I hear that an embargo was placed on bringing thick double / clotted cream into Canada, if this is the case why do the Canadians not produce it? I find cake making almost impossible with the 35% whipping cream we are forced to use.

Where did you hear that? & what cakes are you trying to make?

I gather much of this myth revolves around the difficulty in selling raw milk products in Ontario. To compound that, most cream sold in supermarkets is sterilised or UHT treated. If you have a dairy farm shop nearby, you may be able to get unpasteurised or at least unsterilised double cream direct from the farm, but I can't think of a recipe that exclusively calls for that. Clotted cream, of course, is a different thing entirely - it's very difficult (but not impossible) to get the right consistency by clotting cream that has been UHT treated.

How are you using that cream in a cake recipe? Is it a constituent of the batter, or are you piping it as decoration? If the former, then I'm surprised that a 2% difference in dairy fat content would make a difference. If it really is the cream that's the problem, then (assuming you don't want the expense of finding a specialist retailer selling high-fat cream) you could try heating the cream (gently) to reduce it a little to boost the proportion of fats before use; or change the recipe to accommodate the lack of butterfat in the cream (take out a little of the cream and add an equivalent volume of butter, for example). Or you could try looking for a North American recipe to work from: the US term is "heavy cream" rather than "whipping cream" but that is pretty much a direct equivalent of the Canadian 35% cream.

If you're having difficulty whipping and piping the cream, I humbly suggest you should whip it more. For sure, it won't produce the stiff peaks of a 40%+ cream, but you can get it pretty firm without overworking it. If you really need a stiffly whipped cream (and don't mind sweetening it a little) then a bit of icing sugar will both stiffen and stabilise the whipped cream. Or a bit of creme fraiche or sour cream folded in at the end will have the same stabilising effect for a savoury recipe.

Plenty of bakers (including my OH) have no difficulty making all sorts of cakes and patisserie using Canadian cream.

I was in the English tea shop in Barrie, Ontario last week talking to the owner and she had managed to get a few jars of double cream for her shop, she was telling me that an embargo was placed on bringing Cream in from England, but that this was up for review and may be lifted. I find making Pavlova, Eclairs and many other cakes very difficult without the thick cream, even making cream horns etc.
Its ironic that all over Europe this is a major ingredient in so many dishes, even curries etc but here in Canada its not available. If the Canadian have an issue bringing this in from England why in heavens name do they not produce it here?

Probably because nobody really cares that much.

Quite.
Try using the traditional fillings for cream horns and eclairs (Holland cream and crème pâtissière, neither of which usually contain cream) instead? I've never had a problem whipping Canadian whipping cream stiffly enough for a pavlova. And for savoury dishes, try a sour cream (if stirring through at the end of cooking) or Greek yogurt instead - imo the added tang improves the flavour and often the texture of the finished dish.

Mr Oakvillian, as our resident baking guru what is your advice re the lack of availability of caster sugar in Canada? My mums chocolate sponge recipe calls for it and its absence has prevented me from trying to recreate this particular slice of childhood memory.

I'm not Oakvillian but:

Caster sugar is known as superfine sugar here. I don't tend to bother anymore (see below), but I can get it in local wholesale store.

Depending on your recipe, use ordinary granulated, or grind granulated in blender/coffee grinder.

You can buy jars of Devon double cream and clotted cream (though it isn't the same as fresh).

Instead of whipping cream, look for Lactantia 'cooking cream' or 'old fashioned cream' - also 35% but tends to be a bit thicker.

https://www.iga.net/en/product/cooki...00006820020270

I did find extra thick double cream in Fortino's once, about 8 years ago. Sadly they said they were not going to continue as there was no demand.

@Atlantic Xpat - yes, as Shirtback mentioned, it's called superfine or berry sugar here - or if you are desperate to use the real thing you can buy it from Amazon

Where?

I ordered some clotted cream jars off Amazon. It was no surprise when they didn't arrive and I got a refund.

Also known as berry sugar too. Common in all the grocery stores I've visited.

I think the cream problem is a non-issue too. I order commercial food supplies from Sysco and GFS, including baking and confectionary items. Cream filled pastries and cakes bear little difference to European counterparts.

I found caster sugar in Bulk Barn..

Superfine sugar for caster sugar and I have no problem with whipping cream here for my cake fillings.

Sobeys, Superstore and the like. It's in little glass bottles like mini milk bottles. Tastes halfway between tinned cream and cream.

They have the double devon cream in most supermarkets around here, clotted cream is a little harder to find.

You could always try making your own.

Making Clotted Cream | Joe Pastry
CLOTTED CREAM | Recipes | Nigella Lawson