Homemade Clotted Cream

Homemade Clotted Cream

Homemade Clotted Cream Recipe - TheMessyBaker.com

Shrove Tuesday doesn’t have to include pancakes. Today is really about gorging on rich foods before the 40-day fast of Lent. Pancakes just happen to be cooked in grease, filled with eggs and topped with more decadence.  It’s okay to think beyond the griddle. Any rich, fatty food will do.

For pancake enthusiasts, these recipes will cover you from main to dessert:

  • Potato Latkes: Savoury and easy to make. These classic pancakes are great topped with sour cream or apple sauce.
  • Zucchini Fritters with Dill Tzatziki: I think these are my favourite savory pancakes of all time. Maybe it’s the topping. Maybe it’s the spicing.
  • Chocolate Waffles: The waffles aren’t too sweet since you are likely going to load them up with syrup. A nice dessert to close out Pancake Tuesday.

Homemade Clotted Cream, Anyone?

But for those who want  their fat in a different form, why not flirt with clotted cream? Boldly striking another item off my Culinary Bucket List, I made a batch. What’s clotted cream? Only the most decadent topping you can imagine. It’s gently heated cream that thickens into a rich, spoonable consistency. Often eaten on scones, you can dollop it on fruit. Or pancakes. Or anything else you fancy. There is nothing low-cal about this. But isn’t that the point today?

I got the idea from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn’t Cook from Scratch by Jennifer Reese. She describes clotted cream as “the love child of butter and whipped cream” and says it’s worth travelling to England for. As my planned trip to the British Isles this summer is being postponed, I decided not to wait, and I made my own. Having conquered the elusive clotted cream, I guess I’ll just have to go across the pond for the scotch.

Print

Homemade Clotted Cream

Clotted cream is almost worth travelling to Britain for. Now you can make it at home for a fraction of the price of the imported store bought version — or air fare for that matter.

  • Prep Time: 1 min
  • Cook Time: 12 hours
  • Total Time: 12 hours 1 min
  • Yield: 1 1/4 cups 1x
  • Category: Condiment
  • Cuisine: British

Ingredients

Scale
  • 5 cups 35% heavy cream (not ultrapasteurized)

Instructions

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

Notes

This recipe is printed with permission from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn’t Cook from Scratch —Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods by Jennifer Reese. Published by Free Press © 2011.

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Make the Bread, Buy the Butter Review in Brief

This will appeal to: Anyone who wants to take control of their kitchen, and cooks who just want to stretch their DIY list. When I say Reese covers amost everything, I mean it. From salt pork to lard, kimchi to mascarpone cheese, this book’s got it covered in 120+ recipes.

It will also appeal to anyone wanting to save a few dollars. Reese has done the research — and includes dollar amounts —as to whether or not a home version is worth the time and effort. And the verdicts aren’t always predictable. I was surprised to see burritos and crystallized ginger are better off purchased, while crème brûlée is worth it only if you have the torch — and you know I do!

Must try recipes:

  • Graham crackers (they are on my culinary bucket list, too)
  • Fruit vinegar
  • Worcestershire sauce (You can make this stuff at home?)

Biggest delight: While I loved the information, I also I loved the humour. This book could easily have slipped into preachy, self-righteous territory. But it doesn’t. Reese keeps it light and keeps it real. But be warned, reading about all the possible homemade items will turn every trip to the grocery store into a potential culinary challenge. Once you crack the cover, I bet you can’t make just one.

10 Comments
  • Andrea the Kitchen Witch
    Posted at 10:12h, 22 February

    Congrats on another bucket list check off! The clotted cream looks great, rich and thick like it’s supposed to be. I’m going to have to find this book – it’s right up my alley!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 10:38h, 22 February

    I was so thrilled to find this homemade fix. The book is a lot of fun. I am eager to try so many of the items. I was quite impressed that she worked out the costs but will be trying some of these just for the sheer pleasure of saying, “I made this myself!”

    If you do get a copy, I’d love to know what items you make.

  • Lana
    Posted at 03:37h, 25 February

    I grew up in Serbia with kajmak, our version of clotted cream. When you don’t use milk for butter, cream, or sour cream, you have plenty to make clotted cream:)
    I had a hard time making it here in the U.S. as the milk has to be fresh, unpasteurized and not skimmed. We make it with milk, not cream, and it takes a lot of liquid, but it’s worth it.
    I spent four months in Serbia in the summer and fall taking care of my mother, and I got really used to buying kajmak from the farmers’ market. My girls love the stuff and they don’t touch any other spread if it is available.
    We heat the milk slowly until it boils (the best dishes are shallow and wide), and then let it cool down. We scoop up the layer of fat from the top and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. The next day another layer goes on top, with salt, and so on.
    It can be kept for a while if it has more salt, and when it ripens, it becomes yellow and a bit tart, a flavor I cannot compare with anything else.
    I did not intend to write a novel here, but you hit a soft spot with clotted cream:) All I need to do now is find me a cow, or a farmer near-by:)
    The book looks really interesting, as I like to make “stuff” on my own!

  • Mary
    Posted at 14:39h, 14 March

    What did you do with the “lower layer” of the cream? Did you start the process over again with the rest in the oven or fridge?

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 13:03h, 15 March

    You can’t start the process over again, but you don’t have to discard the “lower layer”. You can use it as you would half-and-half.

    Hope you like the results.

  • cagey (Kelli Oliver George)
    Posted at 10:05h, 23 March

    LOVE this! When I was in Pakistan, I was served something called “malai” during breakfast and tea. It wasn’t until years and years later that I found out this was simply clotted cream.

    Nice to know that it is so easy to make!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 17:43h, 27 March

    Neat. I love how so many cultures have variations of the same food. I’d have never thought Pakistan would have a clotted cream, but why not? Thanks for sharing this interesting food fact.

  • marg
    Posted at 18:08h, 27 October

    Hello thank you for your receipe. My question is whippi.g cream is 35% sous this what I use, or table cream at 18%. Thanks marg

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 11:05h, 28 October

    This recipe uses whipping cream (35% butterfat). It’s also called heavy cream in some places. You want the highest fat content possible. Good luck with your homemade clotted cream.

  • Bushra Minhas
    Posted at 05:14h, 16 May

    I’m Pakistani and when I was 9 years old (I’m 41 now), I lived in Pakistan for a while. Every morning my mum would save the malai for me to have with paratha for breakfast. I loved it so much. I never found anything like it in the UK. This morning I was feeling nostalgic and started googling malai, which eventually led me here. I’ve just realised the clotted cream we can get in the UK is this closest thing to malai! I’m overjoyed! Reading your comment confirmed it for me as I needed to speak with someone that had also tried malai from Pakistan. I’m so glad I came across your comment.