I am no stranger to Scones here in the English Kitchen having successfully baked about a bazillion of them over the years!  I have baked everything from the classic English Scone to the zany, and a whole bunch in between.

I have my favorites and thought I would share those with you today, but not before sharing a few fun facts about scones that you might enjoy!

IS IT SC-ON OR SC-OWN? 

There has been much debate through the years on the proper pronunciation of the word, and sometimes very heated. I think wars have been fought over less.  Even the Queen has weighed in on the matter.  The simple fact is neither is wrong and has more to say about where you are from than anything else.  A rose by any other name and all that, what does it matter. They are delicious either way!

Scones are closer to a pastry than a bread. They contain no yeast and are put together in a very similar way, with almost identical ingredients.  What differs is the ratio of fat to flour, with pastry using more.  Also Scones will use either a leavening such as baking powder or self-raising flour, whereas typically a pastry will use none.

Are Scones and North American Biscuits the same thing?  They might look very similar, but that is where it ends. Tall, flaky and golden brown, they are both made with flour, fat, a leavening agent and a liquid. The two have very similar ingredients, but vary in ratios of ingredients and mix ins. Biscuits have an extra fattiness which helps to create nice flaky layers. Scones are a bit sturdier and sweeter by and large.  Both are delicious, so why quibble.

Scone ingredients prefer to be kept cold. This is a sure way to success when making a scone.  The temperature of your hands and fingertips can also make a difference believe or not. Having the fat rubbed in without it melting makes for a much nicer scone.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Scone" was was first used in 1513.

The most famous Scone in the world is the "Stone of Scone." Also known as the "Stone of Destiny," it is an oblong block of sandstone which has been placed beneath the throne during the Coronation of Monarchs of Scotland and England. It lives at Edinburgh castle but is made available for coronations when needed.

There is a proper time to enjoy a Scone, which is after 3PM, and usually with copious amounts of hot tea. If you are like me, however, you will not stand on ceremony and be up for a scone any time of the day!

And now, to the scones!  These are a few of my favorites and I think they will become favorites of yours as well!

CLASSIC ENGLISH SCONES - Lets begin with the best. These are the classic scone that you will see on offer in most tea rooms all across the UK.  Tall, light and studded with raisins, these are beautiful served with clotted cream, jam and steaming hot cups of tea.  These are scone perfection and I have included a complete tutorial on scone making. You cannot go wrong! 

CHERRY AND VANILLA SCONES - Simple to make and studded with glace cherries. You could also use maraschino cherries if you cannot get the glace cherries. There is no eggs or cream in these lovely scones. They are delicious served with butter and jam.  

OATY CINNAMON SCONES - These smell heavenly when they are baking. These scones are filled with the goodness of whole wheat and rolled oats, as well as the other ingredients.  They are flaky and delicious! They are also glazed with a cinnamon glaze that you apply while the scones are warm and fresh from the oven.  Just pour it over.  Let it get into all of  the nooks and crannies . . .

NAN'S SUGAR SCONES - These are quite unique.  A typical scone dough with a difference. A sugar cube soaked in lemon juice is pushed down into the center before baking creating a delicious almost lemon curd filling. Can you say scrumptious? 

CARROT CAKE DROP SCONES - These are everything a great drop scone should be. Light and fluffy, no fuss, no muss. Simply mix and drop.  Filled with sweet carrots,  warm baking spices and sticky raisins.  Sweetly glazed. These are a real favorite. 

MAPLE GLAZED BLACK PEPPER SCONES - This is a small batch recipe which makes two very large scones. They have that sweet and savory thing going on.  Short and buttery, studded with the heat of black pepper and sweetly glazed. Who know that maple and pepper got along so well!  Simply fabulous. 

RHUBARB AND GINGER SCONES -  Tart rhubarb and sticky sweet bits of candy ginger play perfect partners in these deliciously different scones. These are really pretty scones studded with bright scraps of red rhubarb and zingy sweet bits of candied ginger. More candied ginger is sprinkled on top giving a bit of sweet crunch. Delicious served with strawberry jam and the rich  Devonshire cream. (recipe included)

TENDER PEACH AND VANILLA SCONES - These wonderful peach scones are tender and delicious served warm from the oven. They use simple pantry ingredients. Things which we probably all have in our cupboards. They are super fast and very easy to make. You can opt to use fresh peaches in them  or tinned peaches, perfect for the winter months. Both work beautifully.  

