How one cafe straddling two counties is settling the 'cream or jam first?' debate
One cafe straddling two counties has found a unique way to end the 'cream or jam first?' scone debate.
Tea room Rambler's Rest sits partly in Devon, while the other half sits in Somerset.
Customers who happen to be seated on the Devon side of the tea room are served cream on a scone before the jam when they order a cream tea, while those dining on the Somerset side will follow the Cornish method with jam first.
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The result, says cafe owners Jessica, 43, and Antony Chipperfield, 55, is that they may have finally found a solution to the historic cream versus jam first debate.
"Everywhere in the country the debate over whether to put the jam or cream on your scone first always comes up," Jessica explains.
"Because of that we decided to celebrate the difference and our unique split between the counties, and so now the answer all depends on where you sit in the tea room."
Jessica adds that because part of the tearoom sits in Devon, it makes for "an interesting chat".
"I had to look into the history of it and apparently some people in Somerset even add butter too; so they have butter, then jam, then cream," she adds.
"I had not realised that Somerset and Devon, like Cornwall, disagreed on how to make a cream tea – but since opening it's been all everyone talks about."
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The Grade-II listed County Gate building, above the Exmoor beauty spots Malmsmead, Oare and Doone Valley, is the highest coastal road tea room in Britain.
As cream tea hails from the south-west of England, it has long caused a debate between Devon and Cornish residents about whether the cream or the jam goes first.
Devon residents argue that the cream acts as a butter for the base of the scone, while the Cornish say that putting the jam first protects the cream from the hot scone.
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Last year, an afternoon tea expert revealed that she puts the cream on first. "I feel drawn to putting the dairy on first," Jane Malyon said at the time.
"But the fierce side come out fighting for jam first. If you say cream first, they're all over you like a rash."
A former chef for the late Queen also previously revealed how scones were served at Buckingham Palace, stating Queen Elizabeth II always had Balmoral jam first, then clotted cream.
Additional reporting by SWNS.
Watch: "I'm an afternoon tea expert - you should pronounce scone to rhyme with 'cone' and put the cream on first"
