Devonshire Cream

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 51, 14 June 1940, Page 44

Devonshire Cream

Dear Aunt Daisy, I was interested to read in your page a request for real Devonshire cream, and more than surprised to see in one of the replies that it was necessary to include extra cream in the making of Devonshire cream. My _ grandparents, with their family, came from Penzance, and clotted cream there was to them just what butter is to us in New Zea-land-on the table at every meal, This was their method: A large pan (the old-fashioned, wide-mouthed style of milk pan), full of milk from the morning’s milking, was set in the dairy to wait until the evening; then the pan with the milk was set on the top of the range with the fire at a_ steady heat. Wood was mostly used for this because there would be no smoke or smuts. When little blisters or bubbles formed (it was never allowed to boil) the pan was taken from the fire and stood away until the morning, when the cream was taken off in sheets with the skimmer, in real clots. Then the same was done with the night’s milk; it was allowed to stand until the morning, when the ordinary cream would have risen. The process of scalding and then taking from the fire and allowing to stand until evening before removing the cream, was repeated. We, as children, thought the milk the best drink that ever was! No flavouring or anything else is needed, only great care in the scalding -so as not to allow it to boil or turn, The fire must be steady. Of course, my people always had cows; one needs the fresh milk. I can thoroughly recommend the beetroot recipe of "Mrs. C.", Matapu. We had some for tea last night, and will not now revert to the old method.-"Listener," (Riverton, Southland). Many thanks. Yes, that is just how I was taught to make "real Devonshire cream" when we had a house-cow for a few years, in Hawke’s Bay. My child-« ren were young then, and they throve on the rich, clotted cream. We had an orchard, too; so you can imagine the Peaches and plums baked slowly in covered dishes, 80 that they were whole and luscious in syrup; and served with unlimited cream, Quince honey and clotted cream’ go beautifully ‘together with wholemeal scones made into rusks by breaking them open while hot and putting back into the oven to crisp. The "Link’ who sent in the idea of adding cream to the milk was really thinking of just buying some "town" milk and adding cream to it, and leav(Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) ing it to stand for twelve hours before scalding; and then leaving a further twelve hours. I think the idea was to try to make Devonshire cream with just a couple of quarts of town milk. _. Another Devonshire man writes as follows:Dear Aunt Daisy, Having read in a recent Listener concerning Devonshire cream recipes, well, here is the old Devonshire way of producing the cream. Use only milk of about one gallon of the least shaken of the milk of milking time. Leave to stand overnight, which brings the raw cream to the top. Then put the dish into another pan of boiling water to scald for twenty minutes. Remove to a cool place, and skim when cool.:From the. said recipe one should be able to produce. about three-quarters of a pound of cream--("Devon Lad with 9 years’ experience"). ‘Many thanks to you, too. Do you ever make it now?