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Cream
Scones are lovely when cut in half and spread with clotted cream and
jam. The perfect cream scone has a crisp exterior with an interior
that is light and fluffy with a rich buttery flavor. Because so many
find scone making a challenge, I have turned to a few experts to see
what advise they can give us. First, from the U.K., Tamasin
Day-Lewis in her excellent book "Tamasin's Kitchen Bible" gives us a
few tips. She tells us it is best if all the ingredients are cold,
to add the liquid to the dry ingredients all at once, and then to
mix everything together quickly and lightly. Next, Australian
Stephanie Alexander in "The Cook's Companion" gives us good advise
when cutting the scones. She says if we twist the cutter through the
scone dough, rather than cutting straight down, the scones will rise
higher during baking. So with this information in mind, let's get
baking.
As I said above, cream scones are lovely with clotted cream and
jam. But there are other ways to serve these scones. For example, if you
don't have clotted cream, these scones are
delicious with softly whipped cream and jam, or butter and jam.
Other times you may want to spread them with
a tangy lemon curd. Cream scones
can also be used to make a Strawberry Shortcake. When strawberries are
in season, split these scones in half and fill
them with the lightly sweetened strawberries and cream.
If you are
unfamiliar with Devonshire (or Devon) Cream, it is a thick,
rich, yellowish cream with a lovely sweet flavor that contains about
60% butterfat. This clotted cream is produced commercially in Devon,
Cornwall, and Somerset England. At one time it was quite difficult
to find in North America but that is not the case today. You
can find it not only in specialty food stores but also in a lot of
regular grocery stores (in the deli section). But even if you cannot find it or it is too
expensive, an excellent alternative is make the 'mock'
Devonshire Cream recipe on the
site or just whip some heavy cream with a little sugar and vanilla
extract.
For more information on the history and
making of Scones.
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