A bowl of fresh berries and a proper cream tea need a good fruit jam and thick clotted cream to spread on a warm, freshly baked scone straight from the oven. Whether you spread the cream first or the jam first depends on whether you come from Devon or Cornwall.

Real clotted cream, that rich, crusty ooze that lies at the heart of the warm scone/fresh-strawberry-jam artery-clogging concoction, is a far cry from the ultra heat-treated stiff paste you get in those glass jars in the supermarket.

It's not too difficult to make yourself, if you order a Fresh Fil Mjolk culture from G.E.M. Cultures, 30301 Sherwood Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437, 707 964 2922. Like making yogurt, you don't need any special equipment. You just mix the starter according to instructions into the room temperature dairy product, making the next batch from a scoop of the one before.

Related Information...