I’ve been eating scones long before I understood their iconic role in the ritual know as afternoon tea. Mom would occasionally treat us to a six-pack of currant scones from the in-store bakery at the old Petrini’s Market in Stonestown. They were these substantial, thick biscuity rounds, slightly sweet, with a dense crumb that begged to be toasted and slathered with butter (or in our case Imperial margarine). We didn’t really treat them as baked goods specific to afternoon tea, more like an alternative to an English muffin or toast at breakfast. If we happened to get them super fresh, then we felt compelled to eat them as soon as we got home, without toasting, though that didn’t happen very often.
During my year in England, scones were in a food group onto themselves, along with chips (aka fries), custard (aka Bird’s), biscuits, and bangers (aka sausage). I swear the only reasons why my fellow American cohorts and I didn’t gain a horrendous amount of weight on that appalling diet were 1) our daily devotion to the Jane Fonda Workout and 2) a general desire to not freeze our butts off.
We operated on the seemingly reasonable assumption that if we walked around bare-headed, we’d lose more body heat, and therefore burn off more calories to maintain our body temperature. Cold heads, slimmer thighs–made total sense!
Most of the scones we consumed were of the plain variety, which made them the ideal vehicle for all the clotted cream and jam. Who came up with that genius combo?! We piled on so much of both, that we probably wouldn’t have even noticed if the scones were dry. It never occurred to me until I began baking scones myself a few years later that you could actually enjoy them without those embellishments.
The first scones I baked were chock full of dried fruit, like apricots, cranberries, and raisins, which kept them moist and gave them wonderful sweetness and texture. They were hefty, reminiscent of the ones Mom use to buy, but with a looser, less dense crumb. The scones were so popular amongst my family and friends I stuck with the same yogurt-based recipe for many years…that is until I found an even better buttermilk-based recipe upon which to build my scone repertoire–running the gamut from dried mango and ginger and raspberry white chocolate chunk, to apricot blue cheese and cornmeal jalapeño cheddar.
I think scones do tend to fall into two categories–those that are meant to be a blank canvas or vehicle for “spreads” like butter, clotted, and/or jam…even a savory cream cheese, and those mixed and dressed with additional components that make them completely self-contained. My pastry assistant Kim and I used to brainstorm on endless combinations of ingredients and flavors to inject into our scones to keep our daily catering clients happy and engaged. The fully-loaded variety call to mind sizable ones you’d find in a Starbucks pastry case, ladened with fruit, nuts, and/or chocolate, enrobed in icing. Eating one those alone could be the equivalent to consuming more than half of a traditional afternoon tea selection. But who’s to say you can’t feature both varieties on an afternoon tea stand, if you simply scaled down the size.
In crafting the perfect afternoon tea, I think scones and “tea breads” should share some of the spotlight with attention grabbing mini cakes and pastries, particularly if they are presented with as much flare and imagination. The first step in upping the scone and tea bread game was to miniaturize, because, let’s face it, small is cute. Plus, there is considerably less guilt associated with petite versions, so we’re apt to try a greater variety. Two of my favorite scones are the Jammy Scones (thick jam layered inside the scone) and Cheesy Corn Scones, a tender sweet/savory scone full of fresh corn and scallion, both incredibly delicious and easy to scale down. It just so happened that I was still sitting on several jars of lusciously thick homemade plum jam I’d whipped up over a month ago when my neighbor Krislyn brought over 10 lbs of plums from her backyard. Its chunky texture and depth of flavor made the plum jam perfect for sandwiching in between the layers of scone dough, maintaining its integrity throughout baking.
I tweaked my original recipe for cheddar jalapeño cornmeal scones to take advantage of ingredients I had on hand, which were fresh corn on the cob, pepper jack cheese, and scallion. To give the mildly spicy and creamy pepper jack a boost I added a touch of smoked paprika. I reduced the sugar and increase the salt to offset the natural sweetness of the fresh corn kernels. The result was a surprisingly addictive, melt-in-your-mouth bite of sweet savory scone perfection.
Some would describe Irish soda bread as a slightly denser loaf version of scone. The method of making both is similar–working cold butter into the dry ingredients then stirring in buttermilk (or yogurt) and a little bit of egg to form the dough–however, soda bread primarily relies on the acidity of the buttermilk (or yogurt) reacting to the alkaline of the baking soda for leavening, whereas scone employs both baking powder and baking soda. I did add a tiny amount of baking powder to my Petite Irish Soda Breads (adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe), since I felt the mini loaves could benefit from a bit of lightening given their scaled down size.
What could be more adorable than little pull-apart loaves of bright, lemon-scented Irish soda bread studded with dried currants?
In another instance of baking from my pantry, I created Whisky Prune Mini Loaves to use up some dried prunes my sister-in-law gave me. I’m not normally in the habit of just snacking on dried prunes so I knew that if I didn’t find a use for them right away, they’d probably end up languishing in my pantry indefinitely. Eyeing a big bottle of Jameson on my liquor shelf, I concluded the best course of action would be to simmer some of those prunes in whisky and turn the whole delightfully boozy mixture into mini loaves of moist tea bread. Like I’ve said before, things are better with the 3 B’s–butter, booze, and bacon. Two out of the three ain’t bad.
