What cream for scones

Many of you will recall a recipe for scones on these pages a week or two ago. I want to make them this weekend but am confused over the phrase "35% cream" as used in the recipe. What is that and can I find it in my Safeway?
JP

Look back for the original recipe -- I think it called for pouring cream. But this was an Oz recipe and names and terms are different in the various countries that made the recipe.

The cream I used had 18% fat content and it made good scones. JUst look on the container label for the fat content. Since th ecream replaces butter/margarine that would be rubbed in the flour, I guess a higher fat content would be good.

But as I say -- I was very happy with mine

Heavy cream should work fine.

rwj

Jon,

Look at the fine print on the labels of the cream container. It should list the % butter fat content somewhere. This is the "35%" that the recipe calls for.

-Paul W.

If you can't find the butterfat content in the fine print, you can calculate it yourself from the government-mandated nutrition information. The standard "serving size" for cream is a tablespoon or about 15 mL. Since the density of cream isn't much different than water, that tablespoon weighs about 15 grams. The first line of the nutrion info is generally "Total Fat", so 4.5 grams of total fat would mean 30% butterfat, if you found your "35% cream", it would say 5.2 or 5.3 grams. As others have pointed out, it's not going to be that critical to your recipe. In the US, we generally don't have the multiplicity of creams that are available in the UK and any heavy/whipping cream is going to be in the range you're looking for.

[Jenise]

Heavy cream should work fine.

rwj

Agreed. In the States, we typically don't have the choices that exist elsewhere. Basically, what you DON'T want is sour cream, cream fraiche, double cream, but any product called Heavy Cream or Whipping (not whipped, but whipping as in for whipping) Cream will work fine.

Many thanks to each of you. All invited over this weekend as the scones come out of the oven; if you can't make it, I will be thinking of you.
JP

Jon, thank you for trying these ! I amended the actual recipe after feedback from everyone else. It was hard to believe that all three ingredients in the recipe were DIFFERENT in the US !

So, to reiterate, you need :

HEAVY or WHIPPING CREAM (35% fat preferred)
7-up or Sprite or equivalent (which we call lemonade here)
SR flour (or all purpose flour and baking powder)

Our Australian and Kiwi SR flours don't have salt, but the US version does, not sure if it will make a significant difference, though.

And try cooking them at the higher temp (200C or 400F) for 15 - 20 mins - they seemed to rise more that way.

Hope they work out ! (she says nervously, crossing her fingers... )

Celia

Celia - I am looking forward to making my batch of Celia's Scones, which is what they'll forever be called in my house....and who knows where else in Washington DC and Maryland they'll end up being made. Thank you for the post!

Aaargh...pressure's on ! Please make them work, Jon..

Hey guys,

I was just watching an episode of "America's Test Kitchen" (the same people who publish "Cook's Illustrated" magazine) and they were doing a Strawberry Cream Cake. In this episode the talked about different creams. What they said was that here in the US there are 3 different kinds of heavy cream. The first is called Natural heavy cream, which sounds similar to your pouring cream Celia. It's only ingredient is cream and it's just pasturized, not ultra-pasturized (btw, according to Alton Brown, you can make clotted cream using pasturized, not ultra-pasturized cream, by pouring it into a coffee filter and allowing it to sit for several hrs...but I digress). This cream contains about 40% butterfat. The next kind of heavy cream is called just heavy cream. It has several ingredients other than cream, such as carageenan and is about 36% percent butterfat and it's ultrapasturized. It does a pretty good job of whipping but doesn't taste as good as natural cream. Finally there is Heavy Whipping cream. This cream is about 30% butterfat, has alot more stabilizers, and is also ultrapasturized. It supposedly isn't very good for whipping.

I know that my local grocery stores only carry heavy cream and heavy whipping cream. I would have to go to a speciality store to find natural cream. I will certainly make that effort now, though knowing the differences in the creams.

Celia...I am so glad you made that scones post, otherwise I would have been none the wiser about the heavy cream I used. I am so glad I know the differences! Thanks again!

Jon - When I made Celia's scones they came out pretty good...my only beef with them was that they definitely needed some salt...but we cook with quite a bit of salt here and use salted butter for everything. Let us know how the scones come out!

That's kind of you, Maria, thanks ! I've also been reading the back of all the cartons of cream since then too. I'm interested at what a difference there is between brands - two different creams that say they're the same fat content and same ingredients can taste completely different. Oooh, there's a way to kill your arteries fast, start having cream taste testings..

Celia, they came out very well indeed and we enjoyed them right out of the oven. I think I need to have a little higher proportion of flour next time as I couldn't use a glass or can to cut them as you suggested so they ended up being "freeform". And talk about easy - one can whip up a batch at the drop of a hat. Thanks again.

Thanks for letting me know, Jon ! I'm so glad you liked them ! I think there's a difference between our flours and the ones you get in the US - Stuart had trouble with the dough being very wet as well. The dough should be non-sticky enough that you can dust the top with flour, and then cut with a glass or cookie cutter. But it IS a bit fiddly, and a bit sticky - I often have to spatula and coax the scones into the baking tray.

If you like savoury scones, you can easily include all sorts of flavours into the mix - I've made blue cheese scones, as well as ones with bits of ham, cheese and semi-dried tomatoes. My sister makes them with smoked salmon. And like Sue, I'll often make them with leftover champagne !

Well, I happen to have some nice smoked salmon that I was wondering what to do with...