Classic Scone Recipe with 3 Variations
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Sometimes, there’s nothing better than a classic sweet scone to accompany your afternoon tea, but every now and then, it’s fun to experiment with new flavours. This fluffy, foolproof scone recipe serves as the perfect base for three delicious twists that go beyond the traditional.
Sugared Earl Grey & Lemon Scones
Strawberry & Black Pepper Scones
Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients
Master Scone recipe
- 350g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 90g unsalted butter, cubed
- 40g caster sugar
- 175ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 1 beaten egg, to glaze
- Rodda’s Clotted Cream, to Serve
-
Tiptree East Anglian Strawberry Conserve, to serve
- You will need a 5cm/2” round cutter
VARIATIONS
Earl Grey and Lemon Scones, Additional Ingredients
- 3 Earl Grey Teabags (pyramid types are better)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp pearl sugar or Demerara sugar
-
Tiptree Lemon Curd, to serve
Strawberry and Black Pepper Scones, Additional Ingredients
- ½ tsp finely ground black pepper
- 90g dried strawberries, cut or snipped into quarters.
- 2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry pieces
-
1 jar Tiptree East Anglian Strawberry Conserve, to serve
- Sliced Strawberries, to serve
Chocolate Chip Scones, Additional Ingredients
- 100g small chocolate chips
-
1 jar Tiptree Chocolate Spread, to serve
Directions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C Fan / gas mark 7
- Cover 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Add milk to a measuring jug and add vanilla extract and lemon juice or vinegar. Set aside, it will look curdled in a few minutes.
- Add flour and baking powder to a large bowl. Mix well.
- Add butter and rub into the flour with fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the sugar and mix.
- Add the milk bit by bit and using a fork or blunt knife stir the milk into the flour to get a soft sticky dough. If the dough seems a bit dry add a splash more milk.
- Then tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. 2 or 3 dough folds should be enough. Don’t overwork the dough.
- Pat to an even round about 3-4cm thick.
- Dip the cutter into some flour, then cut as many rounds as possible. Don’t twist the cutter, just push down and lift straight up.
- Gather the remaining dough back into another round and cut out more scones.
- Place scones on the baking trays and brush the top with beaten egg. Try not to get any egg down the sides.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until pale golden brown and well risen.
- Eat whilst still slightly warm with Tiptree East Anglian Strawberry Conserve and Rodda’s Clotted Cream.
Earl Grey and Lemon Scones, Additional Method
- Warm the milk from the basic scone recipe (175ml) in a small saucepan until steaming.
- Add 2 Earl Grey teabags, turn the heat off and leave to steep for 30 minutes until cool. Use this infused milk in the main recipe as directed.
- Add the lemon zest to the flour and baking powder mixture.
- Open up one Earl Grey teabag and add the contents to the flour mixture.
- After egg washing the scones, sprinkle with pearl sugar before baking.
- Serve with Tiptree Lemon Curd and Rodda’s Clotted Cream
Strawberry and Black Pepper Scones, Additional Method
- Add the black pepper to the flour and baking powder mixture.
- Once the butter and flour have been rubbed together mix both types of strawberries into the dough after adding the milk.
- Serve with Tiptree East Anglian Strawberry Conserve, sliced strawberries sprinkled with a little extra black pepper and Rodda’s Clotted Cream.
Chocolate Chip Scones, Additional Method
- Mix the chocolate chips into the dough just before kneading.
- Serve with Tiptree Chocolate Spread and Rodda’s clotted cream.
- Once cool you can freeze all of these scones. Defrost at room temperature then reheat in a hot oven for 5 minutes.
