jam or cream?
Tea. Scone. Clotted cream. Jam.
Constituent elements of a cream tea.
I love cream tea — and I’ve had several over the past week. Earlier today I popped into The Four Teas Café in Mousehole (the inspiration for the fictional Cornish village “Rathole” in Agatha Christie’s The Blood-Stained Pavement). The friendly woman behind the counter — possibly one of the best salespeople I’ve ever met — not only persuaded me to add a latte (as good as the one I’d had earlier in the week from No. 1 Deli) but also convinced me to take my cream tea the Cornish way: jam first.
Until this week, I had no idea this was even a debate — but of course it is. If there are two ways of doing something, you can be sure that, over the decades, communities have developed with firm allegiances to each. In this case, the choice is simple: jam then cream (Cornish) or cream then jam (often called the Devonshire or “English” way).
I’d never tried the Cornish method — not out of loyalty to the other, but simply because it never occurred to me. Until today.
How did she convince me? She told me she’d read a scientific study proving that the Cornish way was best. Intrigued, I promised to see if I could track it down and report back.
Firstly, I took a quick look on Google Scholar. While the first hit seemed insightful. It wasn’t.
Okay, fine. Let's ask ChatGPT:Question: I’m looking for any kind of scientific article that explores whether you apply jam or cream first to a scone?
Answer:
Yep — a few “science-y” takes exist (not quite peer-reviewed papers, but they use real measurements or methods):
#1: Centre for Industrial Rheology (2025): Instrumented rheology on M&S clotted cream and strawberry jam (viscosity, complex modulus, yield stress, thixotropy). Conclusion: cream first gives a more rigid base; the cream’s rigidity recovers within ~6 s after spreading, so jam on top is best. [LINK]
#2: Eugenia Cheng, “On the perfect quantity of cream for a scone” (2013): A lighthearted mathematical note setting a 2:1:1 (scone:jam:cream by weight) and, by assumption of “construction,” argues jam first, then cream (partly for sensory reasons). PDF available. [LINK]
#3: Dr Stuart Farrimond (2015, Ascot Racecourse commission): Practical/consumer study with a tasting panel; reported 57% preference for the Devonshire (cream-first) method and arguments about spreadability/viscosity. (Media summaries; not a journal article.) [LINK]
If you want something strictly peer-reviewed, I haven’t found a journal paper on the order specifically — the closest rigorous piece is the rheology lab’s measurements above.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no definitive answer. The rheological assessment favours cream first; the mathematician and some tasters lean toward jam first; most people simply do it the way they’ve always done it.
I enjoyed discovering Prof. Cheng’s piece — and, thanks to an internet rabbit hole, a few other fascinating reads.
So, to my friend at The Four Teas Café: the jury is still out. But I kept my promise, tried the Cornish way, and… while I won’t be switching, I can say I enjoyed the experiment.
