By Sarah Beleski a recent ASU Nutrition student
From a very young age, I have enjoyed having tea time with my mother and sisters. It is a tradition in our family that we still hold onto today. I suppose our obsession with Afternoon tea stems from our British roots but it has since evolved into so much more. It has allowed us to have time to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
During tea time, we like to enjoy our hot tea with a sweet treat. On a normal day, a cookie or tea biscuit will do just fine, but when we are in the mood for a more sophisticated indulgence, we whip out the scones.
My mother, sisters, and I have made hundreds of scones since I was a little girl but I have finally recently perfected my scone recipe. In this last year alone, I have made over 350 of these insanely delicious scones for bridal showers and various meetings. For the past couple years, I have considered myself to be a proficient baker, and these scones are my specialty.
Below is the scone recipe that has been tweaked and perfected over the years. I always pair it with homemade whipped cream and my favorite jam or lemon curd. Enjoy them with an English black tea (with milk and sugar, of course) and you have yourself an Afternoon tea!
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 4 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- ½ Tsp Fine Salt
- 5 Tbsp Chilled Unsalted Butter
- ½ Cup Chopped Cranberries
- 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 egg
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Combine All-Purpose flour, baking powder, only 3 tbsp of the granulated sugar (the remaining sugar will be used near the end), and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl
- Cut in butter (You can use a pastry cutter or even just your hands to break up the butter) It should resemble coarse meal when you are done. Make sure the butter is very cold before you cut it into the dry ingredients so that it does not melt immediately. If using your hands, make sure to work fast so that the butter does not melt from the heat of your hands. TIP: When measuring the butter, cut the 5 tbsp into cube shapes and put it back in the fridge until you are ready to use it
- Once the mixture resembles coarse meal, add the dried cranberries and mix
- Add the heavy cream to the mixture and use your hands to knead into a dough ball for 5-10 seconds.
- Transfer the dough to a clean, floured countertop and use your hands to flatten the dough into a ¾ inch thick circle. (It does not need to be perfect) From here, you can chose to use a cookie cutter to cut out your preferred scone size or you can cut the circle into 8 pie slices
- Place scones on a pizza stone (if you don’t have this, a baking sheet pan will work just fine)
- In a small bowl, whisk one egg and lightly brush the tops of the scones with the egg mixture
- Sprinkle each scone with the remaining sugar
- Place the scones in the oven for 12-15 minutes (or until golden brown) in the middle wire rack
- When they are finished baking, take them out of the oven and keep them on the pizza stone or sheet pan for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool
- Serve with whipped cream and your favorite jam and enjoy!
Go to Fill Your Plate recipe section for more yummy recipes.