Never alone with a scone

There was a time when I would quite happily refer to myself as a weekend baker. Before these last twelve months, I would bake at a weekend and once the fruits of my labours were eaten that was it. No more until the weekend rolled around again.

One of the few upsides of the last year has been the changes it’s made to my kitchen regime. Now I’m baking at every opportunity and have some seriously disappointed faces in the house if there isn’t a little something sweet to go with their evening cup of coffee.

I’m still probably more productive at the weekend and Sunday afternoon will always be when the biggest projects happen. Bakes that need serious planning and quite often a shopping expedition for any ingredients not already in the pantry.

Weekday baking concentrates more on keeping us stocked with fresh bread and ensuring there’s always a bun or scone to hand when required.

With the possible exception of the ubiquitous banana bread, I’m guessing scone baking will have undergone the biggest revival under lockdown. Quick and easy to make, once you’ve mastered the basic recipe there’s an almost endless list of ingredients that can be added. You can have sweet fruit scones, savoury cheese scones, or as in the case of the apple and feta that I made the other week, the best of both worlds.

I tend to opt for fruit most often, but like to think they’re fairly healthy as the sultanas and raisins mean you don’t need to add a great deal of additional sugar when making them. A freshly baked fruit scone, spread with a little butter and jam is a wonderful thing. If you’re lucky enough to have a bit of cream to add as well it’s even better.

There are a couple of interesting bones of contention about scones. The first is the addition of cream to a fruit scone as I referred to above. Traditionally it’s a combination found in the southwest of England with Cornwall and Devon both laying claims to being its home. What they differ on is the all-important question of do you spread the jam first then the cream or the cream then the jam. Cornwall is adamant it’s the first option, while in Devon they’re equally adamant that it’s the second. I don’t think I have any Cornish heritage, but I’m definitely with them on this one.

The other issue which can raise surprisingly heated discussions, at least amongst bakers and cake eaters, is how to pronounce what I’ve been writing about. An issue perfectly summed up in the poem below;

I asked the maid in dulcet tone

To order me a buttered scone;

The silly girl has been and gone

And ordered me a buttered scone.

I’m not sure if there is a right or wrong way on this one, although what I chose to call this piece does show the pronunciation I’m more likely to go with.

What I do know is that a good scone will never let you down. If you fancy baking some I’ll share my favourite recipe in my next post.