Tea time: Understanding the all-time classic scone.

I had never heard of scones until I had to make one, as part of my lessons at Escoffier, in the quick-bread section. And I have to say… I fell in love with them instantly!

Not only are they delicious, but they are so versatile. You can mix different nuts, dry fruits, spices…or just make them simple with no additions. They are wonderful to bake and to taste!

Since then, I have been doing a lot of research about scones. I found out they originated in the United Kingdom, no wonder, as our British friends are known for making great tea-time baked goods! However, the original British scone differs widely from our American version, which is the one I initially learned.

I asked my instructor for a British scone recipe and she kindly provided one, which I tried later. Main differences I found:

1. Starting with shapes, our American scones are normally shaped in a triangle, while the British ones are round.

2. Ours contain much more fat (butter) in comparison to the British ones; to get the flakier texture in the American ones, the chunkier the batter the better.

3. The American scones are normally baked with many fruits and nuts as said earlier, whereas the British don’t add many inclusions, but mainly currant or raisins.

What is interesting though is that we add more butter and sweets (including more sugar) into our American scones, the British normally open the scone, layer the butter, and add fruits jams, so at the end, it is about the preference of taste and how to eat them. I love both ways!

Some tips to make a great batch of scones:

1. Cutting the fat (butter) into the flour requires some work, so it is better to cut the butter in small pieces as you prepare ingredients…and put it back in the fridge or freezer for a while until you use it, to keep it cold

2. When cutting the butter you can use a pastry blender, but a bowl scraper is as useful and works great. You want to take the butter to pea-size portions, but you want to still be able to see the chunk of butter. As mentioned earlier, it makes the scone flakier…and the buttery taste later will be delicious. It will be a little different with British scones, where you do not need as much better and some people even use vegetable oil.

3. To shape the dough in triangles for American scones, I recommend having a rule for making sure you have the exact portion sizes. After all, when you are threading the dough and shaping it around, you will not necessarily get a perfect shape for cutting the triangles, so a measuring tape is great to keep consistency. For British scones, all you need is a round shape cookie cutter.

4. As said earlier, you can add basically anything you want to an American scone…I would even dare to say, to any scone, you will eat it, after all, so create and enjoy! For my first scones, I used cranberries and orange zest and sprinkle sugar on top. For the British scones I actually used a mix of dried fruits that I found at Costco, so please forgive me, my dear British friends…I just could not resist.

If you would like to try making scones, this is the basic procedure I followed for the American version:

1. After measuring the ingredients, I placed the butter in the freezer until ready to use

2. I prepared the sheet pan with parchment paper and preheated the oven to 400 degrees F

3. I sifted the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder (dry ingredients)

4. I placed the butter with the dry ingredients and using the bowl scraper, I cut it into tiny pieces (pea-size).

5. In the middle of cutting it, I added the orange zest

6. Once I got tiny butter pieces, I whisked the eggs and milk separately. Then, I added the liquid into the dough using the J technique, using the bowl scraper to fold.

7. In the middle of this folding, I added the cranberries and finished folding until the dough would separate from the bowl

8. I took the dough and put flour on the baking mat, and over the dough, I round-shaped it and measured ¾ of an inch height (it was not perfect).

9. I cut the dough into eight portions and placed them on the baking sheet

10. I brushed the top of the portions with a mix of the remaining egg and some milk and then added granulated sugar on top.

11. I baked them for 20 minutes

The result? Crispy golden and delicious scones to enjoy with family and friends.