Scones with Clotted Cream
I tried my first real English scone at the cafe at Kew Gardens when I was studying abroad in London. It was one of the most delicious things I ate while in England. It was nothing like the scones that I grew up making with my mom, which were full of oatmeal and oozing butter. English scones are definitely nothing like Starbucks scones. English scones are more more similar in shape to American biscuits, but still less buttery so a little bit dryer, but delicious.
The best part of the English scone I had at Kew Gardens that day was the clotted cream and jam that was served with it. I’d heard of clotted cream, but I really didn’t know what to expect. Was it going to be like sour cream? Why was it clotted? It turned out to be so decadent and delicious, and I devoured it way too quickly.
I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to try my hand at making clotted cream, but it wasn’t until this year that I actually set out to recreate that delicious little treat I tried that one beautiful day.
To make clotted cream you need to bake a tray of cream at a consistent temperature for 12 hours and then cool it for another 8-12 hours. Part of what held me back from trying this recipe is that I have literally not had access to an accurate oven, like ever. The oven at my parent’s house hangs open slightly which is infuriating, and the oven at our apartment is just so wildly inaccurate that I had to buy an oven thermometer to place inside and monitor and I still don’t trust it. Our oven flame sometimes goes out spontaneously, so no way is it something I’m comfortable leaving on for 12 hours overnight.
For my bridal shower, I put a Brød & Taylor bread proofer on my registry. It’s a really cool proofing appliance that I learned about during the Covid sourdough craze of 2020 and something I wished I had then. In addition to it keeping dough at perfect temperatures for proofing before baking, it can also be used as a slow cooker by placing a pot on the hot plate inside, and because it holds at a consistent temperature, can also be used for making yogurt.
I had the stroke of genius to to think to use it to make clotted cream, and I’m so glad that I did! I could finally make my Kew Gardens clotted cream dreams come true! Unfortunately, there are little to no resources that describe in full how to make clotted cream with a Brod & Taylor besides this YouTube video which shows the first part of the process. Using that video and other clotted cream recipes that use the traditional oven method, I was able to piece together how to make clotted cream. I might be overcomplicating it a little bit. It’s really just one ingredient. But the process is important!
To summarize the process, you need to bake (or use a device like a bread proofer) heavy whipping cream at a low temperature for 12 hours, then chill it in the fridge for another 8-12 hours. After it’s chilled, you pull it out and scrape off the thick solids that have risen to the top of the dish, stir, and enjoy.
Needed:
Oven proof casserole dish or large, shallow pie dish
Pasteurized (but not ultra pasteurized) heavy whipping cream. I’m not super clear on the science for why pasteurized but not ultra pasteurized is best. As with any of these basics, I try to use the best quality I can.
Oven, or Brød & Taylor bread proofer. Or maybe something else! I’m sure there are other methods, depending on what you have at your disposal, you’ll just need to find it.
Using the White Rose Manor Bed & Breakfast video as my guide to start, this is how I make my clotted cream:
Set up my Brød & Taylor bread proofer box.
Fill the tray that’s provided with water until it’s mostly full, and then place the rack on top.
Set the proofer to 120 degrees Fahrenheit with the steam icon selected ♨️ (the video didn’t talk about this setting so I had to do a lot of video pausing and zooming to figure it out).
Place the pie dish into the proofer, and pour the heavy whipping cream into the dish.
Cover the proofer with the lid, and set an alarm for 12 hours later. (This is where the White Rose Manor video stopped.)
12 hours later:
Turn off the proofer, and take the dish of cream out. There will be a skin on top of the cream, and there won’t be a ton of movement of liquid, as it should be mostly trapped below the fat that’s risen to the top.
Let the dish of cream come to room temperature, then place it in the fridge covered for 8-12 hours
8-12 hours later:
Take the dish out of the fridge, and start scraping the skin and the cream solids from the top of the dish and place into a bowl.
Go slowly. There will be a watery liquid left behind, but don’t discard it just yet.
Once all the solids are in the bowl, start mixing to smooth it out. You might need to mix a little vigorously at first, but be brief and pay very close attention to the consistency. I learned the first time I made clotted cream that it goes from a thick cream consistency to a firm spreadable butter consistency very quickly when mixing. This time around, I stopped every few stirs to check the consistency, as I wanted it a little bit looser this time. If things get too thick too quickly, you can use some of the watery liquid to thin it out.
Once the cream is at the desired consistency, place it into a nice storage container with a tight cover and keep it in the fridge! It’s ready to be paired with homemade scones and some jam.
I use this recipe to make scones. It’s really simple, and doesn’t require any out of the ordinary ingredients. It also takes 30 minutes tops assuming you have an accurate and properly working oven. (Must be nice.)
I don’t have a cookie cutter or scone cutter to make the rounds, so I use a cleaned up can. It’s now my official scone cutter.
All this hard work and anticipation resulted in the perfect way to start a Monday - a scone with clotted cream, jam, and cup of English breakfast tea.
