Claudia: The queen of afternoon tea
served with scones and strawberry jam,
clotted cream is sometimes confused with butter
for its thick, rich texture.
While it contains some butterfat (a lot of it, actually),
clotted cream isn't churned, as butter would be.
Instead, its butterfat is separated slowly,
following a precise, lengthy process that here in Cornwall
has been passed down over generations.
We're in Ruan Minor, Cornwall,
and today we're going to find out
how clotted cream is made.
I can't wait to taste it.
Let's go see how it's made.
Just by looking at it,
it has the consistency of ice cream.
It looks a bit like ice cream.
Claire: It does.
Claudia: The texture of butter.
Claire: Yeah, it does, yeah.
And the taste of cream.
Claire: Cream, yeah. Claudia: Of, like, milk cream.
Claire: Yes, yeah.
Claudia: So, it's really these three things together.
Claire: And all come from milk.
Very clever product, milk.
Claudia: Yeah. Claire: It is.
Claudia: And how did that clever milk
turn into such a product?
Well, clotted cream starts with fresh milk
that is pasteurized at 63 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
This temperature is ideal to preserve its creamy flavor
without burning it.
It is then cooled down to no more than 36 degrees
to force the milk to separate into fat and liquid.
The next step is to pour it into the separator,
which skims the cream from the milk.
So, how much milk are you putting here in the separator?
Claire: This is probably 35 liters of whole milk going in.
It's usually 1 liter of cream to 12 liters of milk.
Claudia: Oh, all right.
That's really small. Claire: Yeah.
Claudia: But you still want to make something out of it.
Claire: Yeah, it is the cream of the crop,
if you know what I mean.
Literally. Claudia: Yeah, yeah, it is.
Claire: The best part of it.
It's not easy to get it right.
Claudia: Yeah, why is that?
Claire: Well, I think it's the temperature.
When you process the milk as well,
to make sure you actually start separating it
at the right temperature, the right consistency of cream.
My uncle used to sell his own cream,
and he taught me that if the cream will stick to your thumb,
that's the right consistency.
If it falls off, it's not going to be any good.
Claudia: It's not good, because it means
there's still a little bit of milk in there?
Claire: That's right, yeah.
Claudia: You don't want any of that.
Claire: You'll be working with me in a minute.
Claudia: This is your test.
Oh, it looks like nail polish.
Claire: That's good.
Claudia: The separation is done twice
to get the richest cream possible.
Once the separator is off,
Claire takes it apart to explain to me how it works.
Here you can see a series of disks.
When the machine is on,
they spin and push the skimmed milk through these holes,
while the cream, which is heavier, flows to the bottom.
Claire: As each particle of milk goes through,
these spin at such a rate, each one of them,
that all the cream -- Claudia: Oh, there's many.
Claire: Yeah, there's loads.
See, they all are separated, coming off like that.
We obviously take the milk off every time we use them,
but there's a lot of fat as well that's kept
in here.
Claudia: Oh!
Claire: It's probably really good for your skin.
[both laugh]
It's like a moisturizer.
Claudia: The fresh cream is then poured into little pots.
By skimming the milk twice, what we've got is double cream.
To become clotted cream,
it will need to be left to set for 12 hours in the fridge.
During this time, the thickest part of the cream
rises to the surface, creating clots.
Claire: Which will make it clotted cream.
Claudia: Oh, I see.
So that's why it's called clotted cream.
Claire: You cook the clots, yeah, you cook the clots,
and the cream underneath should be runny
compared to the top, so you have that lovely crust.
Claudia: Oh, I see. So this is the way to go,
and it is a very lengthy process.
Claire: It is, yes, definitely.
It's well worth waiting for.
Claudia: Look nice and bubbly.
Claire: They do, yeah.
Claudia: After spending the night in the fridge,
the pots are ready to be cooked.
Claire tells me she's found the perfect temperature
and baking time to be 85 degrees Celsius
for one hour and 30 minutes.
This allows her to give the cream a nice crust
without overcooking it.
Ooh.
Claire: What you want is that lovely crust.
Claudia: Yeah, it has a crust.
Claire: You see it cracking there?
And then it's just about right to put on that lovely scone.
Make sure you have the crust on top.
This is a good consistency because you've got --
the underneath isn't too runny.
It won't run off your scone.
Claudia: Yeah.
Claire: Teeth will sink right into it.
OK. It's my turn now.
I'm not going to get a spoon as big as yours.
Claire: Keep the crust. Make sure -- there you go.
Cheers.
Mm.
That was ...
felt it.
Yeah, you do feel it.
You definitely need a scone to go with it.
Yeah, you're not supposed to eat it like that.
You're not really meant to eat it on its own.
Unfortunately, Claire had to run
to bottle the rest of the fresh milk of the day,
so I sat down with Margaret,
the owner of the farm, to enjoy clotted cream
the most traditional way possible,
in an afternoon tea, or cream tea,
as it's called here in Cornwall.
The clotted cream is paired with strawberry jam
and scones that Margaret herself made
with some leftover buttermilk.
While spreading cream and jam on your scone
may look like the most natural thing,
the order in which you do it has long been the subject
of one of the biggest culinary debates in the UK.
Which way should I start?
Because I know here there are a lot of rules
on how to approach this, and I could be persecuted
if I put one thing before the other.
Have your scone.
And then, in Cornwall,
you always put some jam on it first.
OK, so first the jam. All right.
Yes.
Claudia: Why would you put the jam first and the cream last?
Margaret: Well, it's what we've always done here,
but I think if you put the jam in,
then you put as much cream on as you like, can't you?
It is nice.
Have a nice big one.
Claudia: That's enough, eh? The whole thing?
Margaret: Yes, at least that much.
Claudia: At least! Oh, gosh.
Margaret: Yeah.
Claudia: It's quite a lot, huh?
Very good, this cream.
Margaret: Nice. Claudia: Mm.
Oh, I can see why you put this for last,
because it's really what stays there in your mouth.
When you have it, and you just have it
on the top of your lips.
Very, very good.
I like the scones as well, homemade by you.
Yeah, I really like them.
Nice and soft and crumbly in the core.
Margaret: Good.
Everything together is so nice.
Yeah. It's true.
Margaret: Jam and cream. Claudia: Jam and cream.
Yeah, because the jam is first
and the cream goes last. It's not cream and jam.