I love clotted cream. If you haven’t had it, it’s kind of like a mix between whipped cream and whipped butter, but with a deeper flavor.
It’s thick, it’s creamy, and it’s absolutely dreamy on scones warm from the oven. Clotted cream and scones have always been my favorite part of afternoon tea. I’m obsessed with it.
What is clotted cream?
Clotted cream sounds kind of funny, but really, it’s SO delicious. It’s also called Devonshire cream or Cornish cream, so if you’re not so fond of the word “clotted,” you can think of it like that. Really, clotted is just another word for thick, so just think of it as thick cream! It’s thick, spreadable form of heavy cream first invented way back in the day by dairy farmers in Devon as a way to preserve milk.
What does it taste like?
Clotted cream tastes rich and, well, creamy. It’s not particularly sweet because it’s made from just cream. It’s fairly neutral like whipped cream and is the perfect compliment to jam. It has a smooth, rich texture that just melts in your mouth. It has a very slight hint of sweetness, kind of similar to how a really good butter tastes a bit sweet.
What do you eat it with?
Clotted cream is essential with a batch of scones. Trust me when I say you haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a fresh scone slathered with Devonshire cream and jam. It’s divine. It’s standard when you have British tea and scones. You can pretty much also eat it on anything where you would have butter. I love it on toast and I’ve been known to eat it with slices of banana bread too. You can also have a smoosh alongside cake.
Clotted cream ingredients
- Cream. All you need to make clotted cream is heavy whipping cream. That’s it! You’ll need to make sure the milk fat percentage is 35% or higher and that it’s not ultra pasteurized and you’ll be good to go.
How to make clotted cream
- Bake. Pour your cream into an oven safe dish and bake it in a very low oven for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight.
- Cool. Let it cool down to room temp then place the dish in the fridge to firm and chill up.
- Skim. The slightly golden, thickened layer of cream at the top of the dish is clotted cream! Skim it off then enjoy.
What kind of cream?
Clotted cream is made from heavy cream or whipping cream. Heavy cream is the high-fat layer that skimmed off of milk before homogenization. It’s kind of like that saying, “the cream always rises.” Because cream has so much fat in it, it rises to the top of milk and is skimmed off. We’re going to take heavy cream and concentrate it even more. Since you only need one ingredient, it’s best to use the highest quality cream you can find: local, organic, grass fed. Essentially, you want the stuff that tastes really good because your end product will taste like the cream you buy.
What is heavy cream?
Heavy cream is just another name for whipping cream. It’s also sometimes labeled as heavy whipping cream. As long as the label says 35% fat or higher, you can make clotted cream with it.
What is ultra pasteurized heavy cream?
Ultra pasteurized cream is cream that’s been heated to 280°F so that the cream is more shelf stable. Unfortunately you can’t use ultra pasteurized heavy cream to make clotted cream. I’m not too sure on the science of it but ultra pasteurized heavy cream won’t clot as much as regular pasteurized cream.
Can I make clotted cream in an Instant Pot?
Yes! Just place the heavy cream in your Instant Pot and choose the yogurt setting until it hits boil. When the Instant Pot beeps to let you know that it’s come to temp, press keep warm. Let the cream cook for 8-10 hours. Turn the Instant Pot off and let cool down completely then place the insert in the fridge for at least 12 hours to chill and firm up. Scoop off the top layer of thickened cream – that’s the clotted cream.
Slow cooker clotted cream
Yes, but it depends on your slow cooker settings. You’ll want to add the cream to the slow cooker and keep it on warm – the cream needs to stay between 165-180°F so read your manual to see which setting that is. It should probably just be warm, but it might also be the low setting, so double check. Once your cream is in the slow cooker and the temp is right, cover it with the lid and let cook for 8-10 hours or until a light golden crust starts to form. Turn the slow cooker off and let cool to room temp before chilling in the fridge completely, then just skim off the top thickened layer.
Or even a rice cooker?!
Yup, as lot as your rice cooker has a keep warm setting that keeps things warm from 165-180°F. You can test your rice cooker with water and an instant read thermometer. Just pour 4 cups of water, set it on keep warm and after 30 minutes or so, check the temp of the water. If it reaches 165-180°F, you can make clotted cream in it. Simply pour the cream into the bowl and set the keep warm for 8-10 hours. Double check every so often to make sure your rice cooker hasn’t turned off. When it’s done, let it cool to room temp then pop it in the fridge to cool completely before skimming off the clotted cream that has formed on the top.
Why is there a crust on my clotted cream?
The crust is the part that you want – it’s the cream that has been clotted. Most people skim off the top most layer that is the thickest. Underneath the thickest layer there may be another layer that is a bit more loose. You can skim this out too and use it to loosen your cream if you like a looser, more flowy clotted cream. Underneath that layer will be liquid, which is the leftover whey (the liquid that is left over after making cheese or butter). You can use the whey in baked goods.
