English Double Cream, Clotted Cream and Devon Cream - What's the Big D (2024)

It may seem confusing but in actuality, clotted cream and Devon cream (or Devonshire cream or Cornish cream) arethe same thing.Thought to have been first introduced to England by Phoenicians around 2000 years ago, clotted cream is a thick (and high fat) spreadable compound. Today, it's often created by using full-fat cow's milk that's been poured into a shallow pan that's then heated up slowly in an oven for about 12 hours. After it's been baked slowly, thecream is cooled in the fridge. As the cream content cools, it begins to form 'clots' under a yellowish crust. The gooey white cream underneath the crust is the delicious clotted cream. Clotted cream is a key component of afternoon tea and is what scones are served with. Its butterfat content ranges from 55-60%.

Check out this recipe if you're bold enough to try and make your own clotted cream:https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/clotted-cream-recipe/.

This video clip also gives a good overview of how it's made in England:

Coombe's Castle (the Devon Cream Company) makes a popular variety of clotted cream. Photo Credit: Coombe's Castle

So what's double cream then? Well, it's actually the Britishterm forheavy or whipped cream but it's a little bit thicker in consistency from Canadian or American whipped cream so it's probably better with pancakes than scones. Since it can sometimes be hard to find clotted cream in North America, we've seen some afternoon tea services offer double cream instead (it tastes just as nice!). The butterfat content in double cream is around 48%.

Double cream can be a nice substitute for clotted cream when you don't have any handy

Note: This post isnot sponsored by Coombe Castle (the Devon Cream Company)