Scones. Something English to celebrate us being here for 6 months. Six whole months! I can’t quite believe we have been here for half a year already!
In our household, it is against the law not to celebrate such monumental occasions with cake. But what’s a scone without clotted cream? A cream tea without cream? A sorry thought… That is until Mr R. saved the day by deciding to make some. I didn’t actually realise it was possible, but it is, he’s not just a pretty face you know! It probably works best with unpasteurised cream, but needs must, and not having a cow to hand we made do with the carton of single cream in the fridge. And if you are a desperate Expat in need, then here’s the recipe:
Put the cream (we used 350ml) in a shallow oven proof pan with a lid. Place in the oven on the lowest setting and do not disturb (we left ours overnight – roughly 9 hours). Get up in the morning expecting to see a burnt pan, but instead leave to cool, and then carefully skim the clotted cream from the surface (discarding the liquid, or even better making hot chocolate with it!) Give it a quick stir to combine and stick it in the fridge. Bobs your uncle!
I used this recipe for the scones, it was straight forward (once we “made” some self-raising flour, another bane of expat life!), and they turned out well enough for me to bookmark it for future use.
It’s funny to think that this time last year we didn’t have a clue what was happening, or where we would end up! Am I pleased with where we did end up? Yes, I really am. And at least we are close to home, it never gets any easier missing friends and family…
I am now a student once again – the German lessons have started in earnest. Not that much seems to be going in at the moment, but I can at least understand a bit of the weather forecast on the radio in the morning, an important topic for an English person! And I start teaching those English lessons in a few weeks, which will be interesting!!
Most importantly though, both Small People are still loving school. The Five Year old has joined the football team, although his father (a life long Saints fan) is not that happy about him sporting a Bayern FC strip (But as I reminded him, until his team were promoted again recently he hadn’t even given it a moment’s thought!)!! The Seven Year Old has made firm friends and is thriving. She is however currently less than impressed about her forthcoming role as The Gingerbread Man in the class play (she was initially over the moon about being chosen, but then it slowly dawned on her that she would be playing the part of a gingerbread MAN. I have hopefully managed to defuse the situation by promising to spend an evening butchering the costume in the hope that by adding plenty of feminine bows, buttons and glittery things, it will emasculate it enough to be considered suitable by the wearer…)!
So here’s to the next Six Months, and a huge thank you to those of you following us thus far. If you’re quick there are some scones left! The cream’s in the fridge!
Pia says
happy 6-month mark! i love the way you and your family hug it all in – the new, the alien. you’re incredibly brave.
the close-up of the scone just killed me – i want one NOW.
bavaria says
Thanks for the lovely comment Pia! I will make a fresh batch just for you:)
The Mad House says
I want clotted cream now….
Heres to the next six months going so well
bavaria says
Thanks very much:)
Kelloggsville says
Clotted cream in the oven…well I bloomin never.
bavaria says
Needs must! :) x
Michelle Twin MUm says
Wow, I had no idea you could make clotted cream. I had a sneaky scone today – delicious!
Happy half anniversary. Mich x
bavaria says
Thanks Michelle! :) x
Victoria Gallimore says
I LOVE that R is going to be the Gingerbread Man! Brilliant! lol! xxx
bavaria says
She doesn’t! hahaha :) xxx
Trish says
You had me with the photo!
So pleased you are settling in well. Hope all goes well with The Gingerbread Ladyboy!
bavaria says
Thank you! So do I! I am absolutely dreading the day of the play!! :D
Frankie Parker says
Congrats, 6 months and hasn’t it gone quickly?? before long you will be planning your next move……. x
bavaria says
Thanks Frankie, but Nooooooooo hopefully not for a while anyway. Still got two boxes to unpack!! xx
Emma @mummymummymum says
Wow, that has gone sooo fast. It sounds like you are all having a great time!
