Cornish Scones with Clotted Cream

About This Recipe

The Cornish cream tea — fluffy plain scones, sharp strawberry jam, and luxuriously thick clotted cream — is one of England's most cherished afternoon institutions, made the same way since at least the 11th century. The technique for great scones is restrained: cold butter rubbed quickly into flour (never warmed), a wet dough barely mixed, a gentle pat-and-stamp rather than rolling, and a flash bake in a screaming-hot oven so the layers puff vertically. The Cornish order is jam first, cream on top (the Devonian rivals reverse the order, an opinion-splitting question to this day). Served with strong black tea, hot scones taken straight from the oven, and good conversation, it is the most British of small luxuries.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 350 gself-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 tspbaking powder
• 75 gcold unsalted butter, cubed
• 40 gcaster sugar
• 1/4 tspfine salt
• 175 mlcold whole milk
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 1 tbsplemon juice (to clabber the milk)
• 1egg, beaten (for brushing)
• good strawberry jam to serve
• Rodda's Cornish clotted cream (or substitute mascarpone whipped with a little cream)

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat hot

   Heat oven to 220°C with a baking tray inside. Cold dough on a hot tray is the secret to vertical rise.

2. 2

   Clabber the milk

   Pour milk into a jug. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Let stand 5 minutes — the milk will thicken slightly, like a quick buttermilk.

3. 3

   Rub in butter

   Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a wide bowl. Add cold butter cubes. Rub in with cold fingers (or pulse in a food processor) until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Work quickly — warm butter ruins scones.

4. 4

   Add liquid

   Make a well. Pour in the clabbered milk all at once. Mix gently with a butter knife until just combined into a shaggy, wet dough. Do not knead.

5. 5

   Pat, don't roll

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat gently into a 3 cm thick round — do not roll with a pin.

6. 6

   Stamp

   Dip a 6 cm round cutter into flour and stamp straight down without twisting (twisting seals the layers and prevents rise). Reshape scraps gently and stamp again.

7. 7

   Brush and bake

   Place scones on a parchment-lined hot tray, fairly close so they support each other as they rise. Brush tops only with beaten egg (egg on the sides glues the layers and stops them rising). Bake 12–15 minutes until tall, golden, and crackly on top.

8. 8

   Cool slightly and serve

   Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes — they should be warm but not hot when split. Split each in half horizontally with your fingers (don't cut with a knife).

9. 9

   Cornish vs Devon

   Spread jam first, then a generous spoonful of clotted cream on top — Cornish order. Eat immediately.

Variations

• •

  Fruit scones: fold in 80 g sultanas or chopped dried cranberries.

• •

  Cheese scones: skip sugar, add 80 g grated mature cheddar and 1/2 tsp mustard powder.

• •

  Date and ginger scones: 60 g chopped dates and 1 tsp ground ginger — autumnal.

Storage

Best within 4 hours of baking. Refresh day-old scones in a 180°C oven for 4 minutes. Freeze raw stamped scones on a tray, then bag; bake from frozen with 4 extra minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions