definitely eat the two halves separately Thursdaysd - then you get the maximum surface area to cover in cream.

annhig - right. As far as I'm concerned the scone is just a delivery mechanism, of little interest in itself.

thursdaysd and annhig are SO right! Unless the scone has sultanas in it, which makes the delivery mechanism so much more yummy.

Well....you could splurge and have an upscale tea at the Sofitel London Heathrow's "Tea 5" cafe. No take away, but they describe themselves as follows:

"Settle into a sofa at this Heathrow tea salon and select from 31 teas from around the world. Ideal for an informal meeting or quiet break at Heathrow, the tea salon is open all day, every day for coffees, cold drinks, light meals and homemade pastries."

This is the highest-rated hotel at (or near) the airport. The food (I've not had tea) is usually good. Afternoon tea is about £20--so it better be good!

You can probably reach the hotel from other nearby hotels using the Heathrow hotel shuttle.

In many ways the people of Dorset have had many issues with the people of Cornwall. Their sticking to Christianity when we went back to more natural religions, their need to collect piles of stuff next to their cottages, their need to draw ships onto rocks, their fascination with baking meat and fruit into folded pies and their mockery of perfectly normal thrice baked "knobs".

But nothing, nothing explains the Cornish spartan thinking that suggests not including butter with jam and clotted cream in a scone is sensible. If you are going to glory in confectionary you need to go in full hog, not just teeter on the edge. It's like saying, yes to eclairs but hold the chocolate icing.

On the other hand I don't understand how anyone can eat Camembert with butter. :-)

Agreed bilbo, butter must be included! The order is always butter, jam and then lastly cream. It doesn't matter whether you "put the top on" or eat them separately, it's up to you.

Can I also recommend either Crumbly Lancashire Cheese or Wensleydale with a slice of fruit cake...heaven!

The things you learn on Fodors! I've been doing it wrong all test years.

My sister makes amazing currant scones for Easter and Christmas. I put the cream on, and then the jam. I rationalized that the cream was in place of the butter, it was an either/or!

Now I know with a fruit scone, I can use butter AND cream! I've got s couple stashed in the freezer, so excited to completely indulge without guilt!

I have Cornish members of my extended family and they insist that boiling the cream twice is the only way to make clotted cream, while others claim thrice.

Ann, no raisins, it's a tough life out west.

Now I know with a fruit scone, I can use butter AND cream! I've got s couple stashed in the freezer, so excited to completely indulge without guilt!>>

not in Cornwall you can't, Rubicund. a fruit scone requires only butter, a plain scone jam and clotted cream, in that order. Where bilbo gets his outlandish ideas from, heaven only knows!

looking for a traditional recipe for clotted cream, I came across the following - warning - following these recipes may damage your health:

http://www.roddas.co.uk/recipes/

and it reminded me - traditionally in Cornwall, we eat something called "thunder and lightening" - clotted cream and golden syrup [which I suspect was originally treacle, hence the name] on a cornish split. [a yeast bun as opposed to a scone].

I'm not sure about how often it should be cooked [there seem to be as many recipes as there are people making it] but here's Nigella's version for those who'd like to have a go at making their own:

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/clotted-cream-2214

I chose this one as it seems the easiest [and cheapest!]

I've used this recipe to make clotted cream. The trickiest part in the US is finding cream that isn't ultra-pasteurized; I bought some at Whole Foods. It turns out really well.

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2009/0...g-clotted.html

Lee Ann

Lee Ann -- that is a wonderful link (the store bought/shelf stable 'clotted cream available around here is expensive and pretty pitiful).

I'll have to look for unpasteurized (or un-ultra-pasteurized) heavy cream.

thanks

Couldn't believe the places in England that offered fruit scones with jam and cream/ or Cornish/Devonshire tea.
To us plain scones go with jam and then cream - absolutely no butter!!!

proper job, northie.