Devon cream tea: scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam
Warm brioche-like buns split in half, generously spread with Devon clotted cream and strawberry jam. The eternal debate: cream first or jam first? In Devon, it is cream first.
Warm brioche-like buns split in half, generously spread with Devon clotted cream and strawberry jam. The eternal debate: cream first or jam first? In Devon, it is cream first.
You see, in Torquay we did not trifle with five o'clock tea. We split the scone while still warm, first spread the thick yellow Devon cream — never jam first, that is the Cornish way, and we were not of that persuasion! — then a spoonful of strawberries from our garden. I confess without shame that I always took a second helping, sometimes a third. A lady must have a vice, and mine was always cream.
- •Wheat flour — one pound (base)
- •Fresh butter — a good knob (fat)
- •Whole milk — as needed (binder)
- •Baking powder (bicarbonate) — a pinch (leavening)
- •Devon clotted cream — a generous pot (topping)
- •Homemade strawberry jam — one pot (topping)
Devon cream tea: scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam
Warm brioche-like buns split in half, generously spread with Devon clotted cream and strawberry jam. The eternal debate: cream first or jam first? In Devon, it is cream first.
Why this dish? Christie grew up in Torquay, Devon, the homeland of clotted cream. Afternoon tea with scones and thick cream was the quintessential social ritual of her Edwardian milieu — and she willingly confessed her fondness for fresh cream.
You see, in Torquay we did not trifle with five o'clock tea. We split the scone while still warm, first spread the thick yellow Devon cream — never jam first, that is the Cornish way, and we were not of that persuasion! — then a spoonful of strawberries from our garden. I confess without shame that I always took a second helping, sometimes a third. A lady must have a vice, and mine was always cream.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — one pound (base)
- Fresh butter — a good knob (fat)
- Whole milk — as needed (binder)
- Baking powder (bicarbonate) — a pinch (leavening)
- Devon clotted cream — a generous pot (topping)
- Homemade strawberry jam — one pot (topping)
Ingredients
- Flour — 350 g (base)
- Cold butter — 85 g (fat)
- Sugar — 3 tbsp (sweetness)
- Baking powder — 1 packet (leavening)
- Milk — 175 ml (binder)
- Clotted cream (or very thick double cream) — 200 g (topping)
- Strawberry jam — 1 jar (topping)
Method
- Mix flour, baking powder and sugar, then rub in the cold butter with your fingertips.
- Add the milk little by little until you get a soft dough, without overworking it.
- Roll out to 2 cm thick and cut out rounds with a cutter.
- Brush with milk and bake for 12 min at 220 °C until risen and golden.
- Serve warm, split, with cream then jam (Devon method).
How it was made : Clotted cream was made by gently heating full-fat raw milk for hours, then leaving it to rest overnight: a thick, golden crust formed on the surface, which was skimmed off. A specialty of Devon and Cornwall for centuries.
The contemporary twist : Serve on a tiered stand in 'tea room' style, with Earl Grey tea and a handwritten label reading 'for the Queen of Crime'.
Agatha Christie · Charactorium