Scones and Earl Grey tea – is there anything more British?
I’ve not lived in my home country for over 10 years, but some afternoons I still yearn for a scone, loaded with jam, and a hot cup of tea. The thing is, most British scones can be a bit…bland. Dry, crumbly, and used as merely a vessel for jam and cream (or cream and jam – your choice), the most exciting they get is when dried fruit is added. That’s why a flavoured scone recipe usually catches my attention. Why not turn up the flavour in these nostalgic bakes?
This week I made Nicola Lamb’s Earl Grey scones, a recipe from her fantastic book Sift. Having been a fan of Nicola and her Kitchen Projects newsletter for a long time (where I found the recipe for this spring onion babka), I know I can trust any of her recipes to taste amazing. I was curious about this one as, although I have used tea in bakes before, I’ve never tried (*confession alert*) Earl Grey. Luckily, it’s fragrant yet subtle and has some wonderful citrus notes from the bergamot oil – I was a fan.
The recipe is a simple one, and if you’ve made scones before, it follows a similar pattern. The only thing that surprised me was the addition of crème fraîche as the liquid instead of the traditional milk, cream, or buttermilk. Mixing in was a little awkward but made a huge difference in the hydration of the scone mix. These were definitely not the dry, crumbly scones I was used to.
This recipe was a total surprise. The Earl Grey was a fantastic flavour for the scone: light and fragrant, yet not overpowering. The crème fraîche addition however was the true star of the show as these were the softest, lightest scones I’ve ever tasted – delicate, but not crumbly. They were heavenly once paired with some raspberry and rhubarb jam, and turned a grey Winter afternoon right around. I will absolutely be making these again!
