Scones with Clotted Cream & Raspberry Jam

Birthday-Party Scones - make your day a treat

Scones with Clotted Cream and Raspberry Jam

Yes, very simple. But sometimes simple is what fits the bill.

We had a birthday party at the Seniors Lunch Club this week – mine, and a shared party with the memory of our dear Ruth who died in the Autumn just gone. Last year on the audio conference phone call we had a real shared party for us both. We remembered Birthday Parties we’d had in the past. Ruth herself remembered the Ball she had for her 21st. She grew up in South Africa so her birthday was the middle of winter, being the end of May. She said she drank a glass of fizzy wine, which she’d never tasted before (this must have been in the middle 1940s) and got a little tipsy. Other members had also had memorable 21st parties – one lady was taken to see Tommy Steele at the Palace Theatre in Manchester for her celebration.

So, this week, we remembered Ruth:  her humour, her love of Africa, her directness, her involvement with everything around her. She was loving and bossy and funny, and we miss her. But we remembered her with love and laughter and we had a simple friendly party for my birthday –  sandwiches, sausage rolls, cheesy things on sticks and these scones with jam and cream.

They are easy to make, but need to be eaten fresh. The only trick with scones is to avoid kneading the dough, it’s very delicate and you don't want it to turn bread-like. So keep light hands, handle the dough as quickly as possible and cook the scones in a hot oven on a pre-heated baking tray.

There are many variations of scones, you can add dried fruit, or make cheese scones. If I am doing the cream/jam route, I prefer them plain, but please yourself.
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Makes 18 small scones                  Timings:  30 minutes

450g self raising flour
30g caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
100g softened butter
2 eggs
150ml milk

Raspberry jam (or strawberry if you prefer which is more traditional)
​Clotted cream (or whipped cream)

Pre heat your oven to 230°C, and put a flat baking sheet in to warm up.

Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl of your mixer, add the sugar. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips or the pastry paddle of your mixer.

Add the egg and milk and mix with a fork to a soft dough. Knead very gently and quickly just to bring the dough together.

Roll out on your work surface to about 2cm thick and cut rounds using a fluted cutter. I quite like the smaller scones but make them any size you like.

Brush the tops with milk, then get them onto the hot baking tray and back into the oven.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes – watch them as they rise. Remove when very lightly browned on top and cook on a wire rack.

When cool, split open the scones. I like butter first, then jam (homemade raspberry jam is incomparable, and I will put my recipe on the blog at the appropriate jam-making season) and then clotted cream.