The Queen’s Scones

We have just celebrated the Queen’s birthday long weekend (although the Queen’s actual birthday is in April), and today is Prince Philip’s 99th birthday. I have decided to wrap both occasions into one and made the Queen’s favourite scones from a recipe by her former pastry chef.

These are fruit scones, containing sultanas. I served them with red jam and cream:

These are not my favourite scones - I have made other recipes I like better. However, it was fitting to make this recipe for the occasion.

To make the Queen’s scones, you will need:

500g plain flour

28g baking powder

94g butter 

86g sugar

2 eggs

140ml buttermilk 

100g sultanas 

Soak the sultanas in boiling water for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips. 

Beat the buttermilk and eggs together in a jug. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, using your hands, to form a dough. Drain the sultanas and mix them evenly throughout the dough with your hands. Rest the dough, covered, in a bowl for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl and flatten with your hands to a thickness of 2.5cm. Use a 2.5cm round cutter to cut out rounds from the dough, pressing straight down without twisting the cutter. Press the scraps together, flatten again to 2.5cm thick, and continue to cut out rounds until all the dough is used up.

Place the rounds into a lined baking sheet and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Beat an egg together with a splash of milk using a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush the top only of each scone with egg wash.

Place the scones into the oven to bake for 10-15 minutes or until they are golden brown on top.

Remove the scones from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack before splitting in half and serving with jam and cream.