SC - Clotted Cream taste test

[Susan Fox-Davis]

Kateryn wrote:

> I obtained some clotted cream (commercial - in a jar) yesterday.
>
> So I conducted a little taste test since I have some medieval recipes calling for clotted cream.  It tasted exactly like the homemade butter you can make by shaking heavy whipping cream(for what seems like forever), or unsalted butter (available in the freezer section of your grocery store).
>
> It does not taste anything like the clotted cream which is made essentially like evaporated milk.  IE: cream set near an oven vent which is set on low heat (250 degrees) for overnight.  Now, that cream which does get a very thick skin on top, tastes a lot like evaporated milk.
>
> Which is the most period? The commerical stuff or the top-of-oven stuff?  Probably the top-of-oven stuff.  How would I make a substitution for it out of modern ingredients?  I would use unsalted butter (for the appropriate texture) and a tablespoon or two of evaporated milk (for the appropriate flavor).
>
> Has anyone else tried making clotted cream or substituting for it?
>
> Kateryn de Develyn

The commercial stuff is crap, the metallic flavor of whatever they do to it for export ruins it completely.  The clotted cream I had in Devon and Cornwall was a substance of similar texture to stirred sour cream, but sweet as heaven without sugar added.  I believe it has a fat content higher than anything
you can get in the states.  What might work is if you ran the heaviest cream available in the US in a blender with melted, unsalted, clarified butter, and THEN did the top-of-the-stove thing.  I think I have instructions for that, but as usual, that's at home and I'm at work.

Occasionally I'll use Crema Mexicana from a jar, but as a topping not as an ingredient.  This advice is only useful if you live in an area with Mexican neighborhoods, which I suspect are in short supply in Calontir.  I could be wrong.

Selene, Caid