SPICED BLUEBERRY SCONES - Beautifully buttery and short, with just the faintest hint of spice . . . cardamom and cinnamon . . . and topped with sweet wild blueberry preserves . . .then baked until crisp and brown on the edges. 

STRAWBERRY & MINT SCONES - I am fairly certain that when you bite into one of these you will be in scone heaven. The dough is buttery and short, with just the faintest hint of mint throughout. The strawberry jam is like a sweet surprise in the centre and that lemon drizzle, well . . . it's just the perfect capper! I bet you can't eat just one! I dare you to try!  These are scones . . . but not as you know them. mmmmm . . . so delicious!  

IRISH COFFEE CAKE SCONES - A basic scone recipe is created and then topped with a brown sugar and nut streusel before baking. Made with buttermilk and studded with plenty of sweet sticky dried currants. These are lovely served warm and buttered with a nice hot cuppa. 

HONEY & DATE SCONES - Buttery and flaky, flavored with honey, and filled with stick bits of sweet dates.  These are beautiful served with clotted cream and dulce de leche, or caramel spread. Betcha can't eat just one! 

CHRISTMAS OAT SCONES - Hearty and delicious oatmeal scones.  Filled with soaked raisins or do as I did and use David Leibovitz's mincemeat.  Fabulously tasty, especially with butter and jam! 

VANILLA GLAZED GINGER SCONES -These are simply spiced with ground ginger and cinnamon. They are also flavored  and sweetened with brown sugar, molasses and maple syrup. A trinity of good taste. Glazed with a vanilla icing and decorated with minced candied ginger, these are perfectly lovely.

CINNAMON ROLL SCONES - If you like cinnamon rolls, you will love these.  I like to think they are a bit healthy in that they use whole wheat flour.  Please don't burst my bubble.  Scone dough rolled up with layers of sweet cinnamon sugar, cut into triangles, baked to perfection and then sweetly glazed.

I also have a variety of savory scones on here, but I will save those for another day. I thought for today (just in time for the weekend) you would enjoy something more on the sweeter side!

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com 

Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!

I like to pride myself on being totally honest with you my readers. I hope that you appreciate that. I know that I always appreciate honesty. Especially in cooking.  When I go to a recipe page, and decide to make one of their recipes I trust that what they are sharing works and tests out well.

I am a pretty competent baker. I started working as a pastry chef back when I was 19 years old.  I worked at a very high class hotel here in the Valley.  Then of course I really honed my skills baking for my family over the years and finally went to college in the year 2000.

I pretty much know what I am doing when it comes to cooking and baking. I only ever very seldom have a failure. In fact I would consider it very rare.  Today I had a failure.  A total flop.

I picked out a recipe on Flourist to bake.  A White Chocolate Blueberry Cake. I had really high hopes.  The photograph looked delicious. 

 I confess that I did get derailed after I had mixed all the dry ingredients together, but I hadn't yet mixed the wet. I set it all aside and went to clean the chapel, which I had totally forgotten about! Today was my teams turn.

I finished putting the cake together when I got home. There is no reason that my brief interlude at the chapel should have had any impact on the cake. The real chemistry had not begun when I left.

I did everything right. What I ended up with was a rubbery, overly sweet loaf cake in which all of the blueberries (and I suspect the white chocolate chips) ended up at the bottom of the cake.  It would be forgivable if the cake itself had any flavor or redeemable factors, but it simply does not.

This cake is headed for the bin.  I hate it when that happens. When I waste really good and expensive ingredients on a cake that turns out bin-able.  Sometimes when something like that happens you can blame it on the cook's error.  I am afraid this is not the case today.  And I don't say that to sound conceited.

The only thing I might have done differently in hindsight is to fold some of the flour into the berries.  This might have prevented them from sinking. But it could not have redeemed this cake.  Far too much sugar for one thing. Combined with the sweetness of white chocolate chips and that sickly glaze, this cake was a losing proposition. In fact it was a tragedy.

So, I have nothing new to share with you today. Instead I have decided to share with you some blueberry recipes that are delicious and that I can highly recommend! I hope you will forgive me. 

