A scone is a small, light, barely sweet baked round, split in half and loaded with clotted cream and jam. It is the centre of the cream tea and the cause of two separate British arguments that have been running for over a century.
What it is not
An American scone — the dense, triangular, heavily sweetened coffee shop item — is a different food that has borrowed the name. A British scone is pale, soft, round, roughly the size of a hockey puck, and only faintly sweet, because it is designed to be a vehicle for cream and jam rather than a cake in itself.
It is much closer to an American biscuit in texture, though slightly sweeter and never served with gravy.
Argument one: how to say it
“Skon”, rhyming with gone, or “skohn”, rhyming with bone. Surveys put “skon” ahead by roughly two to one, and it dominates in the North of England and Scotland. “Skohn” is more common in the South and among the middle and upper classes — though, contrarily, the Royal Family are reported to say “skon”. The argument is entirely unresolvable and enormously enjoyed.
Argument two: cream or jam first
This one is regional and taken very seriously indeed.
- The Devon method: split the scone, spread clotted cream first like butter, then spoon jam on top.
- The Cornish method: jam first, then a dollop of clotted cream on top.
Both counties consider the other’s approach to be plainly wrong. When the Royal Family’s official social media once posted a photograph of a jam-first scone, it caused a genuine minor incident in Devon. The Cornish position is technically supported by the fact that clotted cream is a Cornish protected product, and the Devon position by the fact that spreading cream on a warm scone works better. Choose a side; do not expect peace.
Clotted cream
The essential ingredient, and hard to find outside Britain. It is made by gently heating full cream until a thick golden crust forms on top, then cooling it. The result is somewhere between whipped cream and butter, with around 55% fat, and there is genuinely no substitute. Cornish clotted cream has protected designation of origin status.
Savoury scones
Cheese scones — usually with a sharp cheddar, often served warm with butter — are common in cafés and every bit as good. Fruit scones with sultanas are the other standard variety, and the choice between plain and fruit is a smaller but still live debate.