Devon

Cream Tea, Just Because

/ RGilbert
Devon Cream Tea
Devon Cream Tea
©2020 Roxane Gilbert

What is Cream Tea? Cream tea refers to a tradition in Devon and Cornwall of serving afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam.

Although I would never refuse a freshly made scone served Cornish style, when it comes to cream tea, I am securely in the Devon camp: the cream goes on the scone with the jam on top. (In the Cornish tradition the jam is spread on the scone and a spoonful of cream is put on top of that.)

If you are in the United Kingdom, your local market may sell Devon or Cornish clotted cream. Those of us in the United States may be able to buy packaged clotted cream at the supermarket, from a gourmet grocer, or online. It’s a decent, pricey substitute for the fresh product.

Fortunately, clotted cream is very easy to make at home. The tricky part is tracking down a supply of heavy cream that is not ultra-pasteurized. If the cream is ultra-pasteurized, it is not going to separate. There is a dairy near me that sells it. If there are no such purveyors in your vicinity, you may do well to check for cream from an organic dairy.

Homemade Clotted Cream:
Preheat your oven to 170°F or 80°C.
Pour a pint of heavy cream into a tempered glass baking pan. Use a large enough pan so that the cream is no more than two-inches deep. Thinner is better. Bake it for 12 hours. A yellow or brownish crust will form at the top. This is okay.

Remove the baked cream from the oven and refrigerate it for at least eight hours or overnight. Pierce the crust and tip the pan to drain the liquid into a glass. Set this aside to use for making scones, or use it in your coffee or tea.

Stir the thickened cream together with the crusty top. It may be lumpy. Store it in a covered glass container in the refrigerator for up to one week. This makes enough clotted cream for about eight scones.

Easy, right?

The East Webburn River in Widecombe-in-the-Moor

/ RGilbert

The East Webburn River flows through the ancient, picturesque village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, past the Rugglestone Inn, and through the vast land holdings of the fictional family of Joseph Buckleigh, the hero of the historical novel A Moon Garden, by Roxane Gilbert. When his tour of duty in the American War for Independence comes to an end, Joseph returns to his ancestral home in Widecombe-in-the-Moor, to heal and resume his life.

Joseph’s eyes sparkled as he smiled. “I will tell you something right now that is as sincere as anything you will hear today. I am going to strip off all of my clothes and plunge my body into that very cold stream over there on the other side of the hedge. There is nothing I would like better than for my wife to get some clean clothes from my brother, and a sheet in which I may wrap myself when I come out of the water. Now, if you can present these to me in five minutes, I would be most appreciative.” With that, Joseph pulled off his shirt, dropped it on the ground, then ran in the direction of the creek.

It was not Grace who stood on the bank when Joseph finished bathing. He laughed when he saw Russell Jayne, now a captain with the Royal Army, sitting on a moss-covered rock. Russell threw him the sheet. “Good Lord, Buckleigh. What I must endure for King and country.”

From A Moon Garden ©2020 Roxane Gilbert

#AMoonGarden https://amzn.to/2WC4lOP

The stone walls of Dartmoor

/ RGilbert / 1 Comment
Dartmoor Lane
©Roxane Gilbert

Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Devon, England, is a village of fewer than 200 households in the middle of Dartmoor, which has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Many of the hedgerows and stone walls that divide the landscape date back hundreds of years. The walls have become natural rock gardens, covered with stonecrop, navelwort, maiden-hair ferns, and lichens.

“The edge of the gentle downward slope was anchored at its base by a giant yew tree.  From there the lane gradually rose again for about 30 yards.  Another low, decaying stone wall adjoined a weathered wooden fence, blocking the entrance to the courtyard of a two-story stone cottage set back against rolling green hills.  A decrepit stone barn stood to the east, and an overgrown garden was to the west.  Aaron dismounted his horse and opened the wide, slatted gate.  Its large rusted hinges were generously greased.  Despite a high-pitched scraping sound, it swung open with ease.”

From A Moon Garden ©2020 Roxane Gilbert

#AMoonGarden https://amzn.to/38W7BHn

The River Dart

/ RGilbert

It is July 4, 1778. The British Army’s 33rd Regiment of Foot has returned to the New York colony, after sustaining heavy losses in the horrific Battle of Monmouth.

“It was a warm day with a mild breeze in Manhattan. Joseph sat under a tree in the meadow at the end of Broadway, cleaning his musket. As Colonel Eades had foreseen, now that Joseph was back in New York, he was finding time to rest. He reflected on the tough battles he had been through with his regiment. When they left England and arrived in the colonies in 1776, they numbered nearly 500. In two years, the 33rd had lost close to a quarter of its men.

“… Joseph closed his eyes and envisioned the raven-haired beauty with the pale complexion, clear green eyes, and bright smile. The two of them were together, laughing, walking across the ancient rough-granite footbridge over the rushing River Dart, then running up a hill to stroll hand-in-hand on the vast, misty moor.”

from A Moon Garden ©2020 Roxane Gilbert

#AMoonGarden https://amzn.to/2THnXzb

Clapper bridge over the River Dart in Dartmeet, Devon, England
©Roxane Gilbert

Love is in bloom at Rougemont Garden

/ RGilbert
Rougemont Castle wall
Rougemont Castle Wall
©Roxane Gilbert

The construction of Rougemont Castle was begun in 1068, sometime after William the Conqueror laid siege to the city of Exeter in Devon, England. The walls that remain today are surrounded on three sides by public gardens. In the year 1785, the broad walk through those gardens would have been lined with towering elm trees. On my visit to Rougemont Garden a couple of years ago, the elm trees were gone, but it was still easy to envision the interrupted romantic encounter that occurs at this place in my debut novel, A Moon Garden.

#AMoonGarden https://amzn.to/2IBl8JK

Broad walk through Rougemont Garden in Exeter, Devon, England.
Broad walk through Rougemont Garden
©Roxane Gilbert

Church of St Pancras in Widecombe-in-the-Moor

/ RGilbert
Church of St. Pancras, Widecombe-in-the-Moor
©Roxane Gilbert

Having been built in the 14th century, the Church of St. Pancras in Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Devon, England, was already ancient in 1785, when the Buckleigh family went there to worship in the historical novel A Moon Garden. Although the church has changed over the passing decades, I saw some of the original medieval carved bosses and impressive granite stonework when I visited in 2017, in the early stages of researching and writing my book.

#AMoonGarden https://amzn.to/2PXygwE