Happy second Advent, everyone! ??
Continuing our series about English and American cuisine, we now venture into something more British: the classic scone. As an outsider looking in, when hearing the word scone, I always thought of prestigious, white women, gossiping around while enjoying their afternoon tea. This wasn’t entirely wrong, as the scone, along with the ritual of “afternoon tea” was made popular by Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria. Afternoon tea with all its components, which is held at exactly 4 o`clock on the afternoon, embodies “Britishness” for many, including me.
I couldn’t quite understand the popularity this little, unassuming looking, crumbly biscuit got. I am glad, that my curiosity drove me to baking them myself! Because now I get how nice it is to sit down with a cup of strong tea, eating a freshly baked scone with some clotted cream and jam (of course!) and feeling a little more aristocratic on a regular weekday! To share this experience with you, I looked up a very easy scone recipe by BBC Good Food. Enjoy!
*Recipe for classic scones:*
Ingredients:
350 g self-rising-flour (to make at home add 1 tablespoon of baking powder to 100 g of flour, so 3 ½ tsp in total for this recipe)
1 tsp baking powder
85 g butter (or vegetable shortening) cut into cubes
3 tbsp caster sugar
175 ml Milk with a squeeze of lemon juice in it (to make homemade sour milk, works with dairy free milk alternative as well)
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
beaten egg to glaze (vegan alternative: mix one tbsp of dairy free milk alternative with a little vegetable oil)
jam and clotted cream (or regular/ dairy free whipped cream) to serve
Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 200C fan, mix your homemade self-rising-flour with the extra tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
- Add the butter, then rub with your fingers, until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the caster sugar.
- Heat the milk (with the lemon juice) in the microwave for 30 secs until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla extract (if using) and set aside.
- Put a baking tray in the oven to preheat. Then make a well in the dry mix and add the liquid, combine quickly with a cutlery knife.
- Scatter some flour on the worksurface and tip the dough out. Put some flour on your hands and the top of the dough, then fold it over on itself 2-3 times until it`s a bit smoother. Pat into a round about 4 cm deep and use a cookie cutter or a cutlery knife to cut out even pieces (rounds or triangles)
- Brush the tops with the glaze, then carefully arrange on the hot baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes until risen and golden on the top.