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

Well done!!

Now put your feet up and have a cup of


lil x

Thanks, lil. Believe I'll do just that. I have a couple of scones left over to go with it.

for the cooks.

Enjoy!

You made your own clotted cream? Oh my That's something I haven't dared to try yet, although I know how it's done.

Could somebody explain clotted cream to us ignoramuses? Elektra wanted to know.

It's simply very, very, very thick cream, but there's more to it than that, of course. The Wikipedia article on clotted cream is a good read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream

We used to get one or two of those tins sent to us every year when I was a kid, by a relative who always went to the southwest for their summer holidays. I can remember exactly what the tin looked like and how exciting it was to get it because then it was time to start pestering mum to buy strawberries and raspberries from the greengrocer

Gosho, the way I make it is super easy. I mean, I can't get cream with a high enough butter fat anyway, so I played around with it and have come up with this very easy substitute that actually tastes close to the real thing.

Dmitri, it I supposed to have more of the consistency of butter, thick enough to spread but thin enough to spoon, if that makes any sense. And it's made from this super rich cream from Devon. It isn't as sweet as our whipped cream. You split your scone, spread clotted cream on it and top with strawberry jam or fresh fruit. Delish!

What I do is use 4 ounces of cream cheese for one cup of heavy whipping cream and then add just a wee bit of sugar. Works great. There are recipes out there that call for sour cream. I didn't like that at all. And I've made it with mascarpone, but cream cheese is easier to find.

Thanks for the recipe. It really sounds delicious for serving with berries! It sounds like it was quite a successful tea, even if no Royal highnesses attended. Too busy playing polo I believe. Quite the high point in little Do-Dahs social calendar, I'm sure.

Hi Elektra. Adding the cream cheese to the whipping cream makes it a lot richer. It's seriously good. Hope you enjoy it. It makes a GF muffin or biscuit edible.

That's a clever way of making it, Hyp. I'd recommend taking the time to scald at least some of it though, to get that unmistakable clotted cream flavour. Although, now that it's virtually impossible to get milk that hasn't been homogenised to within an inch of its life, I wonder if the cream would separate sufficiently.

Ooh... soft fruit season is just around the corner. I feel an experiment coming on

Gosho, scalding the cream might help. Not sure. When I tried the sour cream, I thought it would give it that authentic flavor, but unfortunately it didn't. On top of that, the texture wasn't right. With the cream cheese, you get a better texture. At least I think you do.

I'd definitely steer clear of sour cream. I don't know if clotted cream was made with sour cream in the past - it might be one of those things that was made to preserve, or make palatable, something that was close to going off. I would say fresh cream or milk every time. And if you've ever had the real thing you'll know why it's so good