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Clotted vs. Devon Cream


TJHarris

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Was hoping that someone might answer this simple question for an ignorant Yank. What are the attributes of these two fine British creams? Are they used substantially differently?

Thanks, :unsure:

Tobin

It is all about respect; for the ingredient, for the process, for each other, for the profession.

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Good question. I wonder the same thing. I hope some of our friends can clear up this issue. Another question would be what brands that we might be able to get in the US are considered the best.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Both are from the West Country. Devon cream is a particularly rich concentrated variety of clotted cream; Cornish cream is somewhat rougher. Both involve a slow and gentle heat treatment, which gradually reaches the scalding point. The original purpose was to extend its usable life when refrigeration was not so readily available. It closely resembes Near Eastern Kaymak and may have been introduced by Phoenician traders two thousand years ago (according to Alan Davidson).

Edited by John Whiting (log)

John Whiting, London

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Devon have pushed pretty hard to get their name associated with clotted cream. Most of the clotted you find is Cornish. Between 55% and 60% fat, by the way.

A bit of background here:

History of Cream

Devon cream tends to be pasturised jars unworthy of egullets.

The famous Cornish ice cream relies on the quality of Cornish cream....and lard, of course. :blink:

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The first time I saw the expression 'Devon cream' used to describe a style of cream was in California. I assumed it was marketing-speke intended to reassure those found the word 'clotted' a little too close to arteriosclerosis, but reading Steve Martin's post I realise it's a totally different product - not really clotted cream at all.

For what it's worth, both Devon and Cornwall produce clotted cream. My Devon grandmother, who has always loved clotted cream but has no truck with anything Cornish, used to buy (Devon) clotted cream from a farmer at Plymouth market. The product was, as far as I could tell, exactly the same as Cornish clotted cream.

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For what it's worth, both Devon and Cornwall produce clotted cream. My Devon grandmother, who has always loved clotted cream but has no truck with anything Cornish, used to buy (Devon) clotted cream from a farmer at Plymouth market. The product was, as far as I could tell, exactly the same as Cornish clotted cream.

Absolutely right, Stigand, though, in Plymouth, it could well have been Cornish cream. I have bought some further up in Devon though and it is excellent, though I haven't seen other than Cornish exported oop north.

Both counties milk a good proportion of Jersey and Red Devon cows, so average buttermilk is high.

I am Cornish, by the way, though I can't stand the place. :shock:

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:laugh::laugh::laugh:

I hate to break up a good regional brawl... but... What does a Yank buy? Or, given that that is hopeless, how do we make it?

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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:laugh::laugh::laugh:

I hate to break up a good regional brawl... but... What does a Yank buy? Or, given that that is hopeless, how do we make it?

Outlaw cook has the best recipe on the 'net. You have to find the non-ultra-pasturized cream

I use manufacturers cream that I buy at Smart & Final wholesale grocers. There are similar suppliers most everywhere because chefs use it for sauces as well as the usual uses for heavy cream.

http://www.outlawcook.com/Page0221.html

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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i remember from my days as a whole foods market employee that we sold clotted cream. i do not remember the brand tho. i also remember having to fight the urge to sit and eat the whole thing with a spoon.......

:biggrin:

(edited to add an "m" in remember)

lisa

Edited by ElfWorks (log)

"Animal crackers and cocoa to drink

That is the finest of suppers, I think

When I'm grown up and can have what I please,

I think I shall always insist upon these"

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My Devon grandmother, who has always loved clotted cream but has no truck with anything Cornish, used to buy (Devon) clotted cream from a farmer at Plymouth market.

Absolutely right, Stigand, though, in Plymouth, it could well have been Cornish cream.

This could well be true, but try convincing my grandmother :wink:

I am Cornish, by the way, though I can't stand the place.

No offence meant to Cornwall - we're just bitter because you get all the glory for pasties :wink:

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One other thing while we're on the subject.

Clotted cream isn't just for tea! It also makes a nutritious breakfast.

Cut a thick slice of soft white farmhouse bread, spread with strawberry jam and then clotted cream. Forms part of a complete breakfast (along with a starter of bacon, sausages, mushrooms, black pudding, fried bread and Daddies Sauce, and at least a pint of tea). :wub:

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I am Cornish, by the way, though I can't stand the place.

