h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I do like me some science and history!

I have trouble imaging scones *without* butter on top -- er, or margarine. Is margarine less strange, equally strange, or more strange?

Oh dear. At the risk of starting up an old debate, scones should only be eaten like this:-

Jam
Clotted cream
Scone.

See? No butter there. But there are those who would have their scones like this:-

Clotted cream
Jam
Scone.

People who adhere to this construction are strange. (Not least because it would taste wrong).

The following would also be appropriate:-

Jam
Clotted cream.
Clotted cream
Scone.

PP.

More information here: A649235

Scones with clotted cream and jam are a lovely element of afternoon tea but totally inappropriate for breakfast. Hot scones with butter are a much better way to start the day.

Clotted cream does not appear on the shelves in my local supermarket. Is it possible that my country has anti-clotted-cream laws?

[For some reason, scones themselves are not hard to find here. They may be plain or have raisins, currants, or other dried fruits.]

I live in Washington state and we don't have clotted cream either. Why is that?

I've seen it in supermarkets here in Ireland but it is very rare. Supply and demand - if nobody has heard of it, nobody will want it, so nobody produces it. Our normal cream is somewhere between English single and double cream.

The ethnic foods section of my local supermarket has clotted cream. It's near the marmite.

It's a poor substitute for the real thing, though.

Clotted cream ethnic food?

I'm ethnic for the fist time in my life!

PP.

It's possible that clotted cream is similar to something that's known by another name here. The trouble is, I don't know what that other product is. Some form of cream cheese?

No, not any sort of cheese.

Clotted cream is truly the food of The Gods.

My grandmother used to make it by warming a whole load of full fat milk in a wide pan and then letting it cool. The clotted cream then floats to the top and is skimmed off.

It is really thick and can be spread thickly on bread and eaten with a smear of jam on top. Or used on scones. Or eaten with strawberries. It really is very versatile.

I believe it to be the perfect antidote to high cholesterol. I'm not a doctor.

PP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream

'a 100-gram (3.5 oz) tub of clotted cream provides 586 kilocalories (2,450 kJ), roughly equivalent to a 200-gram (7.1 oz) cheeseburger.'

Cheeseburger? Pthooey! Yuk. Gimme the cream.

And:-

'in the United States it would be classified as butter.'

It doesn't taste like butter. And it doesn't look like butter either.

PP.

Is it anything like cottage cheese?
Or is that some other specific dairy-based variation.

~jwf~

I imagine scones, like muffins, and, indeed like crumpets, p pikelets, etc., are also liable to be differnt items in differnt geographical locations <alienfrown I believe butter is universal though... or at least I do* hope so

I really don't think there is anything quite like clotted cream... A32016539

No. It is like only clotted cream.

Very much like Philadelphia soft cheese in consistency but yellower in appearance and it tastes rather like cream++. It doesn't have any cheesy sort of flavour at all. That said, depending on the temperature, it can range from soft but holding it's shape to dead stiff and resisting a spoon or knife a little.

It has a very, very slightly grainy texture that adds to the eating experience and the surface often has a slightly crumbly skin like the top has melted and re-set.

Did I mention it's pretty damn good stuff? And really really good for the heart?

On Treacle tart. This would be very nice indeed.
http://uktv.co.uk/images/300240/36192_treacle_tart_with_clotted_cream.jpg

Spooned out of a pot. This would be very nice too.
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz242/poiresauchocolat/Picture6-13.png

On a scone with jam (but the jam should be on top! What's wrong with these people?)
http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/lifestyles/2013-05-28/b81d09a4-aa4e-4913-8b33-12b503ebb99d_scone-jam-first-clotted-cream-perfect-tea1.jpg

Clotted cream is one of my specialist subjects.

PP.

If you must know what clotted cream is like, go to Rodda's website which has a shop. I believe they will ship the stuff anywhere.

I've noticed a slow migration from the far SW of Britain towards the East. I think clotted cream is still unavailable in the North, but here in the centre of Southern England it appears in shops and Cafes.

I can sometimes get clotted cream here oop north, but sadly not quite as often as I would like...

The other thing we mostly lack is proper scones - no good having clotted cream on a fruit scone, as it just Isn't The Same... Has to be plain

I'm a jam first person, though - jam second makes too big a blob, whereas jam first makes a nice even layer, perfect for topping with a generous helping of clotted cream

It is quite hard to find a proper scone now. There seems to be a new bakers' rule that they have to contain things like "raspberry and white chocolate".