Scones with Strawberry Jam and Cream

A very English custom that surely needs no introduction is 4 o'clock tea.

A classic at all times but especially in the summer outside in the garden under a shady tree is freshly-made scones still warm from the oven served with strawberry jam and whipped cream, a pot of tea on a tray.

This is called a cream tea and one of England's most enduring icons that you dream about especially if you live abroad like both me and my sister.

When our children were still small, we used to spend the summers in England visiting our parents. Our Dad would rent a picturesque old farmhouse usually in Devon or Dorset– the kitchen would inevitably be equipped with an old aga that my mother and I would have fun with – and we would visit castles, walk on clifftops, go to the beach and play beach cricket, go paddling in the rock pools AND pretty often have a cream tea at a rustic table under a spreading oak probably after visiting a National Trust home! Oh what lovely family holidays they were.

teatime with scones

?  In Devon the cream is often what they call clotted: thick, yellow and buttery. In Turkey the choice of cream is limited. The little packets of Pinar or Tikveşli are all right and whip up quite nicely but they are never as good as the real thing. There is kaymak which is thick and tasty but it’s buffalo cream and doesn’t seem quite right with something like scones!

beating the cream

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?This is a very good recipe that came from a little supplement that BBC Good Food Magazine sometimes includes with its main magazine. This is one is called Best of British and appears in the Best Bakes section. Scones are great, easy and quick to make, but  they must be eaten the day they are made.

 Here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Scones

Makes 12

350g/12oz self-raising flour(OR plain flour + 3 tsp Baking Powder)

100g/4oz golden caster sugar (it doesn’t exist here so just use plain granulated sugar)

85g/3oz butter, cut into small pieces

About 175ml/6fl oz buttermilk or natural low-fat yogurt (I of course used yogurt)

Whipped cream and *strawberry jam, to serve

Method

·         Preheat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

·         Mix together the flour and sugar in a bowl.  Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.

·         Make a well in the centre and tip the yogurt in all in one go, then mix lightly to form a soft dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Press the dough out to a 2.5cm thickness, then stamp out 5cm rounds with a cutter. Gather up the trimmings, knead again briefly and stamp out more rounds.

mixing to breadcrumb texture; adding in the yogurt; the final soft dough

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·         Place scones on a baking sheet, a little apart, and bake for 12-15 mins until risen and light golden. Cool on a wire rack.

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cooling

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·         Serve with whipped cream and strawberry jam.  I spread the jam and then piled on the cream in the kitchen prior to placing on the serving plate. But you can equally well serve the cream and jam separately and let everyone help themselves.

Tips

*A word about Turkish jams:

As you would expect, they are delicious but be aware that they come in 2 varieties: reçel or marmelat.

this is strawberry marmelat

Unlike for us where marmelade is only made with citrus fruits , Turkish marmelat refers to the consistency and can be made from any fruit at all! It is thick and therefore what I prefer.

Reçel is also made from any fruit but is runny with largish bits of the fruit in it. Very runny! And very yummy. Just different.

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why don't you try them tomorrow?

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