🫖 Clotted cream
Also known as: Devonshire cream, Cornish clotted cream, scalded cream
Thick "clots" of cream: whole cow's milk is heated with steam or in a water bath and cooled slowly in wide pans. A must for an English cream tea.
Clotted cream is a thick, almost solid cream made by slowly heating whole cow’s milk over steam or in a water bath and then letting it cool for a long time in wide, shallow pans. During this time the fat rises to the surface and forms “clots”, hence the name. The result is a yellowish mass with a golden crust and a very high fat content.
The product’s exact origin is unknown, but it is associated with the dairy farms of southwest England, above all Devon and Cornwall. In 1998 “Cornish clotted cream” received EU Protected Designation of Origin status: the milk must come from Cornwall and the fat content must be at least 55%. After the UK left the EU, the name was also registered under British law.
Clotted cream is essential to an English cream tea — tea with scones, jam and cream — and people in Devon and Cornwall argue over whether the cream or the jam goes on the scone first. It differs from whipped cream in that it is not whipped, and from butter in that it is not churned. Similar products are Turkic kaymak and Mongolian öröm.
How it connects to milk
🫖 Clotted cream → made from → 🥛 Cow's milk → type of → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Made from
- 🥛 Cow's milk
- How it is made
- 🔄 Slow baking
- Where it is traditional
- 🌍 Western Europe
- Which peoples make it
- 🧑🤝🧑 British
- Product type
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products
- Part of
- 🧈 Cream and butter
Frequently asked questions
How is clotted cream made?
Whole milk is slowly heated over steam or in a water bath and left to cool for a long time in wide pans; the fat rises and thickens on top.
What is a cream tea?
An English tea tradition: tea with scones, jam and clotted cream.
How much fat is in clotted cream?
A lot: Cornish clotted cream with its protected name must contain at least 55%.
What to read next
- 🌍 Western Europe — France, the Netherlands, Britain: the home of hundreds of cheese varieties.
- 🥛 Cow's milk — The most widespread milk in the world: versatile, inexpensive and the basis of almost all dairy products.
- 🔄 Slow baking — Long simmering at ~90 °C: baked milk, ghee.
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products — Products made for centuries to folk recipes: fermenting, cheesemaking, slow baking, drying. Tied to regions and peoples.
Similar
🧈 Niter kibbeh · 🧀 Cheddar · 🫕 Smen · 🥣 Rømme · 🧈 Ghee · 🥛 Öröm
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.