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English Scones and Clotted Cream are traditional British foods on a tea party menu. A few years ago, our daughters and I hosted an English Tea Party for our youngest daughter’s bridal shower that included traditional British foods. English Scones are similar to an American biscuit, but more moist and often flavored with bits of fruit such as black currants. They are wonderful with clotted cream and strawberry jam, and are one of our favorites on a tea party menu!
English scones are not like the big sugary scones in America, such as my Lemon Blueberry Scones, Mixed Berry Scones, or Pumpkin Walnut Scones. Expect a higher rise with English scones that are meant to be broken apart in the center with your fingers or fork (not sliced with a knife) and then served with clotted cream and jam.
Don’t get me wrong. I love American scones. They are quite delicious with a cup of coffee in the morning. But they are rather large for an afternoon tea party, when you are serving other foods. They are lovely, however, if you are simply serving a cream tea of scones and tea.
Clotted Cream is very easy to make. Simply pour the heavy whipping cream into a dish and bake at a very low temperature for a good, long time and then refrigerate it for a good, long time. Pour off the milk cream and scoop up what is left, which is the clotted cream.
Clotted Cream is Lovely. It Melts in your Mouth. It’s Truly Divine.
Ingredients for English Scones and Clotted Cream
(As a Walmart and Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases at the links below. See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Notes on Ingredients
Dried Black Currants – When I researched the ingredients for this recipe, I became consumed with finding real dried black currants to mix into the scones. I found lots of choices for Zante Currants. But those are not really currants. They are more like small raisins. Apparently, the English do not have a problem locating black currants, as they use them in many of their recipes. I finally found Dried Black Currants from Northwest Wild Foods, now available on Amazon. They are wonderful. I highly recommend them.
Heavy Cream for Clotted Cream – You would not believe how difficult it is to find the correct type of cream needed to make Clotted Cream! Again, in researching this recipe, my goal was to find pasteurized heavy cream. Instead, what I found was ultra-pasteurized cream, which just didn’t work as well. The results were okay. Nothing to get excited about. They were a bit bland and not very creamy. Plus, they didn’t make as much clotted cream as I desired.
I searched high and low. I searched grocery stores, Whole Foods Markets, and put in hours of time online. And then I found it! Right under my nose, at one of our local grocery stores, I found Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream! It is still “ultra-pasturized” but it has 6 grams of fat vs most of the competition, which weigh in at 5. Apparently, that is enough of an increase to do the job. Once the baking and cooling process is complete only a quarter of a cup of milk is poured off. The rest is clotted cream. In my book, that is success! It works well and it tastes wonderful. This Heavy Whipping Cream is now available at our local Walmart!
Instructions For This Recipe
Preheat oven to 425°F. Gather the ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Make the Scones
In a medium bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into little pieces and add them to the flour mixture, rubbing the butter together with your fingers to break up the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Of course, you may use a blending fork, if you don’t want to get your hands messy.
I find this part of the recipe very relaxing and fun or as our oldest grandson would say, it’s “very satisfying”. This is our granddaughters favorite part. She loves getting her hands in the flour mixture to incorporate the butter. She giggles as she squeezes it into the flour.
Add the half and half cream and dried black currants and mix in, using just enough liquid to make your dough come together. The dough may be sticky.
Spoon the dough onto a floured surface and knead 2-3 times to coat with flour. Press the dough into a round that is about 1-inch thick. Using a floured biscuit cutter, cut the dough into circles. Press the cutter straight down and up, without twisting, to ensure a nice rise in your scones.
Depending on how I intend to serve these scones, I will either use a medium cutter that is 2 1/2″ wide, or a larger cutter that is 2 3/4″ wide. I prefer the smaller one for an afternoon tea, but like the larger scones when planning to serve a simple cream tea with just tea and scones.
At this point, you may either freeze the scones for later, or bake them.
Prepare to Bake the Scones
When ready to bake the scones, place the rounds of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Generously brush each with heavy whipping cream for a glaze.
Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven and place the scones in a lined bread basket and cover with a tea towel to keep warm until ready to serve. This recipe will make 9-10 medium scones or 8-9 large scones. Serve warm scones with clotted cream, strawberry jam, or even lemon curd. See my Lemon Curd Recipe Here.
Prepare the Clotted Cream
Pour the heavy whipping cream into a 12″ x 12″ casserole dish and bake in a 175°F oven for 12 hours.
Carefully remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours.
Due to the long baking and cooling process, you’ll want to prepare the clotted cream at least 24 hours before your serving time.
After the allotted time, drain the milk cream from the dish, which should measure around 1/4 cup of liquid. What is left is a thick skin of clotted cream on top, with a creamy underside. Spoon this out and place into a container or serving dish.
Tip: Use the leftover milk cream for baking or in your coffee.
If desired, you may gently stir the clotted cream to create a smoother texture. Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to serve. For best application, allow the clotted cream to come to room temperature before serving.
You may store the Clotted Cream in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to a month.
Serve the clotted cream at room temperature on scones with strawberry jam and/or Lemon Curd.
My granddaughter loves helping me make scones. She also enjoys cutting them with a biscuit cutter. And of course, she loves eating them! I hope you will too! Tea, anyone?
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English Scones and Clotted Cream
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons butter (cold)
- 1 cup half and half cream
- 2 tablespoons dried black currants (optional)
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (for glaze)
- Strawberry jam
Clotted Cream
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream (pasteurized is better than ultra-pasteurized)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Gather the ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Make the Scones
- In a medium bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut the butter into little pieces and add them to the flour mixture, rubbing the butter together with your fingers or cutting with a pastry fork to break up the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the half and half cream and dried black currants and mix in, using just enough liquid to make your dough come together. The dough may be sticky.
- Spoon the dough onto a floured surface and knead 2-3 times to coat with flour. Press the dough into a round that is about 1-inch thick. Using a floured biscuit cutter, cut the dough into 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" circles. Press the cutter straight down and up, without twisting, to ensure a nice rise in your scones.
- At this point you may freeze the scones for later use, or bake.
Bake the Scones
- To bake the scones, place the rounds of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Brush each with heavy whipping cream for a glaze.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and place the scones in a lined bread basket and cover with a tea towel to keep warm until ready to serve. Makes 9-10 regular scones or 8-9 large scones.
Prepare the Clotted Cream
- Pour the heavy whipping cream into a 12" x 12" casserole dish and bake in a preheated 175℉ oven for 12 hours. Carefully remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours.
- Drain the milk cream from the dish and then spoon off what is left–the clotted cream, which has a thick skin on top and a creamy underside–into a dish. You may use the leftover milk cream for baking or in your coffee.
- If desired, you may gently stir the clotted cream to create a smoother texture. Store the cream in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a month. Serve on scones at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
