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What’s Up with Clotted Cream?

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

What’s up with the clotted cream?

My daughter sent us a lovely English Tea Hamper for Valentine’s Day. It came with a couple of nice scones, three different conserves, a jar of clotted cream, a fruit cake, and tea (or course). I think I remember trying some clotted cream a number of years ago and not really thinking too much about it but had put it out of my mind. We decided to have our “TEA” for breakfast the next morning.

I set out the conserves and opened the clotted cream and put them on the table, brewed up a cup of tea for each of us, popped the scones in the very large toaster that I had just given my husband for Valentine’s Day since all British bread seems to come in very tall and very fat, and cut off a small chunk of the fruit cake for each of us. The scones popped up nice and warm but they don’t open nicely into two halves. They sort of start crumbling the minute you try and open them. Oh well, still plenty of nice surface area to put some conserves (for non Brits, read jelly or jam or preserves) on each piece and the infamous clotted cream.

I delved into the jar, certain that a nice big dollop of cream was needed for each slice and bite. Stabbed a hunk of scone and put it into my mouth anticipating – what I’m not sure. What I got was pretty much a mouthful of jam and scone and really no other taste! Now I know that my taste buds are not the best for discerning subtle differences in spices and herbs and flavors but I would expect to be able to tell I was eating something milky and creamy. My hubby’s taste buds are much better and he felt there was even less taste to the clotted cream than I thought. Guess I had expected it to be rather like a whipping cream but heavier. I guess it is but it is also less flavorful and less tasty. Basically, I think it is adding texture and bulk but not a whole lot of anything else. So all this mystery over the famous scones and clotted cream must be more traditional because that’s all they had way back when, rather than a tasty treat of the ages. I will continue to eat scones and clotted cream because I like the tradition and the sense of “Englishness” but it won’t be something I go out of my way to get because of the taste.