Buttermilk Scones

An ode to British teatime.

Years ago when my dad would take trips to London, he would always return home with a suitcase full of everything we imagined England to be. It would be late in the evening when he arrived back from the airport. The sun had already set, and behind our shut blinds, the windows would fog with steam from mom’s chicken pho simmering in the kitchen. My sister and I would sit impatiently at the dining room table waiting for the doorbell to ring.

He’d unzip his suitcase to a world of wine gums and humbugs, harrods tea, trinkets from the tourist shop that donned the Union Jack, and always, without fail, cookbooks. The cookbooks were of course my favourite part. We’d spread everything out on the table, a feast of souvenirs. A bag of Maynard’s wine gums would be ripped open and I’d would reach for a waxy yellow oval that would get stuck between my molars. On one of these happy occasions, my dad brought home a cookbook from Peyton and Byrne called British Baking. The book’s cover was soft lavender with a white, lace doily etched into its centre; to me, this is exactly what I had imagined teatime in England might look like.

I’ve been baking scones using this recipe since 14 years old. Since then, I’ve made a few changes to the method and have slightly altered the ingredients. It’s best to make this if you have a scale, but I’ve also written down cup measurements I’ve used in the past that have seemed to yield the same results! These scones are incredibly airy, not too sweet, and are very easy to whip up on a whim.

ingredients (for 6-8 scones)

• 240 g of self raising flour (1 & 1/2 cup)

• 2 tsp of baking powder

• 40 g of berry sugar (caster) (3 tbsp + 1 tsp)

• pinch of salt

• 60 g of chilled, unsalted butter (1/4 cup)

• 175 ml of buttermilk

• 60 g of blueberries (raisins or other fruit of your choice) (1/4 cup + a handful extra)

• egg + a splash of milk for brushing (I prefer the to have lighter tops, but if you’re looking for a brighter yellow, a single egg yolk will do)

instructions:

Preheat oven 350 F°

Line a tray with baking paper

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

Cut your chilled butter into cubes and add a few at a time into your flour mixture. Work the butter into the flour with a back of a fork or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles a coarse meal (think small peas.)

Add buttermilk, give everything a single light stir, and then gently fold in your blueberries. I find that adding your blueberries while incorporating the buttermilk ensures that you won’t overmix! *(In the past, I’ve added buttermilk, mixed, and then added + folded in the blueberries and found that the scones ended up being denser and didn’t keep for as long.)

At this point, your dough will feel very sticky. Dust your hands with some flour and bring dough into a ball and let rest for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle surface with flour and roll out your dough until it’s about an inch thick.

From here, you can cut your scones into triangles or into more traditional rounds with a pastry cutter.

Let it rest in the fridge while you clean up your kitchen (5 minutes) - this step is optional but they rise beautifully thanks to some extra chilling time.

Place the scones on your baking tray and brush the tops with your egg wash.

Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven- you want to look for a golden crust and lightly browned bottom.

Let them cool completely on the tray, or like me, wait no longer than five minutes before scarfing a couple down.