What can I do with the left over liquid?
After you skim off the lovely layer of clotted cream, you’ll notice some whey at the bottom of your dish. You can use this in any baked good that calls for milk. You could use it to make scones, muffins, and cakes.
xoxo steph
PS – This last shot is pink because I used a bit of powdered strawberries and gold flecks!
What to spread it on
Clotted Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 qt whipping cream 35% MF or higher, NOT ultra pasteurized
Special Equipment
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 170°F. Pour the cream into a deep casserole dish that has a cover that can go into the oven. You’re aiming for a deep dish so that the cream is about 2 to 2.5 inches deep when poured in. I used a casserole dish with a glass cover, kind of like an old school pyrex type thing. Cover the dish and place in the 170°F oven for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight, which is what I did.
- The next day (or 10 to 12 hours later), remove the casserole from the oven and let cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours, or overnight.
- Skim off the top, slightly golden, thickened layer. This is your clotted cream! There will be another layer under the slightly yellow layer that is creamy and thick like sour cream – this is clotted as well, but with a bit more moisture in it. Skim that off as well. Use as is, both the thickened creams are considered clotted. Some people mix the two and some people just use the top layer. Or, you could use a stand or hand mixer/a spoon and mix up the the two kinds of cream until thick, but this is not traditional at all. Serve chilled and enjoy! I love it on scones, toast (SO GOOD), cake, basically anything or everything!
Notes
Estimated Nutrition
More jams, spreads, dips
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-Steph & Mike
This looks so yummy!
Brilliant! The little bottles at the grocery store are so expensive!
Which brand of whipping cream did you use? I definitely plan to try this out.
hi shauna,
i just used my local dairy brand :)
Do you know what would happen if you didn’t use ultra pasteurized heavy cream? That’s all I can find in the stores near me!
hi,
i haven’t tried it but i heard that it won’t clot – you’ll come back the next day and the cream will look exactly the same. but i can’t 100% confirm this either. one reader did try and it worked for them, but they did it in a slow cooker.
Thank you! I will either have to try with the UP version or search high and low for non UP version in NY!
I know that this is a common problem for people using ultra pasteurized, but for the record, all I had on had was Kroger heavy cream which IS ultra pasteurized. I decided to give it a try anyway, and it clotted beautifully. I’ll try non ultra pasteurized as soon as I’m able to find it because I’m sure the end flavor with higher quality cream will be so much better, but in the meantime, my quarantine scones have clotted cream!
yay for quarantine scones and clotted cream! and thanks for letting me know about the ultra pasteurized :)
Wait, I’m a bit confused. Am I supposed to whip the top yellow looking layer and the layer right under that together to make the clotted cream or do I whip them separately and have one yellow clotted cream and one white clotted cream? I’m not sure how to read this.
hi anne,
i whipped both layers together!
Groovy, thanks!
Hi guys, your clotted cream looks great! Here in Newfoundland I grew up with cream and wild blueberry jam on fresh out of the oven homemade white bread. It’s still one of the best things ever! We always spread cream on toast with jam too. Believe me, I know your addiction. In our family it’s practically genetic.
I coincidentally found your post on Instagram because of your 150 buns recipe…I’m doing that campaign too and was grilling in 2 degree weather here in St. John’s yesterday! Spring has abandoned us! I expect it’s much warmer in your neck of the woods.
Great post, Barry.
thanks for dropping by barry! and thanks for this awesome recipe :)
cheers to being bun recipe mates! can’t believe it’s 2 degrees in st. johns…brr!!!!
Do you think that it is the heat or the evaporation that is more important in this? I’m curious about trying this using a sous vide. The heat should still cause the clotting but I am trying to avoid a dried out layer of cream on the top.
Thoughts?
hi chad,
it’s the evaporation and the heat that you want. the top dried layer is what you want!
Love clotted cream!!!!! Baaaah, this recipe is so dangerous! Its so simple! I can’t wait to try it out on scones and toast and all of the things!!
so simple and so delicious!! i have a feeling i’m going to be making it on the regular :)
this looks DELICIOUS! i love clotted cream and im pretty sure the first time i had it was when we were in london for our london trip! it was as delicious as i had expected.
yes!!! clotted cream in london was so DREAMY :)
wow it’s so much easier than i expected! must try this asap so i can have a proper scone experience
I love afternoon tea and scones with clotted cream are also my favorite part! Question.. once you skim off the two top layers of cream, is there something under it? If so, what do you do with it? or what can you do with it?
