Scones – a lovely tea time snack! I used to go for high tea many years ago, just to taste scones, as this is one of my favourites. Afternoon tea conjures many happy memories for me. Whenever I go to London, it has become a ritual to have afternoon tea with my daughter. Another beautiful surprise was when my elder daughter made cream cookies with apple confit, each as big as 3 inches in diameter, which she served to the rest of my family in our garden. Sweet memories – I loved the effort she put in as she was quite young then.

Recently, I visited a Welsh friend who had made the effort to put on a beautiful spread of goodies at her home for afternoon tea. I was fascinated by the cakes, and her scones (complete with Devonshire cream and jam) were lovely – just the type that I like.

During one of my earlier visits to the UK many years ago, the best scones I tasted was at Harrod’s (not anymore!). The last afternoon tea was at the Balmoral Edinburgh (touted as the best in Scotland). Afternoon tea at the bigger hotels is a ritual in itself and you get a pianist or a harp musician entertaining you with music. And the best part – you also get a personal butler!

I made many kinds of scones for my children while they were growing up as they also love afternoon tea, even though they were not allowed to drink tea when they were young.

Afternoon tea is a ritual still practised in my home, with a different assortment of cakes, both local and international. But I always want to do something fast and easy! This cream scone fits the bill exactly.

This recipe was born out of necessity to finish up a carton of whipping cream that I had used for another recipe. I didn’t have the heart to throw it away, so I experimented using the cream to make this simple scone. And I used only 3 ingredients to make wonderful tasting scones! I was very surprised that it turned out so well, crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. In fact I had 8 scones from this recipe, but I think I ate half of it myself (greedy me)!

I always share my bakes with my friends, but these scones – so sorry my friends – didn’t have enough to share! So this recipe is for you – it’s so easy and quick to prepare, bake and enjoy – all done in less than 30 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups self raising flour

1 cup cream *

¼ tsp salt

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 190C.

Sift flour into a bowl, add salt. Whisk slightly.

Add cream and using a fork – mix to form a dough. I suggest to use about ½ cup of cream first and slowly pour the rest in until you get the desired consistency.

Place the dough on a slightly floured board and pat it down until it’s about 1 inch thick.

Using a pastry cutter or a knife, cut into 2 ½ inch squares.

Place in a baking tray, brush the tops with more cream and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve warm with a good berry jam and ricotta cheese.

Notes:

You can use plain flour and 2 tsp of baking powder instead of self raising flour.

For the cream – you can use any type of cream, heavy, double or whipping.

I served the scones with jam and ricotta cheese – you can use clotted cream or any other soft cheese.

Don’t work on the dough for too long – you just need to form the dough simply and cut it into any shape that you like. I formed a square freehand.