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How to Make Clotted Cream

4.57 from 145 votes
My Clotted Cream recipe is creamy, buttery, and simple enough for anyone looking to make their own ingredients from scratch.
By Gemma Stafford | | 280

Last updated on November 11, 2019

Clotted Cream

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Hi Bold Bakers!

Beyond just giving you the recipes to bake Bold desserts, my goal is to equip each and every one of you with the know-how and techniques to bake with confidence anytime, anywhere. Once you learn the tricks of the trade and nail down these basics, it’s from there that you can really get creative and have fun in the kitchen.

My method for How to Make Clotted Cream is the real deal. After teaching you how to make your own ingredients, like Homemade Cream Cheese and Condensed Milk, it became obvious that you all are really excited about making everything from scratch, just like me! My decadent clotted cream recipe is just a 1 ingredient ride to heaven!

Clotted Cream vs. Double Cream

Clotted cream is a classic English spread that was invented in Devon England, and that’s why it’s often referred to as Devonshire cream (or Cornish cream). Somewhere between butter and whipped cream, it’s a cream with at least 35% butterfat that has then been cooked down, and after a very low and very slow period in the oven, the cream and fat rises to the top and is skimmed off. This is the clotted cream.

It’s similar in texture to creme fraiche, but the flavor is even more creamy and just ever so slightly on the sweet side. Double cream, on the other hand, is the liquid base of clotted cream BEFORE it has been cooked. This is used to make whipped cream and things of that nature but is not to be confused with what we’re making here.

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Why is my clotted cream yellow?

Do not be alarmed if you get cream on the yellow side. This is normal, especially for this homemade recipe. Due to the high amount of butterfat in the cream, the final product takes on a buttery pale yellow color, but I can assure you the flavor and texture of the cream will be perfect.

Why is my clotted cream runny?

My Clotted Cream recipe is made by cooking the cream in a very low oven for 12 hours, then allowing the cooked cream to set in the fridge overnight. After the milk solids separate to the bottom, what rises to the top is the clotted cream.

In this process, what’s left behind is a little liquid, similar to the whey you get when making homemade cheese. Do not be alarmed by this, and my suggestion is to gently spoon off the solid cream from on top and leave as much of the liquid behind as possible. The liquid left behind can be used to make my Irish Scones to accompany your clotted cream and jam.

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How to Make Clotted Cream

4.57 from 145 votes
Print Recipe
My decadent Clotted Cream recipe is simple enough for anyone looking to make all of their own ingredients from scratch.
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 3 cups
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 12 hrs
Total Time 12 hrs 5 mins
My decadent Clotted Cream recipe is simple enough for anyone looking to make all of their own ingredients from scratch.
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 3 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 pints (1 liter) heavy cream (not ultra pasteurized) high fat content

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven to 175°F (80°C)
  • Pour your cream into a large 9x14in oven safe dish. You want a dish with a large surface area so you get the most clotted cream. 
  • Place in the center of the oven and bake for a full 12 hours. I know this is a long time, but once you taste it, it’s well worth it. I put mine in the oven overnight so it's ready in the morning. Note: Make sure your oven doesn’t switch off after a certain amount of hours. 
  • After the 12 hours remove your dish from the oven. You will notice a bubbly, yellow surface. This is the clotted cream.
  • Allow to cool at room temperature then cover and put in the fridge overnight for it to set. 
  • The next day, spoon the firm clotted cream into a jar leaving the liquid that has separated behind. You can use this liquid in the making of scones. 
  • Spread the clotted cream on scones with jam. Store your clotted cream in the fridge for up to 5 days. 
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Susan Foggin
Susan Foggin
2 years ago

Used UK Double Cream and my Gas oven was set to the Keep Warm setting (below Gas Mark 1, and using an oven thermometer, I kept it at 80 degrees for 12 hours by having a wooden spoon keeping the door slightly open. It went a lovely buttery yellow and put it in the fridge overnight, and when I went to skim off the top, I realised there was NO liquid underneath, just ALL beautiful clotted cream – thank you for a brilliant recipe!

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Michelle Ferris
Michelle Ferris
1 year ago

Hi all ! I would like to add an alternative heat source to make your Clotted cream. If you have arectangular dehydrator with removable racks use it! I make great CC in my Excaliber dehydrator. Just set the timer for 12 hrs and temp to top and overnight you have Clotted cream. Put it in the fridge and let set. Skim off the CC. I have even done a much smaller second heating of the same cream and got a second batch of CC !!!!! AWESOME !!!

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David Grant
David Grant
2 years ago

My family loves clotted cream. All of the cream we can get near us is ultra pasteurized. This will definitely work, you will just not have as high a yield. At 175, my oven does an auto shutoff, so I do 12 hours at 180. However, I now have two full pounds of fresh clotted cream waiting for the scones I will make tomorrow for Christmas morning breakfast. That took two quarts of heavy ultra pasteurized cream from Brookshires (40% milkfat). I had four cups of liquid cream left, but fortunately, we all love cream in our coffee. So it… Read more »

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Sandstorm
Sandstorm
1 year ago

Dearest Gemma, This is a long overdue amateur baker’s love letter. With your wonderful recipes, you have singlehandedly made every single dessert cookbook I own obsolete. This amazing clotted cream (and accompanying best ever Irish scones recipe) are the latest in a string of ever successful and delicious treats I have made for myself, my partner (who is a massive fan of your best ever chocolate chip cookies by the way), my friends and my family. I had never dreamed of making clotted cream before (or peanut butter or condensed milk or ice cream or so many other wonderful things).… Read more »

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Kim
Kim
2 years ago

Hi, we fell head over heels for Clotted Cream on a recent trip to the U.K. and Ireland. I have tried three times to make this recipe (twice in the oven and once in a crock pot) unsuccessfully. 😪 Each and every time it looks and tastes wonderful, the consistency is the problem. It comes out crumbly and near impossible to spread. Where could I have gone wrong?

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Evana Abraham
Evana Abraham
2 years ago

To thicken the cream, even more, you can add a couple of tablespoons Corn Starch to the cream before placing it in the Oven.

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Alison
Alison
2 years ago

Can it be just be regular pasteurized and not ultra. Or does it need to be not pasteurized?

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Nargess
Nargess
2 years ago

Hi
I really want to make this today. Can I use a 9×13 deep baking tray or does it have to be GLASS dish? If glass only can I use smaller 9 x 8 but 2 of them in the oven? And should the oven be fan oven steering or just the top/bottom setting with NO fan? 80 Celsius

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Stephen N Fisher
Stephen N Fisher
2 years ago

Well, as all the Heavy Cream / Wipping Cream in NC seems to be Ultra-Pasteurized. It’s a fortunate thing Amazon sells Clotted Cream as well as Double Cream.

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Millsy
Millsy
1 year ago

I think some of the issues people are having may be due to using fan assisted oven settings which would result in faster evaporation of the water content in the cream which obviously means it would require fewer hours to have the consistency you are after.

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Meet Gemma

About Us

Meet Gemma

Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I want to help you bake with confidence anytime, anywhere!

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