In England a couple weeks ago I went to Café Royal on Regent Street for tea. This historic luxury hotel was frequented by writers such as Oscar Wilde and has hosted the likes of Louis Armstrong and Muhammad Ali. Needless to say I had high expectations for my experience of their British tea, the light meal not the beverage, but with undesirable service and sandwiches that tasted as though they were using value pack ingredients it was a slight disappointment. On the other hand there was a moment where the meal peaked and it occurred when I took my first bite after spreading jam onto a scone and then topping it with clotted cream. The cool cream, sweet jam and perfectly baked scone were memorable.
The Ten Room courtesy of priceless.com
In the event that you won’t be in England having tea any time soon, this recipe is guaranteed to transport you to that moment where you can’t believe how good this easy sweet treat tastes. I know we are being healthy but that doesn’t mean you can’t just have a bite and let your sweet tooth sing for a few minutes. I heard Bethenny Frankel say “taste everything, eat nothing” and I thought it was a great way to remind ourselves that we don’t want to deprive ourselves of deliciousness because that would just be sad and no tiny waistline is worth not living.
Scones with cream and jam
Sift the flour into a large bowl and then mix in the sugar. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour/sugar mix until it resembles breadcrumbs, then sprinkle in the fruit and then add the milk, a little a time, and stir with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until it forms a dough.
Flour, butter & sugar
Craisins
Dough formed
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a thickness no thinner than 3mm and using pasty cutters cut out each scone. Make sure you tap the cutter on the dough sharply without twisting. Once you’ve cut out as many as you can, reform the dough, roll again and cut out the dough until none remains.
Form Dough
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Cut out the shapes
Place them all on a non-stick baking tray and brush the tops liberally with the egg/cream mix and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and place onto a cooling rack.
Make them glisten
Serve with clotted or whipped cream and jam.
Scones with cream and jam
Scones and tea
I went from never having a scone before this year to eating a lifetime’s worth within a few weeks. They are indescribably delicious and because you can make them so quickly and so easily they are dangerous. All I can say is approach with caution but do not deprive yourself by not giving this recipe a try 😀
Scones
Live, Love, Eat!
April x
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 40 g golden caster sugar
- 75 g room temperature butter
- about 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 50 g mixed dried fruit (I used craisins but raisins or any other dried fruit will do just fine)
- Beaten egg mixed with a tablespoon of double cream
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Sift the flour into a large bowl and then mix in the sugar. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour/sugar mix until it resembles breadcrumbs, then sprinkle in the fruit and then add the milk, a little a time, and stir with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until it forms a dough.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a thickness no thinner than 1 inch and using pasty cutters cut out each scone. Make sure you tap the cutter on the dough sharply without twisting. Once you’ve cut out as many as you can, reform the dough, roll again and cut out the dough until none remains.
- Place them all on a non-stick baking tray and brush the tops liberally with the egg/cream mix and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and place onto a cooling rack.
- Serve with clotted or whipped cream and jam.
[…] mean the drink but the whole shebang. Some of you may read about the first time I discovered scones, which inspired me to make them when I returned to Jamaica after a holiday in London; I have […]