Clotted cream has been a super favourite food of mine since my first trip to England 20 plus years ago. For those not familiar with the deliciousness of clotted cream, I will describe it as a cross between butter and whipped cream-only better. I shared my enthusiasm for clotted cream with my great friend K and we tested cream teas (the English tradition of having tea with clotted cream and jam on fresh baked scones) at a few London department stores: Fortnum and Mason, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.
Making Life Good recommends the cream tea at the fifth floor restaurant of Harvey Nichols. The scones are utterly delicious with the additional interest and texture of cornmeal, served with great clotted cream and jam.
Cream tea with heavenly scones at Harvey Nics
I like spreading plenty of clotted cream on the scone, followed by the jam, which is the Devon tradition. Cornish clotted cream has protected designation of origin status much like champagne. The Cornish tradition is to spread the jam first, with the clotted cream on top. However, I am certain that more cream can be had per scone (obviously the priority!) if it is spread first.
The cream tea at Fortnum and Mason is a fun experience in their whimsical Parlour. Harrods does tradition well and serves a noticeably delicious clotted cream. The Corner at Selfridges is a particularly beautiful setting, but they serve a rectangular shaped scone and we saw them served with the clotted cream and jam already spread on the high tea trays (blasphemous!).
Ingesting vast quantities of clotted cream is likely to help you put on weight. However, clotted cream is a food to be enjoyed thoroughly in moderation with the nutritional benefit of vitamin K2 derived from the vitamin K1 and betacarotene in the grass eaten and converted by the cows on the English country side. Vitamin K2 is a fat soluble vitamin that is gaining attention as a nutrient many of us may be deficient in due to industrial farming practices, where cows are fed grain instead of green grass. We need vitamin K2 to keep the right balance of calcium in our bodies, which keeps our bones, teeth, skin, and organs healthy, generally preventing degenerative illness. (Lots of great information in Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox by Kate Rheaume-Bleue should you want to read more on the subject)
Making Life Good highly recommends clotted cream and scones with tea for pure enjoyment!
