Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mock Clotted Cream

I've found a different recipe for making mock clotted cream.  Clotted cream is not made in the States, it's imported, quite expensive and you can only get it from certain stores, so I'm always looking for a good mock clotted cream recipe.  This one is different to any I've come across so far.

Clotted cream is a thick yellow cream made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms 'clots'. Clotted cream purists prefer the milk to come from cows in the English counties of Devon and Cornwall.

Clotted cream is generally served as part of a cream tea (also known as a Devonshire Tea) on (warm) scones with strawberry or raspberry jam.

Legends vary, assigning the origins of Clotted Cream to both Devonshire and Cornwall, but regardless of it's beginnings, it had become a popular dish in it's own right by the late 1600's. Numerous recipes abounded, some for creating a plain cream dish, others used citrus flavourings to make a sweet dessert. Common period instructions suggested that you:

"Take the night's milk and put into a broad earthenware pan. In the morning, set over a slow fire and allow it to stand there from morn to night, making certain not to boil the liquid, only heat it. Take off the fire and set overnight in a cool place. Next morning, dish off your cream and it will be quite thick."

Clotted Cream can often be purchased for an authentic tea-time treat. When clotted cream is not commercially available, a reasonable facsimile may be made by combining two parts whole milk with one part whipping (heavy) cream, heating at the very lowest possible heat for a couple of hours until a skin forms, leaving it undisturbed overnight, and then harvesting the skin and its underclots. The remaining milk may be consumed or used in any number of recipes. 

Christy

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