One Brother and Two Sisters: Devonshire Cream

Devonshire cream, otherwise known as clotted cream, is a mild, buttery thickened cream, popular to spread on all kinds of baked bread goodness. More common in the UK than the US, you can easily make your own to enjoy with a hot beverage early in the morning. And it's so easy, made with one simple ingredient!

Devonshire/Clotted Cream

1 quart heavy cream (NOT ultrapasteurized)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to it's lowest setting (typically around 170 degrees). Pour the cream into a glass square baking dish (8x8 or so). The cream should be close to 2 inches deep. Place the pan, uncovered, into the oven and bake for 10-12 hours. Cream is done after baking almost all day for the cream to begin to thicken. Exact timing depends on how dark you like your end top crust to be. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, use a spoon to "peel up" the top crust and drain the liquid underneath (about 1 1/2 cups fluid). Save the fluid, if desired, to use for biscuits, pancakes, waffles, etc. Scoop the remaining thickened cream into a container for storage and keep in the refrigerator, stirring the crusty top bits into the entire mixture. Those bits will soften as they sit in the finished cream and lend flavor.

A friend noted in her recipe, the Devonshire way to enjoy the cream on a biscuit is to do jam first, cream second. The Cornish way is cream then jam. Just a fun tidbit.

Notes:

It is important to use NON-ultrapasteurized heavy cream for this recipe to get the right result. Also, the amount that you let the top brown will change the taste of the cream in the end. The more it browns, the stronger the flavor.

Never tried clotted cream? What to expect: It's a bit like a super mild tasting butter, so don't expect too much sweetness or too much flavor. I especially enjoyed the balance the mild cream added to the tang of some lemon curd I added to my biscuit.

Images of steps: