Scones:they’re the quintessential English dessert and also the cause of a long-running (and often heated) debate around the world. What goes first? Jam or cream.
Jam or cream: a history
Cream tea (also known as high tea) has been served in the UK since the 11th century and arguments over its signature dish – scones – have ensued ever since. What topping goes first: jam or cream? The two English counties famous for cream teas are Cornwall and Devon, and they differ on order. Cornish cream tea will do jam then cream, Devonians do it the other way around.
The nation votes
To help settle the long-running debate once and for all we put it to our Facebook followers: which is the right way to eat a scone? Jam first or cream first. With over 18,000 votes in total, 17,000 of those said jam first, while only 1,000 people said cream. While it’s safe to say it wasn’t a nail-biting vote, people weren’t afraid to let their opinions be known.
“What kind of psychopath would do the cream first?” questioned Rebecca Brodeck. Others see the order of topping as a means to maximum cream volume. “Why would you limit the amount of cream by putting it on first?” said Rebbecca Voyt… while some people just had their own method entirely, in order to keep jam and cream separate altogether. “So I’m the only one who cuts the scone into 3 and puts the jam on the bottom, cream on top and separates them with the middle piece of scone,” said master layerer Veriona Robinson.
Then there were the people who threw butter into the mixture, but that’s a whole other story.
What do the foodies think?
To help, we also asked our official English foodie in the office Matt Preston to weigh in on the debate: “It’s always jam first in Australia given the lower butterfat content (and the resulting increased instability) of the cream used here compared to the denser clotted cream traditionally used in Devon and Cornwall.”
Alternately, English cook Nigella Lawson admitted to news.com.au: “Although more Cornish than Devonian, I do the cream first.” She said clotted cream was more like butter and “It’s much easier to put the jam on top. If you put the jam first and then you try to put the cream on, you drag the jam, whereas the cream is heavier”.
And what about the lateHer Majesty Queen Elizabeth II? Well, according to Darren McGrady, a former chef who worked for the Royal Family for over 10 years, the Queen prefered jam first. He tweeted: “The Queen always had home-made Balmoral jam first with clotted cream on top at Buckingham Palace garden parties in the royal tea tent and all royal tea parties.”
Tea, anyone?
Top-rated scones recipes:
Basic scones
Lemonade scones
Buttermilk scones
See more:
How to make scones
Top 10 scone toppers
How to fix overwhipped cream