Thanks!!!
hi cathy,
there is a liquid underneath the layers of cream that you can use in recipes that call for milk :)
I had no idea that you could make this at home! I had high tea for the first time last year and was SO in love with it with jam! The little devonshire creams were so pricey though to recreate it at home, so I am SO super happy for this awesome recipe!! That powdered strawberry looks like it would be so delish – on everything! Is it blended freeze-dried strawberries? or it is something I can find at the stores? :)
yes to the blended freeze dried strawberries!
SECRET EFFING GARDEN Steph WHY HAVE WE NOT GONE THERE TOGETHER YET. Haha that place is my secret love.
Hi guys! Your clotted cream looks great! I havent eaten anything like that before so I think I will try to make Polish clotted cream using that recepie. Thanks for posting that! Greetings from Poland! :)
Hello,
This might just be a stupid question, but thought of asking before I attempt this. Do you leave the oven running at 170 for those 12 hours or you just preheat to warm it up? Thanks!
you leave it running at 170 for 12 hours :)
We just retuned from our 1st trip to London. I LOVE scones (husband doesn’t!) It was my 1st taste of colored cream which always came with the cream and a small jar of strawberry jam. I am in love with this new flavor!
Your recipe is the one I opened and I will be making it tomorrow. We are going to a cabin in the mountains for a week with our family and I can hardly wait to make it!!
Do you whip the two creams or do you just mix with a spoon? Probably personal preference
Thanks!
i whipped it up but it’s definitely personal preference!
What’s the problem with ulra pasteurized?
hi larry, i haven’t tried this recipe with ultra pasteurized so i can’t vouch for it. all the recipes i’ve come across say that it doesn’t work, but if you give it a try, please let me know :)
I actually used ultra pasteurized heavy whipping cream and put it in my slow cooker, warm setting, all night long. It came out superb. The consistency was a bit thinner and creamier than maybe with non ultra pasteurized cream but none the less delicious. What was even better, I bought the whipping cream on sale for $1. Very non fussy and non expensive way to make this mana from heaven :)
Hello – I can’t find non UHT cream anywhere here in Florida so I want to try your slow cooker method. How many hours is “all night”, and did you cover it? And then refrigerate it? If so, did you remove it from the crockpot first? (Mine is pretty big.)
Thanks!
hi addie,
i would put it in in the evening, let’s say from 6-8 pm then all the way until morning until 6-8 in the morning. you’ll need to make sure the cream reaches 165-180°F. then, the next day, after 10-12 hours or so, let it cool to room temp, then put the insert in your fridge until it chills and solidifies. just to double check, you’re going to be using fresh cream, not ultra pasteurized right? i haven’t tried this with ultra pasteurized, although some readers have had success. just wanted to let you know :)
Hi, Jenny – I thought I was writing to you yesterday but I was answered by Stephanie who did not use UHT cream in her slow cooker. She did, however, answer most of the questions I had meant for you. Except I wanted to know if you covered the crockpot both during cooking and
refrigerating; also, my crockpot is big and I’m not sure the insert will go in the fridge. Wondering if I can transfer it to something smaller?
Thankyou, and to Stephanie as well!
Please please DO NOT whip the clotted cream! It ruins the consistency, after all that effort and time spent making it. I’m from Dorset, and grew up on clotted cream. It’s supposed to be served with the crust on the top, and with a rich thickness. In fact, it is so thick that you shouldn’t be able to spread it on top of jam – the clotted cream is spooned onto the scone and the jam put on top. If you do it the other way around, then the jam gets smooshed – its almost like trying to spread butter over jam.
I am in violent agreement with you. I am from Manchester.
Although, I prefer the Cornish version where you put the jam on first then the cream on top. Also, when I lived down there, they used to top the ice cream with clotted cream YUMMY!
Hi what happens if you use ultra pasteurized cream
hi margaret,
i haven’t tried, but the internet says that it won’t clot, it’ll just stay liquid.
Hi, I have cream in the oven now. The recipe I used didn’t say to cover the cream in the oven. Sooooo…anyway I’m just wingin it! Also I didn’t know to use un-pasteurized cream. Can I salvage this project? It’s been in a 190 degree oven for 6 hours. Beautiful golden crust, and it smells heavenly! Now what? I don’t want to break the crust, so I didn’t shake the dish. I think it is still runny under that top layer. Any ideas would be appreciated. By the way, I’m JennE & I love to have tea if it’s an excuse to eat scones & clotted cream!
it should be fine uncovered – i would let it go as long as you can, at the very least you’ll have the golden crust part! let me know how it turns out :)
Hi, I’ve been researching clotted cream recipes as I’m originally from UK, live now in Australia and want to make some cream for my hubby who was born in Devon and misses clotted cream. The traditional recipes used full cream quality milk with a high fat content not a cream or a whipping cream some of which have thickeners added. The finished texture should be more like a thick set honey and not aerated and whipped.
