and you can add different flavours.

Celebrating Excellence – Why Kelly’s of Cornwall is Proud to Fly the Flag for Local Produce

Here at Kelly’s of Cornwall we consider ourselves very lucky. As one of the UK’s leading clotted cream ice cream producers, we know that the quality of our ingredients is everything to us and our customers. Only the best milk and clotted cream goes in to our world-famous clotted cream ice cream – and luckily for us we can source it all in our local area. We’re passionate about our ingredients and here in the south-west we have access to the cream of the crop.

Cornwall has always been famous for its amazing clotted cream – and with good reason. This is a county that has been producing the richest, most luxurious dairy products for centuries and here at Kelly’s of Cornwall we’re proud to be a part of that ongoing tradition.

It means that each one of our range of award-winning clotted cream ice creams is made with lashings of love AND, a huge dollop of local expertise and in-depth knowledge about the source of our products.

Working with Trewithen Dairy, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, means we know exactly where our ingredients have been – including which cows they have come from.

When we say they’re local, we mean they’re local. The dairy is just 22 miles from our Kelly’s of Cornwall HQ meaning the milk and clotted cream we use is as fresh as it gets.

Owned by three generations of dairymen, there isn’t much this family-run operation doesn’t know about dairy produce and in the height of summer they regularly supply us with a staggering 17,000 of best-quality milk to help us meet demand.

To be able to do this, they have an extensive network of 20 trusted, local farmers. The milk we use for our Kelly’s clotted cream ice cream is bought in to them every evening.

It’s then pasteurised, before the cream is taken off and slowly heated in a vat. The rich, luxurious cream is then put into a nine kilo box and chilled – before being delivered straight to our door.

Keeping it local means we can be sure that the people we work with are playing fair too.

Trewithen Dairy has a contract with all of its farmers; offering security for them and us.

They even pay above the market rate for their produce – reflecting the quality and strict welfare standards we insist are always met.

It’s this partnership approach that allows us to support local producers and a regional industry that has world-wide appeal. And working so closely together means we can always deliver what we believe is the UK’s best-tasting clotted cream ice cream.

Combining great produce, amazing natural flavours and hundreds of years worth of heritage means we’re proud to be able to offer a taste that’s truly unique – luscious, local and totally Cornish.

Trying out Different Recipes for Clotted Cream is Bad for Your Waistline!

I have always loved afternoon tea although I actually drink coffee instead of tea. I love the whole ceremony with which the fresh scones and butter and jam are placed in front of you with a flourish, on a tiered stand. The best part of the actual eating is the thick rich clotted cream which is such an integral part of the whole thing and this led me to trying out different recipes for clotted cream at home.

Clotted cream is very rich and has an extremely high fat content, which is probably why it tastes so delicious. Both Devon and Cornwall – counties in the South West of England – are famous for their thick cream, which is mainly produced on farms, and in small dairies. The most famous of all is clotted cream which achieves its thick clotted texture by heating cream of high-fat breed cows, such as the Jersey type, in pans, traditionally made of copper but latterly stainless steel, to about 190°f and allowing it to cool slowly.

The cream is usually packed in shallow trays a few inches deep and forms a yellow crusty surface. The consistency is thick and heavy, almost like treacle, and is traditionally served by scooping the cream out into cups or small cartons. In the farmhouses, the pans were heated crudely over a fire or stove and the cream was rich in acid and aroma-producing bacteria. At home there are three main methods of making clotted cream:

• The oven method
• The double boiler method
• The stovetop method

The slow cooker method is the least labour intensive of all techniques. Essentially, you put some cream in your slow cooker, turn it on, and walk away for eight hours; it is as easy as that. There is no one recipe for clotted cream, although the important thing to remember is that no matter the recipe, clotted cream is best made with the highest quality cream. Some slow cookers run hotter than others, so you may find that your particular model cooks faster or slower than what is recommended in the recipe. It is recommended that you check your cream every 2 hours to see how it’s looking.

• Pour heavy cream into the vessel of your slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, and then set it to the “warm” setting and let sit for 3 hours. Do not stir!
• Gently remove the crock from the slow cooker, being very careful not to move the cream around and agitate the fragile top layer. Allow the cream to come to room temperature, and then slide the crock into your refrigerator to sit for 8 hours.
• Once the top layer is solid, use a slotted spoon to gently skim the thick layer of clotted cream from the surface.

The only problem is that trying out different recipes for clotted cream and different methods leads to a lot of “just tasting!” and this in turn leads to an expanding waistline. Still, at least the taste is worth it.