The Best Cream Scones - Red Tractor, September

The tradition of afternoon teas comprised of scones with jam and cream and a pot of tea makes for fond memories.  I was brought up with this tradition, and even now, it feels like a special and genteel affair.

Scones are a staple at every country show (and the very urban shows!), both as part of the baking competition and served by the reliable ladies at the CWA Pavilion.  They are also the bane of every home economics student - in a less enlightened era, all the girls at my school had to do "home ec" in Grade 8, and I hated it.  Every high tea tray in Australia also features scones, regardless of the other components of the tea tray.

I have swapped the tea for coffee a year or so ago, but I still love good scones (preferably served warm) with jam and cream.  

This month's Red Tractor calendar recipe pays homage to this tradition by serving up a recipe for The Best Cream Scones, by implication to be served with a pot of piping hot tea:

I cannot confirm whether these are "the best" cream scones, but I can confirm that they are very good indeed.  I am not much of a scone maker, and my scones have a nasty tendency to be flat, but these rose a treat - high and fluffy, nicely browned on top, with plenty of surface area for lashings of jam and cream.  They were just perfect in my eyes.

To make The Best Cream Scones, you will need:

4 cups self-raising flour (or plain flour dosed with baking powder, like me)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 1/4 cups thickened cream
1 1/4 cups water

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Place all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and knead together to combine.  Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and roll or push out to a 3cm thickness.  (Note - I needed to add some more flour, as my dough was too sticky to cut.  There is no exact science - you need to do it by feel.)

Using a round biscuit cutter or a sharp edged glass, cut as many scones out of the dough as possible, pushing back together and repeating with any leftover dough (but be careful not to work too much as it will make the scones tough).

Place the scones on a lined baking tray, and brush the tops with milk.  Bake the scones in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove the scones from the oven and wrap them in a tea towel so that they stay soft.

Serve the scones with jam of your choosing and whipped cream.