How to Eat a Scone Properly
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 I did a little research on the proper way to eat a scone. There seems to be two schools of thought on this.
One way is to cut the scone horizontally with a knife, never in half straight down. Then after spreading on the jam and cream, the scone is eaten open-faced. The jam and cream can be added bite by bite or one scone half at a time. The two halves should never be put back together to be eaten like a sandwich. The other, is to break off small bite-sized pieces, then spreading the jam and cream on each piece, never cutting the scone with a knife. Either way is considered proper etiquette.
As for the jam and cream, they should not be taken directly from the serving pot to your scone nor should a scone ever be dipped into them. Use a knife or serving spoons, if they're provided, to put some jam and cream on your plate and take enough for the whole scone. Then, with a knife, not the serving spoons, spread some of the jam on your plate to the scone. Then on top of the jam, add the cream. This was surprising to me, since I've always added the cream first (as seen here), then topped it with jam, much like how jam and butter is spread on toast. (UPDATE: There isn't a hard and fast rule on whether it's jam or cream first. Both ways are correct.)
Scones are meant to be eaten with your fingers, not a fork. Actually, thinking about it, there isn't a use for a fork during the entire afternoon tea service. It's strictly a knife and spoon affair.
I eat a scone by breaking it off into bite-sized pieces. How are you eating your scones?
Reader Comments (3)
Funny that you should post this a few days after I read the difference between Devon and Cornish clotted cream. After reading this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/poll/2010/may/20/cream-tea-scone-clotted-cream
I got to looking up the differences between the two and realized that this is a hotly debated age old issue. So much in fact that the BBC decided to get in on it also
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cornwall/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8694000/8694384.stm
Personally, I like cream then jam. Not only is it easier to spread on, it's aesthetically more appealing to me at least. Which makes sense since I never had Cornwall clotted cream as far as I know. During tea with British friends over the years I have noticed they prefer the Cornwall cream on top method.
There's no official guidance on which goes on first, the cream or the jam. Rather, it's a very controversial topic depending on if you're speaking to someone from Devon or Cornwall.
Having tried both methods of applying cream and jam to a scone, I'm more partial to the Devonshire method (cream, then jam) since it seems to be the more practical way for both cream and jam to stay on. If the jam goes on first, my cream usually ends up sliding off the jam and scone.
Ling & Karen, thanks for the comments on this hot button topic! Who knew it was this controversial?
Ling, thanks for the links, off to check them out!