One of my favourites treats to enjoy is a Devonshire tea. A beautifully brewed cup of tea with freshly baked scones, lashings of berry jam and dollop cream. Yum! Definitely, a special indulgence, best shared with loved ones and good conversation. So when my mum suggested having Devonshire tea for afternoon tea at our Father’s Day celebration I was eager to put my hand up to try out this scone recipe. My grandma had attributed it to my Great Aunt Eileen, who was known in my Grandma’s side of the family as probably the top cook in the family. She could be relied upon to cook or bake a delicious feed, and I was keen to try out her recipe.
Also, try out our no-bake Cornbread Waffles recipe – one of the best in southern cuisine.
Typical me I didn’t test the scones out first but went straight into cooking them the afternoon of our Father’s day celebration. I cut things even finer by running out of self-rising flour and having to head out to the local supermarket to pick up a bag and then get cracking! After measuring out the flour (I doubled the recipe) and butter I began rubbing it in. A little tip for those who haven’t rubbed in butter before, make sure you use butter from the refrigerator, not room temperature butter. My understanding is that room temperature butter melts too easily from the heat in your hands and your scones won’t hold together as well.
This recipe calls for less butter than regular scone recipes, so step one is fairly easy to accomplish. I am guessing this is because you have the unusual ingredient of sour cream which has a higher fat content than if you were to use straight milk. Next, you simply measure and mix the sour cream and milk, make a well in the flour mixture and pour in. Cut through the ingredients with a knife until the mixture forms a dough. Easy!
All that is required now is to gently knead the dough and to roll it out to 3/4in. thickness. Using a 2in. (5cm) cutter (I used a crystal sherry glass as it was the right size), tap through the dough to create your scone. After each round of cutting, gently reshape and roll out the dough so you can cut out the remainder of your scones. Ensure your surface has enough flour on it so the scones don’t stick.
Onto the baking tray, the scones go to bake for a brief 10-12 minutes. When golden, pull out and allow to cool off a little bit. Scones are best eaten asap with the aforementioned jam, cream and tea… Oh, and the good company of course!
Thankfully, Great Aunt Eileen came through and the scones turned out great. We bundled them into our SUV and headed off to my folks. I was HUNGRY as I had skipped lunch to make the scones. So I headed into a big afternoon of eating: scones from me, fresh fruit from my parents, and rock cakes and Italian biscuits from my Mother-in-law. All the food was delicious, and I received a lot of compliments about the scones. They had a good density and don’t have any sugar in them, so they could be used just as well in a savoury context with butter and soup.
Enjoy!
- 2 cups Self-rising (Self-raising) flour
- ½ oz. (15gms) butter
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- Rub butter into flour.
- Mix together sour cream and milk.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and butter mixture, pour in sour cream and milk mixture.
- Mix ingredients together by cutting with a knife until mixture forms a dough.
- Place dough on floured surface and gently knead.
- Roll out dough with rolling pin to ¾in. (2cm) thickness.
- Using a 2in (5cm) cutter, cut the dough, using one sharp tap and not twisting the dough as you cut. Twisting the scone mix will result in an uneven rising.
- Place the scones on a lined baking tray bake at 425F (220C) for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
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• Cornbread Recipe
• Cheese Stuffed Cornbread
