Country Women’s Association spills the secret to the perfect scone

Scones have long been a beloved baked good that has become a staple in many households around the world.

While they may seem simple to prepare, achieving the perfect scone can be a challenge for even the most seasoned baked goods connoisseurs.

However, after years of preparing baked goods to raise money for the community President of the NSW Country Women’s Association (CWA) Joy Beames has revealed her secrets to perfecting the delightful snack.

“There is a trick to hot scones,” she told AAP.

“When they’re just out of the oven, people make the mistake of cutting them. Don’t do that, you break it instead.

“When you break it you release the steam but if you cut it you seal the steam in and the scone goes soggy.”

Beames also courted controversy when she weighed in on the heated debate surrounding the correct serving order of jam and cream on a scone.

She explained that if the cream one is using is hard and thick then it is to be spread first. However, when the cream is whipped the jam should be spread first.

Beames isn’t the only one to weigh in on the contentious issue with Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French recently revealing that she is a staunch advocate for “jam first” when it comes to serving scones.

French has always felt strongly about what she deems to be the correct serving order of jam and cream on a scone, telling Good Housekeeping in 2020 that she finds it “offensive” to put cream on first.

“What I would say is: butter is optional, but if you’re going to use butter, it goes first,” she explained.

“Then the jam, then the cream. That’s it. The big mistake is to think that cream is butter.

“Jam is for spreading, cream – and it’s got to be clotted cream – is the dollop. It’s the crown.

“If you do it the other way, I genuinely find it offensive! I just do. I’ve got into a bit of a Twitter war with certain people about it.”

The 65-year-old recently reignited the ferocious debate after sharing a video to Instagram where she was seen enjoying tea and scones alongside her friends.

“Jam first tea with the Frenchies,” she captioned the video.

 

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A post shared by Dawn French (@dawnrfrench)

It wasn’t long before fans, on both sides of the great scone argument took to the comment section to argue for their favoured method of serving scones.

“Nooooo…cream 1st..get more on,” one fan stressed.

“Butter then jam then cream,” another proposed.

“Has to be jam first. Jam on cream is too messy.”

“Defo jam first, others who do so in reverse are so uncouth!”

“Cream first obviously, as you would put butter first if making a jam sandwich.”