Cream Scones Recipe & Video

Cream Scones are lovely warm from the oven, served with jam and clotted or whipped cream. The perfect Cream Scone has a crisp exterior with an interior that is light and fluffy with a rich buttery flavor. If you find making scones a challenge, I have turned to a few experts to see what advise they can give us.

First, from the U.K., Tamasin Day-Lewis in her excellent book "Tamasin's Kitchen Bible" gives us a few tips. She tells us it is best if all the ingredients are cold, to add the liquid to the dry ingredients all at once, and then to mix everything together quickly and lightly. Next, Australian Stephanie Alexander in "The Cook's Companion" gives us good advise when cutting the scones. She says if we twist the cutter through the scone dough, rather than cutting straight down, the scones will rise higher during baking. So with this information in mind, let's get baking.

As I said above, Cream Scones are lovely with clotted cream and jam. But there are other ways to serve these scones. For example, if you don't have clotted cream, these scones are delicious with softly whipped cream and jam, or even with butter and jam. Other times you may want to spread them with a tangy lemon curd. They can also be used to make Strawberry Shortcake. Just split the scones in half and fill with lightly sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.

If you are unfamiliar with Devonshire (or Devon) Cream, it is a thick, rich, yellowish cream with a lovely sweet flavor that contains about 60% butterfat. This clotted cream is produced commercially in Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset England. At one time it was quite difficult to find in North America but that is not the case today. You can find it not only in specialty food stores but also in a lot of regular grocery stores (in the deli section). But even if you cannot find it or it is too expensive, an excellent alternative is make the 'mock' Devonshire Cream recipe on the site or just whip some heavy cream with a little sugar and vanilla extract.

For more information on the history and making of Scones.


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Cream Scones: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two knives, or with your fingertips. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.) In a small measuring cup whisk together the milk or cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. Then, using a lightly floured 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. (This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.)

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with Devon cream or softly whipped cream and your favorite jam. These scones are best the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days. They also freeze very well.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round scones.

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Cream Scone Recipe:

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream

Glaze:

Cream or Milk