National Cream Tea Day

June 26 2015

There seems to be a national day for anything these days and I’d love to know who decides on what and when, but as a cream tea aficionado how can I let this one pass without a mention?

“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea”
~ Henry James

And surely there is a no more perfect one than the cream tea – whether Devon style (with the jam on top) or the Cornish style (with the cream on top) what matters most is the freshness of the ingredients. Light. melt in the mouth scones, fruity strawberry jam, and lashings of golden crusted clotted cream. Are you drooling yet?

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The Waymarker, near Constantine, was named champion of the ‘Truly Cornish Clotted Cream Tea‘ in 2014 but I am doing my best to seek out decent rivals 🙂

Where and what is the best afternoon tea you have experienced? My most memorable is High Tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel, Zimbabwe – tiny crust-less sandwiches, Petit fours, scones, cakes and Earl Grey tea served on Stanley Terrace with spectacular views of the Victoria Falls bridge down the Batoka Gorge with the spray rising from The Falls.

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

80 thoughts on “National Cream Tea Day”

      1. Haha, I’ll make sure to remember it next year. I’ll mark the day by playing Monthy Pythons “Lumberjack”, where they mention butter scones with tea – the nearest thing I’ll ever come to cream tea.

  4. The burning question is though … Jam or cream on first? Which is the Cornish way – and is that the definitive way? A bit like making tea – milk or tea in first …

    1. Cornish way is cream on top, the way I like it; but then I can’t say no to scones at any time, buttered, ones with cherries, plain ones, cheese ones. I love scones 😀
      I don’t like tea.

  5. Let’s celebrate, Happy National Cream Tea Day, everyone! 😀
    Tea first and jam, no cream for me, please. Aaaaaaah, delicious!! 😀

  6. I WANNA BE THERE! I often think back with fond memory and grumbling tum to the delicious creamed tea we had in St. Ives. MMMMMmmmmmm Can you get creamed tea in Scotland or Ireland? We’re going there come fall.

  7. I’m a jam first man as well, and if I have tea, it’s always milk last.
    I had a really good cream tea once in Rye, in Sussex, at Simon The Pieman, but it’s gone downhill since. The cream teas in Cornwall are always the best though. For a ‘high tea’, The Ritz wants some beating. I took my Mum there, for her 80th. (It comes at a price though…)
    Regards as always, Pete. x

    1. Oh but a High Tea is always such a treat – your Mum must have been delighted. I have been tempted on several occasions but the price always puts me off.

      1. I didn’t begrudge the cost of the tea. It was ‘endless’ in that you could have as much as you wanted. The staff were lovely, and the service was impeccable.
        But the glass of wine (normal size) I had later in the bar cost an eye-watering £12, in 2004!

  8. I had no idea what an important day it was today. I would have laid out my delicate china tea cups and saucers, which haven’t seen anything but dust at the back of the cupboard for years. 😀

  9. National Cream Tea Day? Now why did I not know that? 🙂 There’s no time today, but maybe tomorrow I could go in search of a cream tea and celebrate a day late. Or… we could just use our fancy cups and saucers this evening in its honour. The best cream tea/afternoon tea I have had was in Claridge’s Hotel in London – the service and food was fantastic. The view wasn’t stunning though, although the surroundings are lovely.
    I can’t decide if I am a Cornwall girl or a Devon girl when it comes to putting the cream and jam on. Sometimes the jam is so thick that it lifts the surface of the scone and won’t spread properly, so I would do cream first in that case. Although the same can sometimes be said for thick clotted cream – it can be hard to spread too!

  10. My all time favourite in the Coombe House Hotel in Gittisham Devon, try it out if you’re ever going through. There are also beautiful arab horses in the grounds!

    1. Oh, now this really does make me wonder whether I ought to write a book about Cream Teas, obviously I’d need to do my own research you understand 🙂

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