Preparation
Traditionally, clotted cream was created by straining fresh cow's milk, letting it stand in a shallow pan in a cool place for several hours to allow the cream to rise to the surface, then heating it either over hot cinders or in a water bath, before a slow cooling. The clots that had formed on the top were then skimmed off with a long-handled cream-skimmer, known in Devon as a reamer or raimer. By the mid-1930s, the traditional way of using milk brought straight from the dairy was becoming a rarity in Devon because using a cream separator, which actively separated the cream from the milk using centrifugal force, before heating produced far more clotted cream for the same amount of milk: as a farmer's wife in Poundsgate said, "the separator saves a whole cow!"
Today, there are two distinct modern methods for making clotted cream. The "Float Cream method" includes scalding a floating layer of double cream in milk (skimmed or whole) in shallow trays. To scald, the trays are heated using steam or very hot water. After the mixture has been heated for up to an hour it is slowly cooled over 12 hours or more, before the cream is separated and packaged. The "Scald Cream method" is similar, but the milk layer is removed and a layer of cream which has been mechanically separated to a minimum fat level is used. This cream is then heated in a similar manner, but at a lower temperature and after a set amount of time it is then chilled and packaged. In the United Kingdom the resultant cream is deemed to be equivalent to pasteurised for legal purposes. Unlike pasteurisation, however, there is no requirement for the temperatures to be recorded on thermograph charts. As the temperatures are lower than used in standard pasteurisation, much care is needed in ensuring high standards of hygiene.
Its principal high-volume Cornish manufacturer is Rodda's, a family-owned business based in Scorrier. Founded in 1890, the company was producing over 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) per year in 1985, and in the run up to Christmas 2009 they were producing up to 25 tonnes (25,000 kg) of clotted cream per day. In the early 1980s, Rodda's signed deals with international airlines to serve small tubs of clotted cream with the in-flight desserts, and the company considers the annual Wimbledon tennis championships one of their peak selling periods. As a by-product, for every 100 imperial gallons (450 l; 120 US gal) of milk used, 94 imperial gallons (430 l; 113 US gal) of skimmed milk is produced, which is then used in food manufacture.
One Devon manufacturer, Definitely Devon was purchased by Robert Wiseman Dairies in March 2006, closing one of the two Devon dairies and moving all production to Okehampton. However, in 2011 Robert Wiseman sold the Definitely Devon Brand to Rodda's, who moved the production of Definitely Devon to Cornwall, which caused some controversy as the name was not changed, prompting an investigation by Trading Standards.
Throughout Cornwall and south-west England clotted cream manufacture is a cottage industry, with many farms and dairies producing cream for sale in local outlets. As clotted cream is not regularly available outside south-west England, there are a number of ways to create an approximation. One example is to mix mascarpone with whipped cream, a little sugar and vanilla extract.
Outside Cornwall and Devon, clotted cream is produced in Somerset, Dorset, Herefordshire, Pembrokeshire, and the Isle of Wight.
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Famous quotes containing the word preparation:
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—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
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—Joyce Maynard (20th century)