Part I Clotted Cream

I'm so excited to be in Northern Devon visiting old friends. This part of England is famous for its dairy and apple production and every time I come here I fall for the delicious clotted cream again. Before I explain what clotted cream is and how it is made, I should point out that part of my dietary mission in life is to unclot my arteries not block them up. Having said, that, the truth is that clotted cream is hard to resist. It isn't like anything else I've tasted.
One night after watching my friends scoop several large spoonfuls of clotted cream over chocolate cake, I asked how it was made. I became so intrigued by the process they described that I decided I wanted to make some. Better to make it than to keep eating it I figured. I went through some English cookbooks and found a recipe.


Here's the basic method: You start with un-pasteurized milk. We ordered some from the dairy farmer next door and it arrived in a blue plastic bucket. You then pour the milk into old Devon earthenware pots called panshons. You let it sit for 24 hours. Then you either place the bowl over embers from the fire from the night before or heat it for a day or in a very low oven like an aga for approximately 12 hours. You cannot allow the milk to boil or get too hot.


I will let you know how my batch turns out.