Scones: Something for the New Year Weekend

So who hasn’t made a New Year’s resolution yet? If the answer is you, then how about this: eat more scones! These delightful little morsels are indulgent in a very British way. Barely more than three or four mouthfuls, once loaded with clotted cream and jam (strawberry of raspberry are our preference), they are the height of restrained decadence.

As January becomes February, and February becomes March, you need a little treat to help you though the harsh New York winter. Next week, we’ll be sharing our tips to making the perfect cup of tea. So go on, get your friends, family, and neighbors involved, and turn tea and scones into a monthly, weekly, or even daily tradition.

Scones

Makes about 12 scones
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

From 'Tea & Sympathy: The Life of an English teashop in New York' - "The scone was originally any type of sweet bread, rich or plain. If you read old English cookery books there are many ways to make them. At Tea & Sympathy, we stay with a very basic recipe and we do not use butter. These scones do no last until the next day, so they should b eaten within a few hours of backing, before they become dry and stale. If you are having them for tea, I suggest you make them no more than a couple of hours before you serve them, to eat them at their very best. "

 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups heavy cream

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Add the heavy cream and mix gently. Do not overmix. If the mixture is very sloppy, add a little more flour.
• By hand, spread out the dough on a floured surface to 1-inch thickness.
• Cut out scones with a two-inch cookie cutter and place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack.

When the scones have cooked, split them in half horizontally, then smear the cut side of each half generously with clotted cream and jam.

A note on… Clotted Cream

You cannot buy fresh clotted cream in the United States, but you can find jars of pasteurized Devonshire cream or clotted cream that have been imported from England in select gourmet stores. Luckily, we stock it in Carry on Tea & Sympathy. There is no real difference between Devonshire and clotted cream, it just means that the clotted variety comes from Cornwall and the Devonshire from Devon. If you open the jar and it has separated, just whip it up slightly to stiffen it so it doesn’t drip down the sides of the scones.