Afternoon Tea with the King
What are scones?
Little flaky, buttery wonders. A hint of the North: cool rays of sunshine, wind and rain outside; warm tea and a thick woollen cardigan inside. A tall tiered stand filled with wonderful savoury and sweet creations, and elegant hats worn for Afternoon Tea.
Perfectly lovely plain, sweet with blueberries or raspberries and white chocolate folded into the dough, or with raisins and orange zest – but always served with jam and butter or clotted cream, which melts on the tongue somewhere between thick cream and mascarpone.
My favourite, however, is the savoury version with Cheddar and Mediterranean herbs.
Scones are at their very best when they come fresh from the oven and practically melt in your mouth. But even over the next few days, they are wonderful briefly toasted or warmed in the oven.
They are particularly popular in the south of Great Britain as individual little rounds of fluffy happiness, while further north you’re more likely to come across a scone ring or scone round – a whole loaf cut into individual triangles.
What matters when making them?
Fold only a few times – don’t knead! Yes, it’s annoying because the dough is wet. A dough scraper and a well-floured work surface are your friends here.
Roll out the dough, but leave it at least 2.5 cm thick. Otherwise your scones will turn into flat, hard little coins – and that is definitely not what we want.
When cutting out the scones, don’t twist the cutter. Simply press it straight down and lift it straight back up. Twisting can prevent the scones from rising evenly.
Cut the scones as closely together as possible on the first round. The more often you gather, reshape and cut the scraps, the less the scones will rise.
This recipe was inspired by master baker Paul Hollywood, judge of the legendary Great British Bake Off and, in my opinion, one of the best bakers – and most brilliant teachers – around.
Those ice-blue eyes are just an added bonus...
Now, focus!
The ingredients for 11 buttery, flaky scones:
500 g wheat flour, preferably Italian tipo 00 flour or plain flour
25 g baking powder (or 5 tsp; sounds like a lot, but trust me – you won’t taste i!)
80 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
80 g butter, really cold, diced or, even better, grated
2 eggs
250 ml milk
For brushing: 1 beaten egg
Line two baking trays with baking paper. Find yourself a round cutter, a glass or a small bowl.
Mix the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, sugar and salt – then quickly rub the cold butter flakes into the mixture with your fingertips. It should look like coarse sand.
Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl and pour them over your flour-and-butter mixture. Gently and quickly bring everything together into a dough, either with a spoon or, if you fancy getting yourself covered in sticky dough like I do, with your hands.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, press it down gently and fold it over itself 3–4 times.
Do not knead! Just fold!
A dough scraper is very helpful here.
Flour your work surface generously again and carefully roll the dough out to about 3 cm thick. Roll it too thin and you’ll end up with dry biscuits – not what we’re going for this time! The Queen would not be amused!
Flour your cutter, glass or little bowl and cut out the scones as closely together as possible without twisting the cutter. Straight down, straight back up – and onto the baking tray with your scone!
Try to leave as little dough between the rounds as possible. Very gently bring the remaining scraps together and cut out the rest. These scones will probably be a little shorter than the first batch.
Brush only the tops of the scones with beaten egg and place the trays in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C conventional/static heat.
Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until golden brown, then leave them to cool.
A few variations
Blueberry Scones
Add 150 g fresh blueberries, the zest of one organic/unwaxed lemon and 80 g finely chopped white chocolate to the dough.
Savoury Cheese Scones
Leave out the sugar and add 1 teaspoon salt, 100 g Cheddar and a generous tablespoon of dried Mediterranean herbs instead.
After brushing the tops with egg, sprinkle another 50 g Cheddar over the scones and bake for around 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Chopped smoked salted almonds are also wonderful in the dough!
Scottish or Irish Scone Ring
Add a handful of raisins and a little orange zest to the scone dough.
Shape the dough into a round on the baking tray. Using a floured knife, cut all the way through to the baking paper four times across the circle, creating 8 wedges.
Bake for 15–20 minutes. Stücke habt. Backt ihn 15-20 Minuten.
Cheddar Scones
Blueberry Scone-Ring
