In Cornwall, a cream tea was traditionally served with ‘Cornish Splits’ rather than scones. Cornish splits are little yeast-leavened bread rolls, they are split when still warm and first buttered, then spread with jam before topping it with a generous dollop of clotted cream. Sometimes Treacle would be used instead of jam, this combination goes by the name of a ‘Thunder and lightning’ and although I’m not a big fan of treacle straight from the tin, it tasted -and the name sounded- rather good!
The splits are only baked for a short while and when removed from the hot oven, the little warm splits are then piled up in a tea towel, rubbed with a little butter before being covered by another tea towel so they don’t develop a crust.
I haven’t found any earlier reference to a Cornish split than the receipt in on of my favourite books ‘Good things in England‘ published in 1932 by Florence White, a delightful collection of 853 regional English recipes dating back as far as the 14th century.
With findings of evidence at Tavistock Abbey in Devon it is believed that the tradition of eating bread with cream and jam existed in the 11th century. In Devon a similar bun is served with cream and jam, going traditionally by the name of a Devon Chudleigh as noted by Florence White and Elisabeth David Chudleighs are made the same manner as the Cornish split, only smaller. Devonians however tell me that the ‘Devon split’ -as it is called now- is in fact a lighter and more luxurious white bun rather than heavy scone-like bread as the Cornish version.
The Cornish split is a rare treat these days but as they are best eaten while still a little warm from the oven, you get the best split by baking them at home.
I have another thing to share with you today, my beloved blog has been nominated for the Saveur Magazine 2013 Best Food Blog Award in the ‘Best Regional Cuisine Blog‘ category.
I am still pinching myself, to be a finalist and especially to be selected by the judges in this respected international competition is a great honor. The other four blogs that are nominated have all been blogging quite a while longer than I have and are all gorgeous.
This blog means the world to me, each post comes from a place deep in my heart. I know it sounds terribly cheesy but it is the truth. The moment I hit the publish button is still as exciting as if it was the first time – even more. In the beginning of writing my blog I was wondering ‘helloooow is anybody out there?’ now I know you are there.
A blog post doesn’t feel quite complete without the first comment from one of you and usually that first comment is from a lovely girl named Rosa.
Each comment brightens my day a little more, even if the comment is just to say ‘hi there’, it matters to me.
To know that you are out there, reading, listening and sharing my stories and yours with me is one of the greatest gifts on this earth. Your support, your time and your kindness mean more to me than I can say.
Thank you …
Oh yes… one more thing if you like to vote for me or one of the other fabulous blogs nominated, you can do so by following this link here -> Voting ends this friday the 19th.
You have to register to vote, this makes it just a fair competition but takes a minute longer. I thank you if you take that minute for me.
Lots of love
x Regula
Although
Elisabeth David doesn’t use lard in her recipe from her book English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Florence White does and I think it ads to the
taste. This recipe is somewhere in between the recipe of David and White using all milk instead of a mixture between milk and water. I also added an extra spoon of sugar to feed the yeast.
What do you need
- 14 g dried yeast (2 packs)
- 2 teaspoons of fine caster sugar
- 355 ml tepid full fat milk
- 115 g unsalted, good quality butter
- 30 g lard
- 750 g strong white flour
- 1 heaped teaspoon seasalt
Method
- Cream the yeast and the sugar in a little of the tepid milk.
- Melt the butter and the lard, when most of the butter and lard have melted take of the fire and stir until all the lumps are gone. Be careful not to let the butter and lard get too hot so it burns.
- In a large bowl combine the butter and lard with the flour, the salt and half the milk.
- Add the yeast and combine.
- Add the rest of the milk to create a dough, take it out of the bowl and onto a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes – it is important you do it for exact 10 minutes.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper or if you don’t have baking paper just grease with butter
- When the dough has doubled in size, knead it again to turn it into a long sausage.
- Divide into 40-50 g pieces so all buns have the same size
- Roll into balls and place evenly spaced on the baking tray that you have prepared
- Leave the buns to prove until they have nearly doubled in size
- Preheat your oven to 220° C and bake the buns for 20 minutes
When you remove them from the oven Florence White recommends you rub them over with some butter and then wrap them in a tea towel to cool so they don’t develop a crust.
You can keep these little buns for 4 days in an airtight container. Before use, place in a hot oven with a small container of water for 6 minutes. Then wrap in a tea towel as before.
Enjoy with clotted cream and jam, treacle, or why not go for savoury with the old school favourite egg and cress.
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Regula Ysewijn is a food writer, stylist and photographer, with a particular interest in historical recipes. he is a Great Taste Awards judge and a member of The Guild of Food Writers, as well as one of the two judges on 'Bake Off Vlaanderen', the Belgian version of 'The Great British Bake-Off'. A self-confessed Anglophile, she collects old British cookbooks and culinary equipment in order to help with her research. She is the author of 5 books: Pride and Pudding the history of British puddings savoury and sweet, Belgian Café Culture, the National Trust Book of Puddings, Brits Bakboek and Oats in the North, Wheat from the South. 
Oh, I love this treat! Cornish splits are delightful and yours look marvelous.
Congrats on the nomination! I will definitely vote for you, dear. 🙂
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you very much Rosa! x
Regula,
A savory Cornish split with egg and cress would be lovely with a sparkling rosé. Best wishes for the Saveur results and I adore your "get out the vote" graphic.
