Clotted cream

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Clotted cream on scones with jam, also called Cream Tea. Note the little buttery clots on the yellow cream

Image showing the crust on clotted cream.

Clotted cream is a thick yellow cream made by heating and then leaving unpasteurized cow's milk in shallow pans for several hours; it is very similar to the Indian Malai. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface into 'clots'. Purists prefer the cows to come from the counties of Devon or Cornwall in England, in the United Kingdom; true Cornish clotted cream must be made from unpasteurised milk or the clots will not form. It has a minimum fat content of 55%.

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—one may do whatever one likes with the remaining milk.

In the European Union, Cornish clotted cream is a protected designation of origin for cream produced by the traditional recipe in Cornwall. In the United States, clotted cream is usually sold in specialty stores with the label 'Devon Double Cream', regardless of the country of origin.

Clotted cream is generally served as a cream tea (also known as a Devonshire Tea) on (warm) buttered scones with strawberry or raspberry jam, although many people frown upon the indulgent use of butter and cream.

While there is no doubt of its strong association with south west England, it is not clear whether clotted cream originated in Devon or Cornwall, and while strong claims have been made on behalf of both, there is a lack of documentary evidence to support them.

Clotted Cream made by the Rodda family in Scorrier, near Redruth, Cornwall is served as part of a Cornish Cream Tea on a major British airline, with strawberries at Wimbledon and is available across Britain in many supermarkets.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In Mongolian cuisine, clotted cream is called "Öröm". It gets added to salted tea or eaten in small pieces as a snack. In a modern household, it also sometimes serves as a replacement for butter on a slice of bread. Stuffed into a sheep's stomach it will turn sour after a while, but it can be stored this way for several months as a winter reserve.^{[citation needed]}Kaymak (or Kajmak) is similar to clotted cream, made all over the Middle East, Southeast Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Turkey. It is made from milk of water buffalos in East or cows in West.