Whether you decide to make some or all four of these petite lovelies, you can’t wrong serving them with a side of clotted cream. After all, what’s in a few little bites?
Jammy Scones
Yield: about 1 dozen
- 6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
- 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c. cake flour
- 6 T. sugar
- 3/4 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/4 t. sea salt
- 1/2 c.+ 3 T. cold buttermilk (or 2/3 c. plain yogurt)
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
- 1/4 t. almond extract (optional)
- 1/4 c. thick jam (i.e. plum)
- coarse or raw sugar for sprinkling
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then add the cold butter pieces.
- Quickly rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Whisk together buttermilk, flavorings and about 1/2 of the beaten egg, then stir it into the dry mixture to form a shaggy dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, then wrap and form the dough into a disk. Place the dough in the freezer for about 10 mins. to firm up.
- Unwrap the dough and lay the plastic out flat. Lightly dust the surface with flour and roll the dough out to about 1/2″ thickness in a rectangular shape.
- Spread jam on half of the dough, then use the plastic wrap to lift and fold over the other half. Dust a little more flour onto the surface and gently press the two halves together.
- Dip a 1 1/2″ round cutter into flour and punch out disks of sandwiched dough. Arrange dough rounds onto a lined sheet pan spaced about 2″ apart, then brush the surface with the remaining egg beaten with a little water. Sprinkle the tops with coarse or raw sugar.
- Bake in preheated 400F degree oven for about 15 mins., or until golden and surface springs back when lightly touched.
- Cool on a rack and lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Cheesy Corn Scones
Yield: about 14 petite scones
- 6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
- 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 c. cornmeal
- 1/2 c. cake flour
- 3 T. sugar
- 3/4 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. sea salt
- 1/8 t. smoked paprika
- 1/2 c. fresh corn kernels
- 1/2 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
- 3 T. chopped scallion
- 1/2 c.+ 3 T. cold buttermilk (or 2/3 c. plain yogurt)
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then add the cold butter pieces.
- Quickly rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Toss in the corn, cheese, and scallion and evenly distribute.
- Whisk together buttermilk and about 1/2 of the beaten egg, then stir it into the dry mixture to form a shaggy dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead 2-3 times to bring it together into a cohesive mass. Pat or roll dough out to 3/4″ thickness and punch out 1 1/2″ disks with a round cutter.
- Arrange on a lined sheet pan about 2″ apart. Brush the surface with remaining egg beaten with a little water.
- Bake in preheated 400F degree oven for about 15 mins., or until golden and surface springs back when lightly touched.
Petite Irish Soda Bread
Yield: 3 small (12 little wedges)
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 c. cake flour
- 2 1/2 T. sugar
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- 3/4 t. sea salt
- 2 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
- 1/2 c. + 3 T. cold buttermilk (or plain yogurt)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 c. dried currants
- Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter and quickly rub it into the flour mixture with your finger tips until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Whisk together buttermilk, about 1/2 of the egg, and vanilla.
- Toss the currants and zest into the flour to evenly distribute.
- Stir in the wet ingredients to form a shaggy dough.
- Tip the dough mass onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 2-3 times to bring the dough together into a cohesive mass.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal portions, and roughly shape into 3/4″ thick rounds. Transfer rounds onto a lined sheet pan, spaced a good 2 1/2″ apart. With a sharp knife divide each round into quarters, cutting all the way through, then brush the surface with the remaining egg, beaten with a tiny bit of water.
- Bake the rounds in a preheated 375F degree oven for about 25 mins, or until they test done.
Whisky Prune Mini Loaves
Yield: 3 mini loaves
- 2/3 c. dried pitted prunes, chopped
- 1/4 c. whiskey
- 1/2 c. water
- 3 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
- 2 t. orange zest
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 3/4 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. baking soda
- 1/4 t. sea salt
- Combine prunes, whiskey and water in small pot and simmer for about 5 mins. or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool to room temperature
- Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in egg, vanilla and zest.
- Sift dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then stir to incorporate. Fold in cooled prunes.
- Divide batter into 3 well-greased mini loaf pans.
- Bake in a preheated 350F degree oven for 25-30 mins. or until loaves test done.
- Cool on a rack for about 10 mins., then unmold from pan and cool completely.
Karen regularly makes clotted cream and highly recommends using the low and slow oven method. It does take a bit of time and patience, but you can’t argue with the divine results.
Clotted Cream (from allrecipes.com)
Yield: about 6-8 servings
- Pour 1 quart of high quality heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized) into a shallow glass or ceramic baking dish. Cream should be about 1 1/2″ deep.
- Bake at 175F degrees, completely undisturbed for approximately 12 hours.
- Remove dish from the oven and allow it to cool completely, then wrap the dish in plastic and chill thoroughly or overnight.
- Flip over a corner of the thickened top layer and carefully drain off the liquid underneath.
- Scoop the clotted cream into a mason jar or ceramic crock. Cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.