Rich Devonshire Scones

I do believe that this is the recipe that defines me. I would share it with you immediately but my sort-of one-eyed cat is sitting on the cookbook (he reads by osmosis, maybe?). So, Instead, I will take some time and tell you how I came by this recipe.

A few years ago, I had the extreme luck to visit London with my daughter. At the same time, I was well aware that I needed some hands-on-help with my scone-making: I was always entertaining at home with afternoon tea but I was limited to cream scones, because they were the only ones with which I had any success. (Translated, that means that all the other recipes I tried turned out like hockey pucks.) So, I searched for “scone-making class in London” and got directed to Giuliana Orme’s site for “Afternoon Tea at Home Made Simple,” (https://afternoontealessons.com/home/) which turned out to be a 3-4 hour experience in her beautiful Victorian home, including instruction on making scones, Scottish shortbread, and salmon finger sandwiches, and the added experience of taking afternoon tea in her sitting room with the other class participants.

Since that day, I have made her scone recipe innummerable times, and it is always perfect: the scones are light and delicate but split easily for toppings of lemon curd or strawberry jam and clotted cream. They are moist and soft, buttery and mildly sweet, and when plumped-up dried currants are added, just a bit fruity, too. In a word, they are perfect.

And making them is easy and quick. 300 g (2 1/3 c.) flour, 2 1/2 t. baking powder, and a pinch of salt are stirred together in a mixing bowl. The flour mixture is set aside to give the baking powder time to work its chemical magic on the flour. Meanwhile, the baking pan is prepped with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, and the egg-milk liquid ingredients are readied. This is done by whisking one egg and then adding enough milk to make 200 ml (3/4 c.), and then whisking again. Back to the flour mixture: 60 g (1/3 c.) very cold butter is grated into the flour mixture and stirred up. Then 60 g (4 T.) of sugar are added, and there is more stirring. Finally the egg-milk liquid is added to the flour mixture – just enough liquid to produce a “soft, slightly sticky dough.” This is where I always messed up my scone-making before, and where Giuliana’s expertise set me straight. The soft and sticky dough is turned out on to a floured board and kneaded very quickly into a slightly messy looking dough. A metal pastry cutter works best for cutting out the scones, making sure to not twist the cutter as you push it down into the dough. The scones are then placed on the baking sheet so that the sides are just barely touching; this allows them to rise but to also support each other on the sides so that they rise up (not out), and so that the sides are soft. The tops are brushed with the remaining egg-milk mixture and then into the hot (preheated) oven they go – 425° F for about 9-10 mins. And when they come out of the oven, you will have golden brown, well-risen, soft, moist perfection. (Giuliana calls them “precious babies” and immediately swaddles them in a clean, thick tea towel so that they are kept soft and served warm.)

Last January, in the middle of the CoVid pandemic, I had the good luck to present scone-making and afternoon-tea notes to a charitable group of ladies from the Ladies’ Philoptochos Society of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. In the planning stages, it started out as an in-person demonstration/talk, but CoVid issues morphed it into a Zoom presentation. The silver lining was a subsequent recording of my presentation. Here’s the video to prove how easy and quick it is to make scones at home, from scratch, to rival any hotel tea: Making Scones at Home.

Please try them for yourself!