Monday, March 5, 2012

Cream Scones and Clotted Cream


I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like scones. Even Sue will eat a scone. (Miracle, I know!)
Granted, I know people who don’t LOVE them (odd bunch they are)…but they will eat them if given the chance.
And, why wouldn’t they?
Scones are one of those magical creations that can be a million different things – sweet, savory, light, heavy, low calories, high calorie, etc…
This scone recipe is slightly adapted from A Little Zaftig and, let me tell you, they are delicious. Very, very light and fluffy.
I was excited to see the recipe for the homemade clotted cream as well.
I visited England several years back and fell in love with the tea time scones with jam and clotted cream. Unfortunately, you can’t buy clotted cream anywhere close to where Sue and I live here in Canada.
This was very easy to make and, from what I can remember, is very similar to what I had in England. I will most definitely be making this again.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many calories are in the scones and cream...and, of course, jam. (It would be uncivilized to leave out the jam).
This is one of those times you really don’t want to know. Just indulge and enjoy.
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Clotted Cream
Ingredients
4 cups whipping cream
(Unpasteurized is better but, unfortunately, was unavailable to me. I used the pasteurized Dairyland brand whipping cream)

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Pour cream into an 8 X 8 or 9 X 9 pan. You want it to be 1 – 3 inches deep. Cover and place in oven for 8 to 12 hours. (I did 8 hours but really should have left it for at least 10. I will do 10 next time.) The cream should form a thick, yellow skin. (Mine didn’t. I thought it wasn’t working – which is why I took it out after 8 hours. BUT, it did form the skin AFTER it cooled.)
Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 8 hours.
Skim the yellow clotted cream from the top and serve. (Mine wasn’t yellow – I suspect because I used pasteurized cream – but it was wonderful nonetheless.)
After skimming the clotted cream from the top I placed it in a bowl and whipped it for about 30 seconds, just to get it nice and smooth and creamy. This is not in the original recipe instructions but I liked the way it turned out – not as lumpy.
You can use the reserved liquid in the pan for baking – I used it to make the scones!
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Cream Scones
Ingredients
2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used the leftover liquid cream from the clotted cream)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Pour in the cream and stir with a fork. (If it is too dry add a pinch more cream to get to workable consistency.)
Give the dough a few gentle kneads with your hand. (The less you can handle it, the better.)
Transfer dough to your cookie sheet and pat into an approx. 10” circle. Score the circle into 8 wedges OR slice the circle into 8 wedges and separate them on the pan. (Either way will work.)
Brush the tops of the scones with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for approx 17 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
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These are best served the same day….warm……topped with jam (Strawberry is my favorite but blackberry works in a pinch!) and clotted cream. (They can be frozen and just popped into the microwave and are 99.9% as good)
I believe if you are a “proper lady” you just put a teaspoon of jam and cream on your scone as you enjoy it with tea.
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Hmmm….. as you can see from the above photo…it would appear I am not quite so “proper”.
I did eat them with my pinky extended and spoke with a British accent….if that counts….

I also made teeny scones to take to work :)


Mmmm....Strawberry jam makes everything better!


Jolly good…pip pip…carry on…

Be sure to visit Carole's Chatter for some wonderful links!

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