Pippa's Real Tea

Scone and clotted cream
Pippa's Real Tea, $2

In the ranks of things that taste better than they sound, clotted cream is right up there with fish fingers.  Thick and insanely rich, this luxurious spread is a staple treat in Britain's dairy-farming regions. 

There are a couple of ways of making clotted cream, the easiest being to slowly reduce cream until it's as thick as spackle.  A friend's grandmother used to make a new batch nightly, setting the saucepan of cream in a bain marie over low heat before going to bed; she woke each morning to find the perfectly thickened cream topped with a golden crust of crystallized milkfat--as cheerful and more reliable than the morning sun!

There are even more ways of enjoying clotted cream, in or on baked goods or ice cream, in fudge, on fruit...An Afghan version is mixed with tea and aerated to yield a fuschia beverage enjoyed on special occasions. 

At Pippa's Real Tea in Port Townsend, a container of clotted cream accompanies small, fresh scones and strawberry jam.  You can also order a pot of one of Pippa's dozens of loose-leaf teas to create the classic mid-afternoon snack known in England as a "cream tea."   The farther you get from Devon and Cornwall, the greater your risk that the "cream" component of a cream tea will whipped rather than clotted--but Pippa's doesn't disappoint!

Pippa's Real Tea
636 Water St
Port Townsend, WA
360/385-6060