Cream Teas

Rowen's Question
             Colin Lutz Answers
             Definitions of Teas - Adam Quinan
The Cream
             Proper Crusty Cornish Clotted Cream - Colin Lutz
             More on Cream - Adam Quinan
             Clotted Cream - Martin Watts
             Devonshire Clotted Cream (from Cream Tea)

Rowen's Question
Just what is a "cream tea," please? I've seen that phrase many times, but as a provincial American, I don't really have a clue what's served.

Colin Lutz Answers
Rowen asked about cream teas...
In fact they are one of life's minor indulgences, comprising a plate of fresh scones, a dish of double (thick) cream, and a bowl of strawberry or raspberry jam. These are combined in various amounts, depending on the relative creamocentric natures of those partaking, and the small bite of heaven accompanied down with tea to taste.
Addendum: Anyone following my earlier recipe for Cream Teas will end up with a rather delicious soup. I meant whipped cream, not double.

Definitions of Teas - Adam Quinan
Some definitions which may help.
Tea (or afternoon Tea) is light meal taken at about 4 pm. It consists of tea with small sandwiches and maybe a slice of cake, usually eaten by leisured classes who would then have a dinner or supper later in the evening.
Cream tea is a variant on afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream and jam.
High tea is an early evening meal at perhaps 6 pm. It is more substantial but apart from a light snack or supper later is the last meal of the day. It is usually eaten by people getting home from work (and the children of those leisured classes who do not stay up for dinner).

The Cream
Proper Crusty Cornish Clotted Cream - Colin Lutz
Apparently the milk is scalded during the production of the clotted cream, and this results (via dairymaids alchemy) in a rich yellow cream, with a light crusting composed (I guess) of partially melted butterfat.
Sounds absolutely disgusting, I know, especially in these benighted days when all pleasures seem to be frowned on the grounds that "it'll do you no good", but even someone like me, not especially a cream fan, has to admit to giving in to temptation.

More on Cream - Adam Quinan
For even more authenticity, you should use clotted cream, not that air-filled whipped cream.

Clotted Cream - Martin Watts
The only kind of cream to have with tea is clotted - 55% + fat content. And it is only to be spread on the scones or splits in your cream tea!
Cornish splits are the traditional accompaniment to cream teas this side of the Tamar but generally they seem to have been replaced by scones.

Devonshire Clotted Cream
A cream tea cannot be considered as such unless there is cream and the type of cream that should be used is clotted cream. Originally, clotted cream was only produced in the Westcountry - this is where the rich soil, mild climate and the right breed of cattle came together to create milk with a high enough cream content to produce clotted cream. Even today when clotted cream is in greater demand (and available at supermarkets!) it will almost always be made in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset. If you exclude the modern milk processes and vegetable fat substitutes then there are only three types of cream - single, double and clotted. Each of these gets increasingly richer, thicker and luxurious.

Before the days of pasteurisation, the milk from the cows was left to stand for several hours so that the cream would rise to the top. Then this cream was skimmed and put into big pans. The pans were then floated in trays of constantly boiling water in a process known as scalding. The cream would then become much thicker and develop a golden crust which is similar to butter. Today however, the cream is extracted by a separator which extracts the cream as it is pumped from the dairy to the holding tank. The separator is a type of centrifuge which extracts the surplus cream at the correct quantity so that the milk will still have enough cream to be classified as milk.

Clotted cream has a consistency similar to soft butter and can be used as a replacement for butter in such things as toffees. It's great on freshly baked bread with honey (or honeycomb!), jam, syrup or black treacle (known as thunder and lightening!) - but most importantly is perfect for putting on a scone.