Cream Tea - Delicious scones please — Dragonfly Delights Tea Room

Afternoon Tea

A three course Delight to be shared with your favourite people.

Consisting of dainty Savories, delicious Scones and delightful Sweets along with fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and condiments such a jam and clotted cream.

Today I would like to focus on the scones. This might be my favourite. Can you believe it, not the sweets? Scones can be prepared as a sweet or a “savory”. There is that word again, savory. Not to be confused with the dainty warm savories that occupy the bottom plate of your three tiered tray.

Savory simply means it is not sweet. Flavours such as basil pesto, sweet pepper, ham and cheese or even cracked black pepper. Anything but a sweet ingredient.

If scones are hot, fresh from the oven they are put on that bottom plate so they can be enjoyed warm. Imagine that sweet, whipped butter melting on your made from scratch scone fresh form the oven …

What’s the Proper Way to Eat a Scone?

Start with scooping some clotted cream and preserves onto your plate using the small utensils provided. It is my understanding that proper etiquette would dictate that the condiments go at 4:00 on your plate.

Next, break off bite-sized pieces of the scone using your hands and use your own knife to spread the clotted cream and preserves onto the broken piece of scone. This helps keep everyone safe from any flu bug going around. Eat that piece of scone, then repeat.

What Is Cream Tea?

A Cream Tea is a light meal consisting of scones, fruit jam, clotted cream, and a freshly-brewed pot of tea. Traditionally, the scone is served warm and, when possible, freshly baked, and the cream is clotted rather than whipped. Strawberry jam is by far the most popular jam used. It's commonly served in southwest England (where Devon and Cornwall are located) but can also be found throughout the country. It's often enjoyed in the afternoon but can be served anytime in between meals.

Cream tea is a more relaxed and lighter tea break than a full afternoon tea.

Devon Cream Tea vs. Cornish Cream Tea

The difference between Cream Tea in Devonshire and Cornwall comes down to how its served. Both versions serve the same items: tea, scones, jam, and clotted cream.

In Devon, the scones are split in two and topped with cream followed by jam.

In Cornwall, the split scones are topped with jam and then cream. While it doesn't necessarily affect the flavor of the cream tea, it's simply the order of the ingredients that are different. Both versions of cream tea are served throughout England and how you decide to eat your scones will come down to personal preference.

The Cornish split, a slightly sweet bread roll that's lighter than a scone, can sometimes be used in place of a scone for cream tea.

In Devon, a similar bread called the Devonshire split is occasionally served. It tends to be smaller than a Cornish split, and both are served with cream and jam.

Do you put the cream first or the jam?

What is Clotted Cream?

Clotted cream is traditionally served with cream teas. It is somewhere in between whipped cream and butter, yellow and thick like butter but rich and creamy like whipped cream. It is made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk in a shallow pan for many hours which causes the cream to rise to the surface and "clot." Unfortunately, I don’t know that I could find unpasteurized cow’s milk to make this. What would public health say?

At Dragonfly Delights Tearoom the scones have been served with a helping of local jam, scones cream, sweet- whipped butter and lemon curd. These are all familiar condiments for the afternoon tea tray.

As I continue to focus on getting the Tearoom Dream into a “Real” space, I will definitely have Cream Tea on the menu. I imagine it as two freshly baked scones with local preserves, my new favourite scones whipped cream and some fresh fruit. Of course, a pot of tea to accompany this.