The jam or cream rivalry that has never scone away

"Cream or jam first is more divisive than Brexit, I swear that's true."

Jane Malyon, a cream tea expert and author of Scone or Scon(e) - the essential guide to British Afternoon Tea, remembered a time when she had fallen foul of the debate about how to eat your scone.

"A newspaper printed an article once that said a cream tea expert - me - says 'it should be cream first'.

"I didn't actually say that, what I said was what I tend to do is cream first, but the majority of people don't.

"I got 32,200 complaints saying 'what is she talking about?'."

Scones and whether to apply jam or cream first have drawn battle lines for years, especially between Cornwall (jam first) and Devon (cream first).

The debate was reignited earlier this year when Costa Coffee brought out their "50/50 scone" which tried to settle the matter by using a piping bag to put cream and jam on at the same time.

Tom Woodley, founder and managing director of The Cornish Company, said a blind taste test his firm did in 2025 showed 69% of participants preferred jam first.

"For me, the reason makes sense when you taste them side by side," he added.

"Putting the jam on first allows that sweetness to soak slightly into the scone, while the thick Cornish clotted cream sits on top.

"You get more of the sweetness of the jam followed by the richness and texture of the cream."

On the other side of the River Tamar in Devon, Ellie Emberson - director of Kingsteignton-based bakery Truly Treats - said, for her, the best option was always cream first.

Emberson said: "The cream is the equivalent of butter on bread, so it makes sense for that to go on first with the jam on top.

"You wouldn't put jam on your toast before the butter, and a scone's no different."

Whether it is friendly banter between neighbours or a stubborn sense of identity and pride, how to apply cream and jam remains as hotly debated as how to pronounce the word scone.

'Jam first' has become a popular refrain in Cornwall, adorning car bumper stickers and other merchandise, while the words 'cream first' printed across a giant Devon flag caused something of a stir a Glastonbury Festival last year.

Despite being the subject of perennial culinary discussion, food historian Dr Neil Buttery said cream teas might not be as old as some may think.

"The earliest mention I can find in a newspaper or anything in print to do with a cream tea is 1932 in the Cornishman newspaper," Buttery, who runs the British Food: A History blog, said.

"I can't go any further back than that, but the article presumes everybody reading it knows what a cream tea is, so maybe it's already 20 or 30 years old.

"So I put it down to a nice, round 1900 that we can go back to when it comes to cream teas."

Buttery, who also hosts The British Food History Podcast, said cream teas had evolved over the years, including the most essential element of the dish.

"The main change is quite a big one really and that's because scones weren't the main cake or baked good that you were having, it was splits - either Devonshire or Cornish splits - that were used," he said.

"There was a switch to scones because there's no yeast required, you don't have to kneed stuff, wait for it to rise, so using a scone meant that you could quicken up the baking and made things a lot cheaper and more accessible for people."

He suggested it was this move from the split to a scone which might have first brought up the Devon-Cornwall rivalry on cream teas.

"It was the Devonians who first went from a split to a scone, at least as far as I can see, so they were a little bit ahead of the curve if you're thinking about this as a bit of an evolution," Buttery said.

"Because of this though, both counties can say they're the inventor of the cream tea."

In terms of the cream or jam first debate, Buttery said he does not think anyone really knows how or why it became such a contested matter.

But he does believe how someone prepares their clotted cream might have something to do with it.

Buttery, who admitted he is a cream first person, said: "I once went and made some clotted cream from scratch where you put some cream in an oven at a very low heat for several hours overnight before you take it out and you've got clotted cream.

"It's very thick and gloopy and viscous, it's almost syrupy.

"If I was using that kind of cream on a scone and I put it on first then tried to put jam on top of that, it would be an absolute mess.

"However, if you buy clotted cream these days it's centrifuged now instead of baked and it's very, very thick, so it really maybe makes more sense to put that on first because it's thicker than the jam.

"So I think there's a bit of physics going on here."

Malyon, who also runs The English Cream Tea Company, said cream teas remained big business for many places - from rural tea shops to The Ritz hotel in London.

She said one of the most important factors was the scone itself, which had to be "generous".

"It's no good giving me something tiny like a hockey puck that is going to explode if you try and get into it," Malyon said.

She said there were preferred ways of eating a cream tea, saying people should avoid using a knife to cut their scone, an action she described as a "big no-no".

"Assuming you haven't been tarmacadaming the road, you break your scone in half with your hands," she said.

"When you pull, you prise your scone apart and get this fluffy texture which is delicious and really good with the cream and jam.

"If you cut a scone in half, it seals the inside of the scone and it becomes a hard surface and not nearly as good."

Malyon added when it comes to cream or jam first, people should do whatever they want.

"If you're in any county other than Devon or Cornwall, definitely do your thing," Malyon, who said she normally goes cream first.

"I'm in Essex so I'll do it anyway I want, but if I was with a Cornishman and I could see this was a touchy subject, out of politeness I would fit in with what they're doing. When in Rome."

Malyon said cream teas were also very popular with tourists visiting the UK and could be found abroad including in Australia and North America, although many places do not serve traditional clotted cream.

"Also, about three times, instead of jam, I've been offered marmalade with my scones, which was a little unusual," she added.

Debra Quine, who runs the Bumble and Bee cafe business in Exmouth, said cream teams were still hugely popular with 9,580 scones sold so far this year at their premises.

Quine said she believed cream teas endured with customers because they were a "simple affordable pleasure" anyone could enjoy.

"Cream teas are so quintessentially British," she said.

"They're quaint, they're nostalgic and they're particularly perfect for Devon seaside towns and a cute little café.

"There's just something about a cream tea that feels like a little treat.

"It feels special, it feels fancy and who doesn't like to feel like that?"

Simon and Claire Searle, who run The Old Forge café in Chagford, said about 10% of their gross sales for 2026 so far had been scones.

They added other varieties of scones were also popular and the café has a "scone of the week" offering.

"On our menu is a cheese scone, served with butter and sweet pickle - this is almost as popular as a cream tea," the couple said.

"We have a lot of overseas visitors who are very keen to try a scone, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea.

"There appears to be no right or wrong time to enjoy them."

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