What is Clotted Cream?

Clotted cream has been produced for generations in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in South West England. It is produced using milk from cows, similar to American jersey cattle, whose milk has a very high butterfat content. Traditionally, the cream was skimmed from the top of the milk and gently heated in shallow copper pans for at least an hour until the surface became encrusted with a rich golden top. It was then left to cool and used the next day with scones, already spread with jam and served with piping hot tea. A great British tradition! Commercially prepared clotted cream has been gently heat treated for a longer shelf life and is packaged in hermetically sealed jars without the encrusted top layer.

Describing clotted cream is more difficult. Too thick to pour, but too thin to slice, it is similar to butter, but tastes like cream not fat. Unlike crème fraiche, which has a faint sour tang, clotted cream is rich with the natural sweetness of cream. It is more like a very soft whipped cream without the air, with a very smooth and light taste. Our clotted cream has a 55% milk fat content and is similar in taste and texture to our Double Devon cream which has a 48% milk fat content.

A Proper Scone

One of life's simple pleasures is a freshly baked scone topped with jam and clotted cream. But for many, a scone is a just a huge triangle of dense, dry dough, lathered with frosting, that's usually left over in the pastry case of the local coffee chain.

The British view them as snacks, just enough to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner. They should be small, two ounces is about right, and not larger than the palm of your hand.

Recipes for preparing scones are too numerous to mention, but proper scones should be tender and moist, kind of like Southern biscuits that are a little sweet. Golden raisins and currants are traditional British additions, but in America other dried fruits, even chocolate chips have become popular.

Frosting, however, is not acceptable. They're not breakfast pastries. Think of them as vehicles for thick and rich clotted cream and great fruit preserves.

Dense, dry scones are usually blamed on technique. Mass commercial production affects quality and even home bakers should handle the dough as little as possible. Great ingredients make a big difference and lay off the sugar.

Next time you're offered a scone with jam and clotted cream, try it. You may be pleasantly surprised.

All Apricots Are Not Created Equal

Specialty food companies like to claim (often with little regard to the truth) that their products are the “best ever” or that they use the “finest available ingredients”. In the case of apricots, however, the differences in quality are dramatic.

In recent years the US market has been flooded with low priced, inferior quality apricots from Turkey and China. While some apricots are also produced in California, none can match the quality of the Blenheim apricot.

Grown in California’s Santa Clara valley, the Blenheim is tender and moist and generally regarded as the finest apricot on the market. Unfortunately, only 800 acres of orchards have survived the onslaught of land developers.

We buy our apricots directly from B&R Farms in Hollister, California, a family-owned business that has been growing incredibly delicious Blenheim apricots for over 30 years. Even the drive from Santa Cruz to Hollister is like a trip through Tuscany.

Since we use only Blenheim apricots in our products, it is no surprise that our apricot white chocolate muffin mix was awarded the $10,000 grand prize in the food competition held at America’s Best Food Show in Anaheim, CA and our apricot scone mix was honored as a finalist in the prestigious Outstanding Baked Goods competition held by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, something no other baking mix has achieved. Even Oprah liked our apricot scones enough to put them on her “O” list, “a few things she thinks are just great”.

Our Scones Have Been Nibbled

We're pleased to report that the editors of The Nibble, the popular online specialty food magazine, recently selected our scones as their Top Pick of the Week . In their review, the editors concluded that:
"Sometimes we are delightfully surprised when a product we thought would
be good, or very good, turns out to be...splendid."

Welcome!

We have a lot of new exciting changes for the upcoming year here at Iveta Gourmet and this Blog is one of them! We will keep you updated with baking tips, recipe ideas, news and upcoming events for our complete line of all natural, easy to bake, Scone, Muffin, Biscuit, and Cupcake Mixes.