Scones are a traditional type of pastry from the British Isles that is often served for tea time, most commonly together with clotted cream and jam. They are a basic component of the well-known Devon and Cornish Cream Tea from England but are also found in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
The particular consistency of the scones is formed by the addition of eggs and sweet cream. To achieve the distinct crumbly texture, the ingredients have to be mixed very carefully. The originally rather flat pastry is now made from wheat, barley or oat flour and baking soda as a leavening agent. Before the invention of baking powder, scones were not prepared in the oven but in a pan. At that point, the cookies still rather looked like pancakes.
The Background Of The Name “Scones”
The word scone was probably initially borrowed from Dutch Schoonbrood “Nice bread” (bread made of fine flour). It was then transformed into Scots, a west-germanic language from the Scottish Lowlands. Later on, it also found its way into the English language in the 19th century.
Depending on the region, there are two ways of pronouncing the word “scone” today. It may either rhyme on “tone” which is more common in southern England, or on “gone” which is usually found in the northern parts of the country.
Scones
Ingredients
- 200 g flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 40 g soft butter
- 100 g joghurt
- 1 egg yolk
- 150 g clotted cream
- Strawberry or raspberry jam
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients and knead them until the dough holds together well
- Then roll out on the table at a thickness of 2 cm
- Use round tins (5-7 cm in diameter) to cut out individual dough circles
- Brush the dough circles with beaten egg yolk and put them in hot oven (200 ° C top / bottom heat) for about 15 minutes.
- Golden yellow cake (toothpick make!).
- Cool on a wire rack, then cut and sprinkle to taste with clotted cream and raspberry jam.
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Images:
Lemon Scones by Benson Kua, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Buttermilk and Mixed Fruit Scones with Sour Cherry Jam by Karen Booth, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
