I have had a terrible time with scones this month. In theory, they are an easy treat to whip up. I had intended them to be my very first vegan English baking post. As you may have guessed, things didn't go quite according to plan.
The first batch I made used half spelt flour and half wholemeal flour. In the process of dividing the flour quantities in two, I managed to halve my baking powder quantity by mistake. The scones rose poorly, not helped by my decision to use frozen cherries in that batch. They were more like biscuits than scones.
This is not how scones should look
In my second batch, I used the right amount of baking powder but still ended up with flatter than optimal scones. I wasn't sure what had gone wrong. Eventually I wondered if my baking powder wasn't working as it should, as I was down to the last dregs in my container.
Better, but still not great
For my third batch, I decided to play things safe and use self-raising flour as well as baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). I have always associated baking
powder with scone recipes (which is baking soda plus cream of tartar), but
this article touches on the possible variations in rising agents, and the possible successes and failures you can achieve with scones if you tweak what you use. Self-raising flour and baking soda both seem to be acceptable alternatives as rising agents.
I am pleased to say that the third batch worked. I have also bought new baking powder and hope to avoid flat baking results from now on!
And finally - risen scones (thank goodness)
Cherry scones are something I have only ever seen in the north of England. I first came across them in 2003, when I was travelling England on my own. I remember browsing the food hall of
Fenwick's department store in Newcastle Upon Tyne and seeing cherry scones alongside the other varieties. After seeing them there, they were suddenly everywhere - in the Newcastle Marks & Spencer's food hall, and in other supermarkets in the area.
On our most recent trip, I was thrilled to see cherry scones when we reached Durham. For those not familiar with northern England, Durham is about 1 hour south of Newcastle Upon Tyne, and Newcastle is about 2.5 hours south of Edinburgh. I am sure cherry scones must exist in the south of England, but I have never seen them there.
Top and centre - cherry scones
We didn't buy any cherry scones on this trip, but my previous experiences have all been positive. Whilst I don't usually like glace cherries, they work quite well in scone form as their sweetness is offset by the plainer scone surrounding them. I like other varieties of fruit scone too, but cherry is particularly pleasing to me.
Johanna has touched on the history of scones previously (and indeed, has an
amazing array of scone recipes on her blog), so I won't repeat her points here. As she noted, scones originated in Scotland rather than England, despite the south of England providing the names for Devonshire tea and Cornish clotted tea. Johanna has also
outlined that Australian and English scones may be more aligned with biscuits or shortcake in the States. Angharad at
Eating for England has posted on this too. It's a confusing business, for something that is a simple flour / butter / milk product!
I was hoping to find some history specific to cherry scones, but wasn't able to find anything particularly compelling. I was interested to see
this post refer to cherry scones (or '
Sgoniau Ceirios') as a Welsh product. I suppose there are many varieties of fruit scones and cherry scones have no doubt evolved in multiple places.
Across my three batches of cherry scones, I tried a number of cherry options. The first batch used frozen cherries. This worked well but does make for a heavier scone (especially, of course, if you omit half the baking powder). My second batch used both dried cherries and glace cherries. I think I liked this mix best. I would have done the same for my third batch, but had used the dried cherries up, so used currants and glace cherries instead. You could use glace cherries only, but I would recommend a combination of dried tart cherries and glace cherries if you have access to both.
Cherry scones
This quantity makes 6 - 8 scones; double ingredients for a larger batch
Vegan
Ingredients
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond)
1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
Pinch of salt
35 - 40g non-dairy spread (I used nuttelex)
Scant 1/4 cup glace cherries, chopped in half
Scant 1/4 cup dried cherries
Method
Preheat your oven to 220'C and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Place the 1 tbsp vinegar in the bottom of a 1/2 measuring cup and top up with the non-dairy milk. Set aside to curdle.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Rub in the non-dairy spread with your fingers, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the glace cherries and dried cherries and the vinegar-milk mix. Stir to combine and knead to form a soft dough.
Roll the dough out lightly on a floured surface, to ~2cm thickness. Cut out rounds using the top of a glass dipped in flour or a cookie cutter, and place on the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
Have you ever tried cherry scones? Or do you have your own favourite scone variety?