I’m a little confused. If it’s all about the evaporation, why do you cover it?
hi jeanie, it’s not exactly about the evaporation – what it’s doing is cooking the cream, at a very low temperature :)
I just made this using heavy cream from my local dairy and the results were amazing. I just recently tried clotted cream while in Scotland and fell in love with it. Thanks for this recipe!
yay! thanks so much for taking the time to comment linna! and so happy that you made it :)
Making some now. 12 hrs to go! Can’t wait!!!
yay! let me know how it turns out! :)
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I followed your instructions to the letter, but when I peeled off my layers of clotted cream, the top part was really tacky. I tried to whip them together and it turned out like clumpy butter. ? Where did I go wrong? Thanks.
hi kristen,
the top layer is pretty tacky/solid. traditionally most people don’t even whip it, they just use the most top layer (and the layer right underneath) and spread it on to scones, etc. otherwise, it could be that your cream was ultra pasteurized? how did it taste? it’s also possible that it became butter-like because it was whipped too long.
Same results for me, clumpy butter and I barely whipped it at all before it clumped up… used organic not ultra-pasteurized… Wonder why?
hi rho,
a couple of questions:
1. is your over temperature accurate?
2. what was the texture of the cream before you whipped it?
3. after the 12 hours were there three separate layers of cream?
4. did you refrigerate overnight?
also, traditionally, clotted cream is not actually whipped, how did it taste/look before whipping?
The very best cream is Cornish Clotted Cream. As a child I saw it being made on a farmhouse kitchen scale where it was ‘scalded’ in a pan over boiling water; and would dip my finger to lift a bit when she wasn’t looking. Using really good milk from South Devon cows; and only taking the creamy portion of the ‘separated’ milk (the thinner portion, the skimmed milk of today, was fed to the pigs).
We used clotted cream on lots of foods including cakes, fruit, runner beans, and even Cornish pasties,
Good article. I recently became interested in clotted cream. I live in southeast texas so it is not readily available. I watched every YouTube video I could find, bought some heavy cream from CostCo (best I found anywhere) and made clotted cream. It turned out great and tastes very good. I discovered, through my own observation and the Internet, clotted cream is simply whipped butter. It’s interesting that everyone says it will keep only 4 or 5 days. I believe it will keep much longer. Heavy cream has a very long shelf life and butter is even longer. This is the 7th day since I made mine and there is no change in it. I plan to check it every and will document findings and. will post here later.
Here in the Los Angeles area, I tried unsuccessfully to find non pasteurized heavy/whipping cream tomake home made clotted cream. Whole Foods- carries Organic Valley heavy/whipping cream, but it IS PASTEURIZED- so, no. None of the supermarkets have it either. Would anyone have a suggestion?
I have never had clotted cream but I have always wanted to try it. I attempted to make it yesterday and I have know idea if it came out right or not. I wasn’t all that impressed with the taste so I’m wondering if something went wrong. I used ultra pasteurized whipping cream and it clotted just fine. But when I separated the clotted cream from the liquid it was not creamy. It looked like spreadable butter but you could not spread it. I expected it to be creamier. I read all the comments but they were not helpful.
hi sharon, you should definitely be able to spread it! the taste is very slightly sweet and quite creamy. it might have been the ultra pasteurized milk?
Hi! I’ve from Vancouver (I love Secret Garden too! – their cheese scones are to die for!). I was wondering which brand of non-ulta pasterized cream you purchased?
hi able,
ooh this was so long ago i don’t remember but the UHT (ultra high temp) pasteurization doesn’t really happen here, it’s more for those shelf stable milks you see all over europe and asia :)
Hi! Can i use Evaporated Milk instead?
hi ginny,
unfortunately it won’t work with evaporated milk.
I tried this, the top layer of cream was amazing. However the bottom layer was a little strange and I’m a little concerned. I’m used to the whey being liquid, but this time it was clotted (thick and clumpy/grainy) and tasted sour. It was hard to skim off the cream without getting some of the sour stuff mixed in. Should I be concerned about the sour flavor?? I used the Kalona brand “low-temp pasteurized”? I don’t prefer the sour flavor, but I’m more concerned that the whey is spoiled and possibly harmful. (Serving it to guests.) Is this a concern? Have you ever had this happen? Thanks!!
i haven’t had it taste sour before so i would be concerned as well. it should smell incredibly fresh and have just the hint of sweetness!! i think maybe the whey might have spoiled!? do you know how fresh the cream you used is?
I’m going to give this a try with cream made from heavy cream powder. The package claims 72% butterfat. The directions for preparing a heavy cream texture is to mix 1:1 with water and leave in the fridge overnight. Have you had, or have you heard of anyone who has had, any experience trying this? Let’s give it a shot!