Back in 1838, a French pastry chef living near Mexico City ignited a brief war between Mexico and France after he alleged Mexican army officers had ransacked his restaurant. Fast forward nearly 200 years and another war over patisserie is brewing after Prince William told Heart breakfast hosts Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden that he likes his scones with the cream on first: "I love that I'm the authority...I can only tell you what I learned from my grandmother, and she would definitely have the cream on first," he said.
Ever the diplomat, the Prince quickly reassured jam-on-first fans that he was sure both methods tasted "delicious", but quite frankly the jam was already out of the jar and in the Best Quality Designer Handbag offices, battle lines were drawn between impassioned advocates of jam first (the Cornish method) and cream first (the Devonian method).
As in all wars, foot soldiers need figureheads so step forward Best Quality Designer Handbag 's senior editor Jack Malvern and our LA correspondent Rebecca Lewis. Jack is a fierce proponent of cream first for practical reasons, while Rebecca's reasons for being jam first go to the very heart of her existence. Indeed, she would rather overthrow the monarchy than face the prospect of a cream-first King.
Our adversaries now state their respective cases, after which you will have the chance to vote for your preferred method. But before this, play our fun interactive, 'A Game of Scones', where you have to guess which star is Team Devon and which star is Team Cornwall (click here to play if you are viewing this article on a non-HELLO! platform). If you need a helping hand with one of the answers, Meghan Markle revealed her scone preference earlier this week (and Jack reveals it too farther down!)...
Jack's case for the Devonian method
The Prince of Wales does it. The Duchess of Sussex and the Marchioness of Bath do it. Even the late Queen did it. If spreading cream first on a scone is good enough for them, why isn't it good enough for you?
There is a lot of dogma in the cream-first vs jam-first debate, much of it tedious. If you mention it in front of a Cornishman or Devonian they will argue until the R button on their keyboard wears out. They will debate, pointlessly, whether a scone is like a pudding, with cream on top, or an open sandwich, with cream acting as the butter. Others claim that jam-first works better with a hot scone delivered directly from an oven – some hope! The only point of agreement between the counties is that adding a layer of butter to the scone surface is the preserve of a disordered mind.
Fundamentally, I don't care which texture first hits my upper teeth. They taste delicious either way. The chief issue is quantity. For me, the scone is a vehicle to deliver as much cream and jam as possible. It's a posh vehicle, certainly, but very much a BMW in contention with a Bentley and a Rolls Royce. If you have proper, thick clotted cream and slightly runny home-made jam then the cream provides a more stable base. You can make a receptacle of saturated fat in which the jam can nest. If I were served a thick jam and runny cream then I would do it the other way around. But who wants overcooked jam and single cream?
Rebecca's case for the Cornish method
The possession of the Duchy of Cornwall should be removed from Prince William immediately if it is true that he puts his cream on a scone first. The Cornish way – jam first, and then cream – is not only a cleaner way to spread the toppings, but also prevents the scone from crumbling, as the lighter consistency of the jam means for a smoother spread before you place a large dollop of cream (and it has to be Rodda's) on top. Plus, you wouldn't put cream on the bottom of any other dessert, would you?
History is also on my side: the cream tea tradition flourished in England's West Country in the 19th century after the opening of the railway, although the first recorded use of the phrase wasn't until 1931 in.... Cornwall's local paper The Cornishman. Food historian Alan Davidson has suggested that the origins may even go back millennia to pre-BC, theorizing that the Phoenicians may have arrived in Cornwall and traded their traditional way of making cream, called ‘Kaymak’, for Cornish tin.
My chosen method also reflects my own history. I've spent 32 of my 40 summers on this earth in Cornwall, and those local memories and traditions – sea shanties in the pub, Cornish pasties, the mystery of the woman in Piper's Hole – have become ingrained in my own DNA. Putting the jam on the scone first is the hill I will die on, and if you don't want the cream tea I make you, it's all the more for me.
Click here to vote in our scone poll if you are viewing this article on a non-HELLO! platform.
