In fall last year I was fortunate enough to visit Scotland for the first time. Guess what, of course I had to book an afternoon tea in Edingburgh. I am not sure if you are familiar with an afternoon tea in Britain. You usually start with some savory sandwiches, which is followed by scones served with clotted cream and jam, and the final “course” is something sweet, usually a slice of cake, cookies or similar. I was not paid to say this, but I can highly recommend the Willow Teamrooms in Edinbourgh. They have a stunning view of the castle, but also delicious afternoon tea. I was immensely impressed with their scones. They were made fresh, you could tell, they were tall, and they were flaky. All things I look for in a proper scone. Of course they were served with clotted cream and jam. So obviously I went back to Germany and wanted to reproduce this at home.
British scones are not that difficult to make, they contain only 5 ingredients (if you don’t count the salt) and usually only take about 15 minutes in the oven. As a seasoned baker you can make them from start to finish in less than 45 minutes. However, they can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. I usually don’t provide step-by-step photos, but I believe they may come in handy here for you do stare at a picture to understand how the dough should look. So I hope these detailed instructions are helpful for you when you make scones. I personally love them and could make them every day!
Tips for Perfect Scones
- The butter should be cold and quickly worked into crumbs.
- Buttermilk is magic, if you can, please use buttermilk and not milk or cream, they will be so much better!
- You will need quite a large amount of baking powder for this recipe. In the UK you can buy “self-raising flour”, which equals flour which was mixed with baking powder. Be sure to use fresh baking powder that lifts your scones.
- Don’t overwork the dough, if it still feels a bit crumbly, that is fine. Rather underwork than overwork it.
- There are three reasons for flaky scones: number 1, you will fold the dough over so that you have many layers, #2 don’t twist the cookie cutter, but only press it firmly down when cutting out scones, #3 scones need to be baked at a pretty high temperature so that the baking powder is immediately activated and they get a nice rise.
- Originally I cut them out too thin, 3-4cm is about right.
Below you will find detailed instructions and a lot of pictures to guide you:
I first “stirred” the dough with a fork, it still looks very crumbly. Once on the surface, I kneaded it briefly and then pressed it into a rectangle.
Be gentle when rolling out, you just want the rectangle to be slightly bigger so that you can fold it.
The folding process: first you want to fold it like a business letter, one third goes to the middle, the last third is folded on top. Turn the “letter” 90 degrees and flour lightly. Now roll out again, fold into a letter, turn 90 degrees. You will do this three times total.
Once you have rolled out your final rectangle (you will see, the dough has become more cohesive), only press down your cutter, do not twist or turn. Roll out the remaining dough, you should have enough for 6 scones. Place them close to each other on parchment paper and bake at high temperature.
These are traditional British scones for an afternoon tea, made with only buttermilk and with a nice tall rise. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter in small chunks. Rub into small crumbs with your hands quickly. Pour about 130 grams of buttermilk in the middle and mix with a fork. Then knead with your hands briefly, you want a cohesive dough, however, if it still is crumbly, it is OK, rather underwork than overwork this, see also pictures. If needed, add a dash of additional buttermilk. Now put on a lightly floured surface and press into a rectangle. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll out slightly bigger, but be gentle. Now you want to fold it like a business letter into three parts. Turn this "letter" 90 degrees and again roll lightly with a rolling pin and fold into a buisness letter again, rotate again 90 degrees. Do this another last time. Finally roll into a rectangle with about 3-4cm height. Using a cookie cutter with about 7cm in diameter (you can also use a small bowl) to cut out scones. Be sure to cut down without twisting the cookie cutter, you want a clean cut down. If you have nothing at hand, you can also just cut into squares with a knife. Roll out the remaining dough, you should have enough for 6 scones. Place the scones side by side, almost touching. Only brush the top with additional buttermilk. Bake for 15min or until golden. Serve warm with clotted cream (alternatively butter, creme fraiche or similar) and jam.British Scones for Afternoon Tea
Ingredients
Instructions
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