Devonshire Tea For Me - Scones With Jam and Cream

Scones with jam and cream are a lovely afternoon tea tradition that I love, especially at colder times of the year. Often referred to as a Devonshire Tea, because of a loose connection with a similar tradition in Devon in the UK, cafes and restaurants do a roaring trade. Even the local bread shops have jumped into scones with various flavours available. Unfortunately, I hate these scones - they are often the size of your head, and taste like something that should be bowled in cricket rather than eaten at tea.

Luckily making your own scones is incredibly simple, and quick. I like to make them quite small - stopping the insides from being quite as doughy as they might otherwise be. Serve them cut in half with either whipped cream, or double cream if you feel like being especially sinful. Strawberry jam is traditional, but any sort of jam that appeals to you will work.

Scones

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tbl baking powder

2 tbls sugar, plus extra for topping

1/2 tsp salt

100g unsalted butter, cold, plus extra for brushing

3/4 cup pouring cream, plus extra to serve

Preheat oven to 220C. Toss dry ingredients together, then rub in the butter. You can do this by chopping it into small pieces and literally rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, or you can mix it with a pastry blender.

Stir in the pouring cream until the mixture forms a ball of dough. Scoop up the dough and knead it gently for about 30 seconds on a floured surface. Roll it out gently (dust the surface with more flour if it is sticking) until it is about 2cm thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough (I prefer them to be about 5cm in diameter). Re-roll the scraps and cut them out as well until there is no more dough. Brush tops with a little melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Arrange scones to be at least 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Bake until puffed and golden, approx 10 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold, with jam and cream.