Proper English Scones Are a Teatime Must-Have

One of the things I love about visiting England is the tradition of afternoon tea, especially a "cream tea" with scones, clotted cream (recipe below), and jam. English-style scones are really easy to make at home and only require a few ingredients and are deliciously different than the American-style ones you get at places like Starbucks. Try making a batch today and reward yourself with a relaxing tea time treat in the afternoon.

This is my go-to recipes for scones, and it based on the recipe by Mary Berry, of Great British Baking Show fame. The only specialized tool you'll need is a 2-inch fluted scone or biscuit cutter.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 2 eggs
• Approximately 1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Yes, this does seem like a lot of baking powder; most British recipes call for self-rising flour, which you can make by adding baking powder (2 tsp per cup) and salt. If you have self-rising flour in your pantry, go ahead and use it!

Add the butter to the bowl and work in with your fingers until it looks like coarse meal. Crack the eggs into a measuring cup and then fill the cup with milk until you get 1-1/4 cups of liquid total. Beat together until combined.

Add egg and milk mixture to the bowl a little at a time and mix into the dry ingredients until you get it all comes together in a slightly sticky dough. You probably won't use all the egg and milk mixture; set it aside to glaze the tops of the scones later.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently until the dough works into a ball. Flatten into a rectangle about 1/2 an inch thick. With your 2-inch cutter, cut out scones and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little of the leftover milk and egg mixture.

Bake for 12–15 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Serve with jam and clotted cream or butter.

Clotted Cream

"Clotted cream" doesn't sound very appetizing but it's really amazingly delicious! It's basically cream that's been heated slowly over a long period of time where it thickens and takes on sweet caramelized flavors. It's a ubiquitous teatime staple in the England (the Rodda's brand from Cornwall is a fave) but harder to find — and expensive — here in the US. Fortunately, it's easy to make at home, although you have to plan things out in advance a bit since it's a mult-day process. It's time consuming, although most of the time is hands-off, but worth it.

First, get a pint of heavy cream, organic is best. You don't want the kind with stabilizers and other ingredients in it, just cream. Turn you oven on warm; ideally you want it at about 180ºF or so (an oven thermometer is really helpful here). Pour the cream into a shallow baking dish and put it in the oven. Leave it there for 10 to 12 hours, untl the cream on the top has solidified (there will still be quite a bit of liquid). Let the dish and the cream cool on the counter, then cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap is touching the surface of the cream. Put it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

The clotted cream will have solidified. Pour off any liquid, which you should save and use to make your scones in place of all or some of the milk. Stir the clotted cream together and transfer to a bowl. Place it back in the refrigerator for another hour or so. Give it another stir and serve. It's best at room temperature. Spread some on your scone, followed by some jam and enjoy!