Cheers,
Jameson
Hi Jameson, thanks! I must agree with a sparkling rosé, that would be fantastic. Of course I would go for an English sparkling wine, a lovely fresh and fruity one from Chapel Down in Kent 🙂
It was lovely to discover your blog through this awards!
First congrats on the nominations. You do a lovely job on this blog and I am enjoy coming here (more regularly over the past few weeks) Have totally enjoyed reading this post and am now craving some clotted cream and these splits!
Thank-you so much Meeta, this blog does mean a lot to me so this nomination makes me very happy. I hope you will keep enjoying the blog. Sending a virtual split your way x
Another beautifully crafted post so it's easy to see why you have been nominated. More than happy to give you my vote. As well as the recipe, and the background, I loved the bit where you talk about how much you love your blog and get really excited when you press the publish button. I feel exactly the same about MCP. If you do manage to visit Tavistock make sure it is on the weekend of the cheese festival. Our favourite annual event. Good luck.
Thank you Sally for your kind words, fabulous to hear you get excited about hitting the publish button as well! It feels awkward to ask people to vote but that's the way you get somewhere these days. I really want to visit Tavistock now you've told me there is a cheese festival, if it is an anual event of yours we might even be able to enjoy a good pint together x
You are brilliant, Regula! A well-deserved nomination for your beautiful blog. I know how much hard work you put into it and every time I read your posts I'm always so inspired and impressed by the things you're doing and of course your gorgeous photographs! Congratulations and a huge hug. Wish I could have helped you finish off that basket of little buns, that thunder and lighting combo is intriguing, have never had it before! You know I'm a huge David fan, but I love the sound of this Florence White book too, must get my hands on that! x
Thank you so much Emiko, I was really surprised when I got the email saying I was a finalist, and of course very excited. You would have liked the buns, I'm sure of that! And I'm very sure you will love Florence White's book, this book together with David and a new one you will also love by Kate Colquhuon about the history of Britain through food, have a place on my bedside table.
x
Congrats so much on your nomination! I love your posts and can easily see why you merited the nomination. I thought I knew a fair bit about British cuisine, but I never fail to learn something from you. Thanks and good luck.
Christina
Thank you Christina, it is lovely to hear you are learning somethinh new here. That puts a smile to my face!
Congratulations darling!! Very well deserved and what a way to celebrate the nomination!! Voting for you and fingers crossed you win :))) xoxoxo
Thank you Asha! I had Cornish splits for days! xxx
Congratulations on the nomination!
I have the Florence White book too and I love it. Do you have the other cookbooks published by Persephone? Mrs Rundell is a treat to read, although maybe not very easy to put into practice!
Thank you Rosemary, I only have Florence White's because I had no idea it was a series. Thanks for telling me, I will check it out!
Hello!
When I saw the image in Instagram, I kind of knew they were Cornish splits, which you had filled with savoury (egg and cress-yum!- and cream and jam)
I love Cornish splits. I had them a long time ago, on holiday. They tend to be lighter and smaller than scones and are more like a bread, than a cake. Tha's why I loved them! Light, versatile and really delicious!
In fact, if images could be eaten, I would eat the ones in your post (well… just the edible bits!)
Congratulations on your nomination. It's well deserved. Your images are very feminine, colour coordinated, stylish and "happy!"
I will now vote for you.
ANNA
x
Hi Anna, what a lovely discription of my photograps thank you! I never saw them on my travels to Cornwall but I will ask around for them this year 😉
Congratulations and WELL DONE! I love your blog and love what you do, so I will be voting! I also have the Good Things of England book, and I LOVE it! I am writing a historical recipe boom about British food and often use it as a reference! Karen
thank you so much Karen, I m truly overwhelmed by all the lovely emails, messages and comments I've been getting. This nomination really is the cherry on top of my work 🙂
Congratulations Regula and soooo well deserverd to! I just voted for you and we can celebrate your winning (I have no doubt) when we're in London!
Aww thanks so much for being so positive! Let's hope we can celebrate in july!
Congratulations!! This is actually how I discovered your gorgoeus blog..I was visiting the site to vote for another of my favorite food bloggers in another category..got to browsing and found you!
Really enjoying!
Xo
Sarah
http://atticlace.blogspot.com
Thank you Sarah and welcome to the blog! 🙂
Awesome! Brilliant!
Congratulations on the nomination, your blog is beautiful! I love cream teas, but I've never heard of cornish splits before – they look totally delicious!
Thanks to Saveur that they help me discover brilliant blogs each year. And Miss Foodwise, this is one of the most inspiring and special blog I've seen in years. Just voted for you now, and wanted to say hello 🙂
I'll keep visiting for sure!
Cheers from Istanbul!
Hello Banu, thank you so much for your kind words and welcome to the blog! Thanks for voting as well!:)
My pleasure, and looking forward for the results 🙂 No matter if you win or not, Miss Foodwise is doing a great work here 🙂 Cheers!
Aww thank you so much 🙂
Soooo proud of you girl!! Your blog is one of my favorites!! Love these sweets 🙂
Thank you, I'm very excited and touched by the response! 🙂
Somehow I missed this post! : ) As always, your photos are works of art. You've inspired me to investigate and bake Devon Splits. (Living in Devon I can't call them Cornish Splits)
Good luck with the Blog Voting… I am sure you will win!
Debs X
Thank you Debs, I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Let me know what you find about Devond splits! 🙂
hi Regula, just like to say its all your fault in a nice way, found your recipe for Cornish splits and I have been cooking up a storm, and I also made my own butter too thanks for the great recipes 🙂 Debbie g