When I first went to Canada to visit my good friend, Rebecca (R.J.) Anderson, she took me to the most delightful tea shop where we enjoyed a delicious cream tea: raspberry tea and big, fresh black currant scones with heaps of jam and Devonshire (clotted) cream.
Rebecca also knew exactly which recipe to send me when I decided to try my hand at replicating those perfect tea house scones. You can find the original recipe at AllRecipes.com; below is my adaptation. For one thing, I double it every time, so it makes a TON of scones. The scones keep well for several days, and also reheat well”so, the more, the merrier. I also nix the egg wash and dont worry so much about flattening them out, so I get fluffy scones that are almost biscuit-like in size and shape.
Plus, I always make a faux Devonshire cream to go with them. Its not the real thing, but it tastes just as good with jam on a warm scone!
These scones are great for a teatime snack, breakfast, or even dessert. Try out the recipe and share your results!
Worlds Best Scones
Adapted from FriendlyFoods recipe at AllRecipes.com
Yields 16-20 scones
Scones
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 8 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup white sugar
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cup dried blueberries (I have also used cranberries, mixed berries, strawberries and figs)
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or rubbing between your fingers until it is in pea sized lumps. Stir in the berries.
- In a separate container, mix together milk and sour cream until well blended. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended. Dont overwork the dough.
- With floured hands and a spoon, dollop scone dough into 2-inch balls on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown. Break each scone apart, or slice in half. Serve with (faux) Devonshire cream and a selection of jams.
Faux Devonshire Cream
Ingredients
- 1 8oz. package of softened cream cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup white sugar
Directions
- Mix together cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until well blended.
- Serve immediately with jam and scones or refrigerate until later.
Additional Notes
The scones reheat very well. If you want to do it properly, you can wrap them in aluminum foil and heat in the oven, or cut in half and toast them. But for the lazy in me, Ive always found that nuking them works fine, too.
There are a lot of variations on the faux Devonshire cream recipe. Some call for whipping cream, some call for powdered sugar, some call for vanilla¦ if this one doesnt strike your fancy, you might find another one out there that you like better! It also makes a really good fruit dip.
Just the picture made my mouth water! Yum.
Whitney
[…] But these were quite easy to make and they tasted like a dream! And I say that as someone who knows good scones. They also received the coveted Coworker Seal of […]