Cream Scones and a Royal Wedding

All Photos From The Girl

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you know that there was a Royal Wedding in London at the end of April. The girl and I decided that we would get up bright and early (5:45 am EST) and watch the wedding of the future King of England. We'd clearly need some breakfast to go along with our tea, so the night before I decided to try my hand at baking up cream scones...with some help from the girl (she's a wonderful baker...I, well - I'm still learning!).

I found a simple recipe for English scones (pronounced "skohns" in the U.K.) and made it as is for the wedding morning. The scones came out okay, but were a little dense. After talking to the girl about the texture, I realized I'd overworked them a bit and that had toughened them. Nevertheless, they were delicious topped with raspberry jam for our morning of wishing we lived in London.

I tried the recipe again about a week later and tweaked it slightly. Instead of the milk listed in the ingredients, I used cream. I also made sure not to overwork them and used the "well technique" for mixing the wet ingredients into the dry (which helped a lot in keeping them lighter). The second batch was even better than the first! They had a wonderful, soft texture with just enough richness, and the butter made beautifully flaked layers. This is now a go-to recipe for me for a breakfast get-together. They are pretty easy to make (even for a non-baker!), and they are sure to be crowd pleasers as you can top them with whatever you like - clotted cream, butter, jam, jelly, lemon curd, or savory cheese and ham!

Scone with raspberry jam

English Cream Scones
Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup cold butter or margarine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
Additional milk or cream

Directions
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Beat heavy cream and egg; add to dry ingredients using a well technique, stirring lightly. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll to 1-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Scones with butter, lemon curd and raspberry jam