My mum was a master at making scones. We used to have a small cafe when I was younger, and we had a little stream of regular customers who miraculously timed their visits for just when the day’s batch of scones was coming out of the oven. They were perfect!
Perfect for me means being able to hold its shape well enough to be cut in half without crumbling but light enough that you can break a chunk off easily with your fingers and not too much like bread.
I’m not a bad baker; I can whip up a cracking cake with no problem, but strangely enough, mastering the perfect scone has taken me years to perfect. The problem was I was over-complicating it. Scones are simple things; they require minimal handling – the less, the better I found. My mum was so good because she just knocked them out quickly.
I tried all sorts of complicated recipes, but in the end, I went back to the basic Be-Ro Book (if you’ve never come across this little gem – you need to invest – the fact it’s on its 41st edition tells you something! My copy is the 35th edition which tells you how old I am!). There are a couple of recipes in there for scones – but I’m talking about Rich Scones – I’m sure Be-Ro won’t mind me sharing with a few of my own tips – see our recipes section for details.
Of course, living on the Yorkshire Coast, we are spoilt when it comes to good places for scones. My absolute favourite place just lately is Bridlington Spa Cafe – they have a different flavour for each day of the week – check out their menu on Facebook for updates on that day’s scone flavour!
Oh, and just for the record, it is pronounced scone – as in rhymes with gone! How else can you tell the “What’s the fastest cake?” joke?