No offence meant to Cornwall - we're just bitter because you get all the glory for pasties :wink:

That's really funny, because I read it as 'can't stand the pace.'

I'm afraid that as with everything, there are good and bad examples of cream and (especially bad) pasties.

One small point. I wouldn't expect to get an authentic curry in Cornwall, so don't expect authentic Clotted Cream unless you're in Cornwall.

slacker,

Padstow, Cornwall

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I'm not from Devon, but I've lived here for more than 25 years. There have been some rather curious statements here (clotted cream made from cream AND lard???) and there seems to be a misunderstanding that Devon, Cornish and clotted creams are all somehow very different. They are not. Clotted cream is made in both Devon and Cornwall from the rich milk from the herds that graze on the green verdant lands of this southwestern paradise. This is dairy country par excellence, after all, and the source of a truly outstanding range of farmhouse cheeses (not just farmhouse cheddar, but Cornish Yarg, Devon Oke, the outstanding range of soft cheeses from Sharpham, Beenleigh and other blues, and many more). It's not surprising that outstanding clotted cream is made in both counties, though in Devon they will say that their's the best, while the Cornish will beg to differ. Of course.

A main consideration is whether clotted cream is made on a fairly large semi-industrial scale in the larger dairies or on a much smaller, artisan level. Either way, as John described, it is a product made by allowing unpasteurised milk to settle so that the rich, yellow almost butter like cream rises to the top, then heating this gently in large open trays so that cream scalds and solidifies and so can be scooped off. As it is heated in this fashion, all clotted cream is virtually pasteurised and thus has always been quite safe to transport - indeed for decades, a typical souvenir of the West Country is a small tray or box of clotted cream, sent through the post.

Quicke's Dairy, who make an excellent farmhouse cheddar, and who are just down the road from me, produce an excellent clotted cream that we enjoy with fresh local strawberries. Roddick's seems to be a popular and widely available make (is this Cornish?).

Incidentally, I recently came across an interesting organic 'fresh alternative' to clotted cream called 'crusty cream' from the West Hill Organic farm, in I think Dorset. 'Crusty cream' is made simply by allowing the cream to rise to the top, skimming it off and leaving it to thicken in the dairy chill room. It's not as thick or dense as clotted cream (which is really almost as thick as butter) and is really more like very rich double cream.

Now, another question for Cornish and Devon folk to debate. For the classic Devon cream tea, we take our freshly baked scones, spread on a massively generous dollop of clotted cream, then add a spoonful of (preferably homemade) strawberry jam. The Cornish do it the other way around, first jam, then the cream. Or have I got it the wrong way round? And of course we should not forget that famous Cornish delight, thunder and lightning (treacle and clotted cream).

It's summertime here: the best time of year to enjoy a West Country cream tea preferably in a pleasant tea garden out of doors. For what it's worth, my favourite remains the Southern Cross in Newton Poppleford. The Broadway House in Topsham is also excellent: always freshly baked scones and homemade jam. And of course that glorious Devon clotted cream.

MP

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there seems to be a misunderstanding that Devon, Cornish and clotted creams are all somehow very different. They are not. Clotted cream is made in both Devon and Cornwall from the rich milk from the herds that graze on the green verdant lands of this southwestern paradise.

Marco, great post: the Quicke's clotted cream sounds fab by the way - do you know if they mail order it? Their website only mentioned cheese. Agree that there's not a significant difference between Cornish and Devon clotted cream, although the industrial stuff from either county can be grim.

I think there are two products that have been discussed on this thread: clotted cream (which as you rightly say can be from Devon or Cornwall) and the bizarre 'Double Devon Cream', which I've only ever seen in America, and which seems to be a totally different creature. The website that Steve Martin posted made it sound totally unlike any kind of clotted cream:

The next most famous cream is thick 'Double Devon Cream', which is a fresh pasteurized cream of 48% - 50% milk fat with a distinctive flavour. 'Double Devon Cream' originated after World War II, because the only cream available with a long shelf life was tinned sterilized cream with a poor flavour. The Cow & Gate company, famous in England since the turn of the century for baby foods, turned its attention towards the concept of an innovative product and the story goes that Colonel Gates, the Chairman, told his Chemist and Production Director one Friday morning to produce a cream with a long life that tasted like fresh cream, and by Monday morning!... The flavour is produced by a unique method still secret to this day by various stage heat treatments under different vacuum processes and the cream is exported worldwide.