Dutch Baby with Blueberries & Lime -  I love Dutch baby pancakes. Light and puffy, golden brown. They make the perfect canvas for many fillings, both savory and sweet. This particular version is delicious with sweet/tart fresh berries, lime zested brown sugar, dollops of sour cream and freshly squeezed lime juice. Oh so tasty!

LEMON SANDWICHES WITH BLUEBERRIES & CREAM - This simple dessert is just the ticket to brighten anyone's day! Thick slices of a moist and delicious lemon cake are topped with a rich yogurt cream and a sweet fresh blueberry sauce. Its very similar to a strawberry shortcake in a way I suppose.  Its every bit as delicious and such a simple and easy make.

COCONUT, LIME & BLUEBERRY SCONES - These puff up really nicely, and are stogged full of lovely coconut and lime flavors which go really well with the blueberries. Rich and flaky and perfectly delicious served with some lime or lemon curd! 

BLUEBERRY BLISS DESSERT - A blueberry version of a traditional Eaton Mess, using blueberries, lemon curd yoghurt, whipped cream and meringues. Oh yes . . . some good!  Quick, easy and incredibly delicious. Everything you would expect in a good dessert! 

LEMON & BLUEBERRY TURNOVERS - What is a turnover but a little pie, and these ones are so easy to make! Lemon and Blueberries combined with flaky puff pastry and sweetly glazed. A combination made in heaven!  These are fabulously tasty!  Also a very easy make.

BLUEBERRY CRUNCH CAKE - This delicious cake has a wonderfully moist texture and is topped by a delicious crumble crunch.  This is quite simply a fabulous cake.  For breakfast, brunch or dessert. You choose!  It goes perfectly for all three occasions! 

 

REFRIGERATOR TOFFEE BARS - An oldie but a goodie. Layers of crisp buttery crackers, sweet toffee and chocolate. Something to satisfy the children's sweet tooth's when the temperature goes up and you don't want to turn on the oven!

FRESH BERRY CROSTINI - Crisp sour dough toasts, spread with creamy cheese, fresh berries and a drizzle of honey. Deliciously simple!

MABEL'S STRAWBERRY PIE - A fresh no bake strawberry pie that is deliciously simple to make. An old recipe I got from my friend Mabel when both of our families were very young! A summer time right of passage.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE - The filling for this is super easy to make. Melted white chocolate beaten together with cream cheese, vanilla and sugar, poured over the base and allowed to set up in the refrigerator. If you can stop at one piece of this tasty dessert, you are a better person than I am!

CREAM TEA TRIFLE POTS - Fresh scones, crumbled, with a drizzle of sherry and honey, fresh berries, jam and custard. There is also some clotted cream, which I know is very difficult to find outside of the UK, but I give you a more than adequate substitute to use!  Fabulously tasty! 

GRANDMOTHER'S STRAWBERRY PIE - You will have to heat up the oven for this, but trust me when I say this fabulously delicious pie is worth every bit of extra heat!  Deliciously old fashioned.  Serve warm with scoops of cold vanilla ice cream on top for the perfect early summer dessert!

BLACKBERRY & LEMON ETON MESS -  A riff on the traditional raspberry version with layers of lemon curd, yogurt cream, a fresh blackberry sauce and broken meringues. Easy and delicious.

LEMON SANDWICHES WITH BLUEBERRIES & CREAM - Thick slices of a moist and delicious lemon cake are topped with a rich yogurt cream and a sweet fresh blueberry sauce. Its very similar to a strawberry shortcake in a way I suppose. 

Except this isn't made with baking powder biscuits.  Its made with lemon cake.  A moist and delicious lemon cake.  A very yummy cake.

MACEDONIAN FRUIT SALAD - This is a fabulous recipe that really goes together quickly and that your family will love. You can serve this either for breakfast spooned over some yogurt or cereal, or even pancakes.  Or on it's own with a dollop of yogurt on top or a muffin on the side. Light and refreshing. Healthy even!

REFRIGERATOR FUDGE CAKE - A rich vanilla cake, with pockets of rich chocolate pudding, topped with whipped cream. All from scratch and a real favorite family dessert.  You can make it even less fussy if you use a boxed cake mix and a pudding mix.  Either way its fabulously tasty!

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.