When I was a kid, there was only one kind of scone we ever ate as a family. The traditional British scone: small, round, golden, sometimes studded with fruit and often with a fluted edge. Made to be split apart and eaten with butter and jam, preferably while still warm from the oven. We never had clotted cream; my elders and betters would have viewed that as far too extravagant!
Fast foward some years and the the large American coffee giants have introduced us Brits to a whole host of delicious new treats to accompany our tea and coffee. We’ve met the Whoopie Pie, the Cupcake, the Snickerdoodle .. and of course who even remembers that thirty years ago, there was no such thing as a chocolate muffin on this side of the pond! However, I think my favourite American addition to our coffee culture is the new variety of wonderfully decadent scones that are now available. It all started for me with a Starbucks Very Berry Scone and now I am obsessed with making what I think of as American-style ‘cake’ scones: large triangular wedges of dough with all kinds of chocolate, fruit and nuts baked into them.
So I took my favourite fruit and chocolate pairing of all time – raspberry and white chocolate – and baked them up last weekend into this scone. Butter, jam or cream is unnecessary on these babies. Just crumble them up in your fingers, warm and fresh if possible, alongside a cup of tea or mug of coffee and you will be very, very happy for the foreseeable …
Raspberry White Chocolate Scones
250g plain flour
28g granulated or caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g butter, cut into small pieces
170g or roughly 1 punnet of raspberries (fresh or frozen)
100g white choc, chopped
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
80ml double cream cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender (or your hands) until mixture resembles coarse sand. Fold in the white chocolate & set aside.
In a small bowl, beat together egg, vanilla, and heavy cream. Pour over the scone batter and lightly mix until the dough comes together. The dough will be sticky. Slowly mix in the rasps, being very gentle or they will break apart.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface, form a circle, and flatten it until it is about 1-inch thick. Using a sharp knife dipped in flour, cut 8 equal wedges. Transfer scones to a baking sheet using a flat spatula dipped in flour and sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little granulated sugar if you like. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Susan Orr Photography 