Ah, the joys of British cuisine in the era of rationing... :smile:

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So here's a question: Why is there NO double cream OR clotted cream available in the U.S.? I'm mystified as to why some enterprising dairy -- Ronnybrook Farms, say -- doesn't get on the bandwagon. I know (or I think I know) that double cream and the like can only be produced by certain breeds of cows, but yeesh! Some outfit in Maryland or Virginia is raising Yorkshire Old Spot pigs, so why doesn't somebody get in the Special Breed of Cow business?

On the other hand, if double cream were available to me without my having to climb on a plane to get it, I would probably look rather like a Special Breed of Cow myself, so maybe it's a good thing.

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The famous Cornish ice cream relies on the quality of Cornish cream....and lard, of course.  :blink:

You had better read it again, Marco. Lard is an ingredient of Cornish ice cream and the pig farmer's most lucrative market.

The original poster was asking the difference between Devon and Clotted, as they see it in their market.

The Cornish put the cream on last, because it isn't butter.

Just to explain to a wider audience, Thunder and Lightning is clotted cream with golden syrup.

Would that be Rhodda's?

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So here's a question: Why is there NO double cream OR clotted cream available in the U.S.? I'm mystified as to why some enterprising dairy -- Ronnybrook Farms, say -- doesn't get on the bandwagon. I know (or I think I know) that double cream and the like can only be produced by certain breeds of cows, but yeesh! Some outfit in Maryland or Virginia is raising Yorkshire Old Spot pigs, so why doesn't somebody get in the Special Breed of Cow business?

On the other hand, if double cream were available to me without my having to climb on a plane to get it, I would probably look rather like a Special Breed of Cow myself, so maybe it's a good thing.

You can get some here

Clots

It is from Devon and, would you believe, in jars. It won't be any good :sad:

Jersey cows will do the trick, if you feed them lush grass.

Not everybody realises the quality and range of dairy in Britain (and Holland). The French, for instance, can't do cream.

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Not everybody realises the quality and range of dairy in Britain (and Holland).  The French, for instance, can't do cream.

uh oh :laugh:

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Mags: your post made me wonder what the difference between American 'light' and 'heavy' cream and British 'single' and 'double' cream is. A bit of Googling dug this up:

From a random website:

Heavy cream, also called heavy whipping cream, has a fat content of between 36% and 40%. Light cream has between 18% and 30% butterfat (but generally on the low end of the scale), and light whipping cream has between 30% and 36% fat.

Saint Delia (US translation: Delia Smith, the Mister Rogers of UK TV cookery) has this to say:

Double cream...

It is extremely rich with a minimum fat content of 48 per cent...

Whipping cream

...at least 35 per cent fat, and it whips beautifully without being quite so rich...

Single cream

...only a minimum of 18 per cent fat...

Extra thick double or single cream

...have been treated to give them a consistency that is suitable for spooning on to pies and desserts without having to bother with whisking them first.

The little bottles of 'Double Devon Cream' I see advertised on the web all seem to have a little sticker on them saying '48% MF', which I assume is the fat content. But as noted above this stuff seems to have gone through some kind of mysterious vacuum treatment, so may not taste the same as fresh double cream.

I must say, I didn't even know that double cream had to made from special cows; I assumed it just came from whatever dairy breed is normally used in the UK.

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I must say, I didn't even know that double cream had to made from special cows; I assumed it just came from whatever dairy breed is normally used in the UK.

The average dairy herd is mostly Friesian because they give a very high yield. However, their milk is low in butterfat. Double cream could be made, but it is more effective to have a proportion of high butterfat cows in the herd. As I have said, these include Jersey and Red Devon (South Devon) breeds. You will also see Guernsey.

The herd could also include a small proportion of French beef breeds, that milk reasonably well and ensure that the male calves will fetch a better price at market.

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Yeah, I've had the stuff in jars; it's vile. Again, given that the U.S. certainly has lush grasslands of its own, and that it would be possible, I imagine, to bring in Jersey or Guernsey cows, I don't know why some American dairy hasn't done this. Seems like a market niche waiting to be filled. American thighs need fattening!

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In Canada the Loblaw's chain (Superstore) sells tinned Devon cream. I've never had it, so I can't offer an opinion on it.

Then again, I've never had Devon cream from anywhere else, so why the heck should anyone care about my opinion?

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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