Congratulations on your finalist news too :-)
bavaria says
Thanks Emma! Can’t quite believe it really! On both subjects! :D
ietje says
As clotted cream can’t be found in our country we have to do with creme fraiche. It is not like the clotted cream we enjoy when in Brittain, but it will do as long as the scones and jam are in excellent condition.
bavaria says
That sounds like a much easier option Ietje! :)
Alli says
Congratulations on your six months! Keep up with the German, I remember when I loved to Germany I used to go every day and my boyfriend used to make me practise the letters with umlauts…I felt like My Fair Lady and was probably far worse than her. Once the penny dropped and I found I was dreaming in German, I loved it there, got involved with the locals and miss it quite a it now I am on the other side of the globe. Enjoy the food, what I would give for a decent slice of German bread ;0)
bavaria says
Thank you so much! I hope I get to the stage of dreaming in German… I can live in hope :) I will have a slice of bread for you tomorrow, or perhaps a brezn? :)
farfromhomemama says
I think I love you! We can’t get clotted cream here either and I never thought about making my own. You’ve given me my weekend project. P.S. As I’m rather gluttonous, I celebrate most weekends with cake.
bavaria says
I hope it works now, or I will feel awful! It was good though, well worth the oven being on for hours and the sleepless night incase the pan exploded!! :)
Helen says
Oh you know i just L♡V trying stuff like this i think i will definatley try it for myself, isnt it funny how time flys by so fast.
bavaria says
Thanks Helen! Let me know how you get on! :)
Em says
Well done on the clotted cream Mr R. Those scones look yummy. Where oh where have those 6 months gone, quite scary x
bavaria says
Thanks Em. I know… Doesn’t seem like two minutes! Wish you were here for a scone! xxx
Jazzygal says
Can’t believe you’re 6 months there already. Congratulations on such a successful move for your whole family.
And now I REALLY want a scone….!!
xx Jazzy
bavaria says
Neither can I, it’s gone soooo quickly! Thanks very much Jazzy. Have saved you one too! xx
cliff1976 says
Thanks so much for posting your clotted cream recipe. It’s my wife’s favorite food, and so far, she could only get it by traveling to Britain.
Now I can surprise her with some right here in der Oberpfalz!
bavaria says
Brilliant! Try and find cream that has not been ultra-pasteurised…The oven was at 80deg by the way, and if the cream doesn’t look clotted enough, don’t be afraid to leave it for another hour! You can tell when it’s done when a yellowy creamy skin forms on the top, don’t touch it until you have let it cool down though! Scoop it off, leave it in the fridge until it takes on the right texture, and then become the best husband ever in the world! Good luck!! :)
cliff1976 says
Well, something went wrong. We baked the cream for at 80°C for 9 hours yesterday and it didn’t look close to being done. So we put in for another 7 hours overnight at the same temperature.
Got up this morning and found still no change, barring a little more film on the surface. Carefully skimming that off, I see that the liquid underneath was just as runny as when we put it in.
I guess we made haemophiliac cream. We used cream labeled “wärmebehandelt,” which implies to me that it’s been pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized (the expiration date on the bottle is for later this month and it was in the refrigerated dairy section of our local Biomarkt). Oh, and it was “Schlagsahne” — the only kind of cream available.
What raw ingredients did you start with? Perhaps you could post a picture to eliminate any kind of confusion.
By the way, not sure if you’re aware, but your comments field doesn’t let me right-click or copy any of the text I’ve entered for proper editing, which is why this comment may seem poorly organized. Quite annoying!
bavaria says
Sounds like exactly the same cream. I will mail you a picture of the carton as I have some more!… Did you leave it to cool down to room temperature? That’s when the thicker layer forms? You will still have a thin runny layer underneath (for hot chocolate!!) Do not despair, put it in the fridge for a while…. Good things come to those that wait! :D
PS: Have no idea why you can’t comment properly, but your comment wasn’t poorly organised! :)
cliff1976 says
Yes, we left it to cool down to room temperature before attempting any skimming.
Our theory is that our oven temperature was too high (about75°C) and that we killed off the remaining bacterial cultures which could have clotted our cream. We’ll give it another shot sometime soon with a lower oven temperature and report back.
bavaria says
Let me know how you get on! So strange that it didn’t work… but it will be worth it when you WILL get clotted cream!! :)
Midlife Singlemum says
Happy half year anniversary! I’m extrememly impressed with making your own clotted cream. I have a question. Are the children comfortable in German already and have they forgotten their Danish? Or are they/were they in the International school?
bavaria says
Thank you Rachel! :) They were at an International school joined to a Danish school in Denmark, and R in particular could speak some Danish. Here they are also at an International school (would obviously place them in local schools if we thought we were moving somewhere forever), but they have 6 hours of German a week. A bit like me currently :O Shouldn’t take them too long, then they can help me out! :D
Grace says
You are such an amaizing resiliant family I am so proud of you and read this lovely blog to celebrate your first 6 months with my mouth watering! Mx PS – well done Mr R!
bavaria says
Thanks for the lovely comment Mum. You can have two scones! ;) xx