It’s the ultimate food fight – Canberra is having its very own scone-off

Posted on 10 November, 2023

It’s the great, long-running (and often very heated) scone debate: does the jam or cream go first?

In the HerCanberra office, jam first is the only acceptable answer – because if it’s good enough for the late Queen Elizabeth, it’s good enough for us. But we digress because we’ll finally have the opportunity to solve this eternal dilemma at what’s believed to be Australia’s first Scone-Off – right here in Canberra.

You heard it here first. We’ll soon be baking our hearts out to find our local scone champion.

Taking place on Saturday 18 November at Uniting Church Kippax, the humble (and delicious) scone is getting the celebration it deserves as locals set out to prove who bakes the best scones in Canberra – served with jam and cream of course.

The brainchild of three well-known Canberra foodies – Serina Bird (The Joyful Frugalista), Elias Hallaj (@CBRfoodie) and Andrea Butler (the genius behind Bakesale) – the Canberra Scone-Off was born out of shared community pride in the Kippax Church scone-baking tradition, which saw the ladies who staffed the kitchen serving Devonshire tea with freshly baked scones during its famous jumble sales.

Frances Noble, Chief Scone Baker and Devonshire Tea engineer at the Kippax Markets.

Very quickly it was the scones became the star attraction rather than the jumble sales (if you’ve had one with fresh jam and cream, you know why), and Serina, Elias, and Andrea were inspired to turn this regular community experience into a Canberra-wide event.

“For many years the Church’s markets and morning tea sales developed a reputation for great scones, hand-made by a dedicated team of volunteers, led by some of the Church’s older and wiser women,” says Serina.

“There are lots of people in Canberra who can make great scones, but this is the first local baking competition that focuses just on scones alone,” adds Andrea.

“There are many local bakers, both professional and amateur, who will keenly participate and observe who makes the best scones in Canberra.”

Judged based on seven categories of scones – plain scones, savoury scones, date scones, pumpkin scones, gluten-free scones, Junior (for school-aged bakers), and “other scones” for all other categories – the first Canberra Scone-Off was planned for 2020. And while had to be put the back burner, with plenty of time to plan the event, it’s now looking like a scone-derful time.

It’s free to attend and watch the competition (as well as a very friendly jam vs cream-themed debate between Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry and Leader of the Opposition Elizabeth Lee) there will also be a morning tea held on the day with tea or coffee and a biscuit available for $2.50 or Devonshire Tea (coffee or tea with fresh scones, jam, and cream) for $5 until 1 pm.

Minister Berry will also be awarding prizes to the best scone bakers and the ABC’s Lish Fejer will be MCing on the day to ensure all the heat stays in the kitchen.

Canberra Scone-Off MC Lish Fejer, Kippax Church Scone baker Frances Noble, and ACT Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry.

And for those keen to don an apron and get their hands dirty in the kitchen, it only costs $5 to register for each of the seven categories of scones (except for Junior – this one is free for any school-aged children).

A celebration of food, community, and fun, get ready – the judges (and the public) will leave no scone unturned.

For more information or to register visit facebook.com/canberra.sconeoff

Photography: Neil Hadley.