Follow the Great Shropshire Cream Tea Trail

We do love going out for a cream tea and this summer there is an abundance of places nearby to indulge, thanks to the launch of the Great Shropshire Hills Cream Tea Trail…but more about that later. What we want to know is, what makes a really good cream tea?

Firstly, the scones – plain or fruit? One of us prefers to go plain whereas the other enjoys one of each as long as they have plenty of surface area for the all-important toppings. You’ve got to be able to break it open too – the knife is for spreading, not for slicing!

Secondly - to butter or not to butter, that is the question.  For some people it will depend on what comes next, but either way our view is that ‘if you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly’ so butter as well as cream is a must.

And so to the contentious issue – jam or cream next? Devonians go for the cream first, but we prefer the Cornish method with jam and then clotted or extra thick double cream to top it all off. As far as jam goes then strawberry is the tradition, but for a Shropshire cream tea the jam just has to be damson. Not wanting to sound biased but it’s as if the damson (or Shropshire prune as it’s also known) was made for the cream tea. The deep plummy flavour really does complement the buttery scones and the cool, rich cream - try it for yourselves on the Cream Tea Trail.

As for the tea, well a good cup of Darjeeling would be the top choice but as long as it’s warm, wet and there’s plenty of it then that’ll do nicely!

“How can I follow the Great Shropshire Hills Cream Tea trail?” we hear you ask. Well, there are thirteen different establishments across the Shropshire Hills, from Kerry Vale vineyard on the Welsh border to Morville Dower House near Bridgnorth, and from Tea in the Square in Much Wenlock to the Local to Ludlow café in Ludlow’s Castle Square. Between now and the end of August you can taste, tweet, post, share and generally make your friends jealous of your cream tea exploits. You can also vote on your favourite cream tea for a chance to win tickets to the Ludlow Food Festival on the 13^th, 14^th & 15^th September and the winner of the best cream tea on the trail will be announced at the Food Festival on Friday 13^th September.

To find out more about the trail and to vote, go to www.shropshirecreamtea.co.uk.  An itinerary and more details of all the trail establishments can be found here: https://www.visitshropshirehills.co.uk/itineraries/general/cream-tea-trail-2019/.

So pack your bags and head to Shropshire to get on the cream tea trail this summer. You don’t have to try all of them, but you can give it a go – we certainly will!