Clotted cream is a delicious coating for your scone and an essential part of your cream tea. It can also be topped on any warm or cold desserts. Served hot, it will turn into a warm, fatty, dripping fudge. Served cold, it can be a spread that perfectly balances your sweet treats. But can you freeze clotted cream?

Firstly, the question is why would you want to? The problem is you can’t buy just one or two servings of clotted cream in the supermarket. The high-fat content makes it very prone to going bad – usually within three to four days. So if you don’t want your clotted cream going off then it’s time to start freezing it.

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Can You Freeze Clotted Cream?

You certainly can. However, you should only freeze fresh clotted cream. Clotted cream that has been sitting out for more than a day is likely to go rancid pretty fast – even when freezing. It’s not impossible, but freezing your leftover clotted cream won’t refresh it, and it might dry out a tiny bit faster than it usually would.

Note that clotted cream that’s older might drain faster and evaporate a bit. Leave a little bit of air space between the product and the seal if you’re freezing older clotted cream.

You should also note that defrosted clotted cream cannot be frozen again. You should, therefore, freeze your clotted cream in smaller batches if you don’t think you’re going to use it all at once.

Good News! Clotted Cream Can Be Frozen

How to Freeze Clotted Cream

Just follow these simple instructions to safely and easily freeze clotted cream:

If you bought your clotted cream in an air-tight container, you don’t even need to repack it – put the clotted cream into the freezer just as you’ve received it. Generally though, clotted cream will come in a plastic pot that won’t keep the air out. So transfer your leftover cream to an airtight container then freeze. If you can buy small pots that are portion-sized then use these so you can just take a portion out of the freezer as and when you need it. Wrap your pots in a layer of cling film to avoid leakages and to try and prevent any air finding its way in.

How Long Can You Freeze Clotted Cream?

Provided that it’s air-tight, you’ll be able to keep your clotted cream in the freezer for up to a year. There is a small chance it will begin to dry out towards the latter stages of this period. If you can use it within 6 months, that would be ideal.

You Can Freeze Clotted Cream for up to 6 Months

How Do You Defrost Clotted Cream?

The best way to defrost clotted cream is similar to defrosting any other dairy or high-fat products – simply thaw it into the fridge overnight. If you were to leave clotted cream out at room temperature, it might quickly go rancid and change flavour and texture, so thawing in the refrigerator is really the only way to go.

Slow and steady wins the race here!

After defrosting, your clotted cream can last for another three or four days in the fridge. Clotted cream tends to get drier, turn yellow and have a very strong acidic scent as time goes by. So don’t worry, you will definitely know if your clotted cream is still good to eat or not.

Does Clotted Cream Freeze Well?

The straightforward answer is no, not really. Unfortunately, like a lot of fatty dairy products, you’ll ruin the texture when freezing it. This is the case for a range of dairy products including creme fraiche and brie.

The texture of your clotted cream will become dry and crumbly once defrosted. Who wants to describe their clotted cream as dry and crumbly?

So, where possible, we would advise consuming your clotted cream in its fresh state. Of course, there is the argument that frozen clotted cream is better than clotted cream thrown in the bin.

However, if you freeze clotted cream, try and serve it with something hot. This will help the clotted cream to melt and will give you the richness you’re after without the dodgy frozen dry texture.

Other Questions about Clotted Cream

Below are a few of the other common questions we have come across when it comes to clotted cream – some related to freezing and some not. If you’re still sat there with a question or two about clotted cream then drop a comment at the bottom of this article and we’ll aim to help out as much as possible.

Can Clotted Cream Go Off?

Like most things, it will eventually go off. More often than not, the best before date on clotted cream is exactly that – best before. It’s not a use-by date and you’ll need to use your own instincts to determine whether the clotted cream has gone off or not.

Can You Freeze Clotted Cream Once Opened?

You can freeze clotted cream even after opening it. However, make sure you do so as soon as you can. The longer you leave it, the greater the chance it won’t freeze well. Try and freeze it when it is at its best.

Which First: Clotted Cream or Jam?

Forget political debates or philosophical discussions – this is the hottest debate across the UK. Do you put jam or clotted cream on your scone first? If you were to ask someone from Cornwall then it would be jam first. Ask someone from Devon and you’ll get a different answer. Thankfully, Afternoon Tea has run a survey and discovered that 58% of people prefer jam first. What do you prefer?