English Clotted Cream Recipe

-written by Hearth Ember, Jaclyn Wood

At every tea party I host, I make clotted cream for guests to have the option of topping their scones with it. If you’ve never had this delightful pairing you can enjoy it at the next Hearth Tea Party this June. For those who want more after having some at last year’s party you can now make it at home!

When I traveled to London three years ago I had the most delicious afternoon tea at the Goring Hotel. Definitely stop by the Goring if you ever find yourself in London. They serve a magnificent gluten free (or gluten full) spread with seconds and your tea cup is never empty. This is where I tried clotted cream for the first time. If you’ve never had clotted cream it’s hard to describe, but it belongs on some magical cloud between butter and whipped cream. Thick, yet fluffy, melts in your mouth. And of course its best friend is the scone.

After returning home to the states inspired to host my next tea party I wanted to serve clotted cream, but could not find any remote resemblance to it in grocery stores. The thing about clotted cream is it’s best served freshly made. Any packaged version pales in comparison. So the baker in me said, “Ok, then how can I make it?” After a little research, turns out it’s pretty simple. The only difficulty you might face is finding a good heavy cream source. You must avoid homogenized, ultra-pasteurized creams. Because this prevents the cream content to separate and clot on top. I recommend finding fresh local heavy cream at a farmers market. I’ve had good luck with heavy cream from Pemberton Farms in Cambridge. If you’re up for it get some heavy cream and follow the instructions below.

English Clotted Cream Recipe

You’ll need:
Heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
1 Pint yields about 1 cup

Instructions:
1.Preheat oven to 180°F
2.Pour heavy cream into heavy baking dish (I like to use pyrex)
Make sure it’s big enough the cream is no more than 1 inch deep.
3. Pop it in the oven and leave it for 8-10 hours*. You’ll know it’s done when it’s crusted over, that means all the creamy goodness has clotted at the top.
4. Remove and let cool to room temperature, then immediately cover and put in the fridge for 12 hours.
5. Your patience has paid off! Scoop a corner of cream off the top. Drain the liquid cream underneath into a jar to use in a recipe later. Scoop the clotted cream into a jar and refrigerate. You can mix in the yellow crust layer or choose to omit it in favor of the smooth clotted cream below.
Use within 3 days

*If you feel weird about leaving your oven this long I understand. I make mine in an electric bread proofer. Since that’s not an essential tool in most kitchens you could also try it in a slow cooker. You’ll just have to put the whole ceramic pot in the fridge until the 12 hours is up and you can transfer it to a smaller jar.