How to make a cream tea
We celebrate this quintessential British treat with some recipes and ideas, from the traditional to the more unusual.
Warm crumbly scones, rich clotted cream, fruity jam and a pot of freshly brewed tea: a cream tea is a classic combination that goes way back to the 18th century and has remained a national favourite.
But whether you like your cream before your jam, your jam before your cream, or even a dollop of butter on your scones, there are plenty of ways to make one of our tastiest treats that bit more exciting.
What type of scone?
The traditional cream tea is served with a plain scone, but for those who are a little more risqué, a fruit scone has become increasingly common too. This is a much more recent trend though, as adding currants to your scones was totally forbidden back in the day – you’d be unleashing hounds of fury simply by adding a bit of glazing in the early 19th century.
But fortunately, fast forward to the 21st century and you can be as liberal and inventive with your scones as you like. You can pretty much add anything into your scone mixture to win over cream tea fans these days.
Ed Baines opts for a simple addition of raspberries to his, served with some blackberry jam for the ultimate fruity feast.
But if you want to do something a little different, John Torode suggests ginger yoghurt scones with black cherry filling. I know – filling on the inside, it’s not the traditional way, but it certainly looks pretty good.
And for those without a sweet tooth…
Of course scones aren’t just limited to the sweet kind. Cheese scones are also a favourite, or you could try out some cheese, celery and walnut scones. I'd leave the cream and jam though!
How should I serve the scone?
There are two regional versions of cream tea: the Devonshire method, and the Cornish method. In Devon, the traditional way is to serve your scone warm fresh out of the oven and split in half.
In Cornwall however, cream tea was traditionally served with a ‘Cornish split’, which is a sweet bread roll, instead of a scone. But the one thing these two regional methods have in common is the temperature. Always serve your scones warm so that they almost crumble to a natural split across the middle. This will make them much more enjoyable to eat, and the cream should glide on a lot easier.
Jam or cream first?
Ah – the big question! The truth is, there is no answer, it is entirely subjective. But if you want to stick to tradition, pick between the two regions that birthed the cream tea. Devon’s preferred way is to serve each half of the scone with a spoonful of clotted cream, followed by strawberry jam on top. But in Cornwall, tradition would have you spreading the jam before the cream. Take your pick!
Which jam should I use?
Most would argue that strawberry jam is the perfect ingredient for cream tea. But this can be pretty bland compared to other more interesting jams available these days. For a slightly sweeter, tarter jam, raspberry or blackcurrant is a good starting point, as it will act as a stronger partner to the cream.
The perfect brew
As far as a great cuppa is concerned, there are three essentials.
- Loose leaf is best. While tea bags are great for ease, loose leaf tea is full of flavour and will give you a much stronger and tastier tea (don’t forget to pour it through the tea strainer though).
- Allow at least three minutes for the tea to properly brew and the flavour to infuse.
- Always pour the tea before milk – there’s nothing worse than a really milky tea.
English breakfast is the traditional tea of choice for a cream tea, but there are hundreds of different teas to try. If you're not a huge fan of a milky tea, try opting for a black earl grey, or even a green tea - you'll probably be pleasantly surprised at how well some of the more unique teas will compliment such a traditional meal.
And finally, how do you actually pronounce scone?
Is it scone to rhyme with Joan, or scone to rhyme with John? It’s a tough call, and most of us will agree to disagree. But according to a survey we ran a few years back, around 65% of people opt for scone to rhyme with John, and around 35% prefer their scone to rhyme with Joan.
How do you like your cream tea? Do you put the jam or the cream on the scone first? Let us know in the Comments box below.
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