This is a new occasional column devoted to the humble scone, and most importantly, where to find the really good ones.
It is extremely disappointing to find the sort of teashop or café that looks as if it would do a fantastic scone, only to be served a day-old scone, or even worse, a shop-bought one masquerading as home-made. You know what I’m saying.
So, purely in the interests of the scone-loving community, I have decided search out the very best scones and post their details here. I shall of course make it my duty to sample scones further afield from Edinburgh when circumstances permit. And please, if you have experienced scone nirvana recently, share the good news in the comments box below!
What criteria will I be judging scones by? Well, we all have our favourite types but I look for a crisp crust, a fluffy inside, not too sweet, plenty of raisins, and freshly made, ie. that day. In a perfect world, it would be still warm from the oven. I’m not that keen on cream on my scones – sacrilege to some but I’d rather have butter and raspberry jam. Posh raspberry jam. With seeds too.
Yesterday I sampled the scones at the Scottish Parliament Café and most of my stringent criteria were fulfilled. Freshly made every day? Yes. Light, crispy? Yes. And warm too! Plain and fruit scones were available and a cream tea version if you like The Works. Ideally, I’d add a few more raisins to their fruit scone and have raspberry jam on offer as well as the blackcurrant and strawberry. On the subject of jam, I’d ideally swap the individual plastic containers for a wee jar or dish but then, I am fairly fussy about these things. (Or, as Mr Enemy would say, most things).
So, Scottish Parliament Café– definitely recommended. Enric Miralles’ cool architecture and a lovely design exhibition on at the moment. In the photo above there is a card in front of the lovely (large) scone, bearing the word ‘crèche’. If you have children under six, you might just want to check this out…
A quick note on making scones at home – I could tell you my own recipe but then I’d have to kill you and frankly, I’m loathe to kill anyone who reads my blog, and particularly anyone who has made it this far through a post.
However, I was very very happy to have found this wonderful article by Felicity Cloake in The Guardian. Her favourite scone recipe is quite different from mine (lard? Who would have thunk it?) but there’s a veritable wealth of scone information here.
Come across any Really Good Scones recently? Please let us know where!
Scones – lovely. I’m almost inspired to find a recipe, but I’m sure the feeling will pass.
I’ve just found your lovely blog via the Aye Write programme.
Hi Ellen, thanks for your comment – scones are there to be given in to
and thanks for letting my know how you got here – it’s always heartening to find that someone’s found their way here!
Only this morning I enjoyed a very lovely scone, shared with my 3 year old daughter which meant that I had most of it, at the newly refurbished Gorgie City Farm Cafe (which now also has a sofa!). Can’t quite manage such a detailed scone review, but it was very nice.
I’m so sorry for this late response – I just found your comment just now, Ros! Now, Gorgie City Farm Cafe *refurb*… this is extremely exciting news… last time I went the cafe was fine if a bit basic and I don’t remember any seriously good scones. I feel a trip out Gorgie way coming on in the not-too-distant future… Thanks for spreading the happy scone news!
Hey Cat,
Thought I’d say hello! Scones are very serious business and I think you are doing us all a favour by undertaking the difficult task of trying scones and reporting back to us!
My own preference for scones runs away from the raisins and towards the chocolate chip (I know, I know, heresy… but commonly done in the US).
Locally I’ve found Mimi’s Bake House to make wonderful scones. Plain and fruit, warm, fresh, fluffy and crisp on the outside. Oh, and the homemade raspberry jam (with seeds!) is tremendous.
Chocolate chip… that IS heretical but I should probably try one, so I can offer a balanced opinion and all
And Mimi’s Bake House – thank you for the recommendation. I didn’t even know that this fine establishment existed – it sounds well worth a visit. Thanks for stopping by, Micah!
At last some serious scone research! People are writing recipes, cooking scones, eating them, dropping crumbs all over the place and getting butter stuck in their beards, but with no concern for the geopolitical implications. Let’s talk environment, sustainability, carbon footprints and how Gorgeous George won Bradford West. Scone Palace is the home of the celebrated scone of stone (genus: rock-bunus). Here global standards are set for scone-production (optimum number of raisins and amount of stone, munchability, crunchability, size criteria, texture and permitted use of fine gravel). Also of interest to your readers is the recent EU food labeling initiative. Paragraph 123 (f) AB/lkp provides the key concept: a scone is a scone is a scone. So no more talk of chocolate chips, which are dealt with separately at the EU website muffins-are-us.com. Finally could you also advise on pronunciation please: does scone rhyme with moan, shone or moon? And please explain how to proceed when trying to swallow a very dry scone, as I did recently, with some difficulty, in North Queensferry.
Ah, a true scone appreciator… and, Mr. Kerr-Mudgeon, you raise some interesting points:
1. Pronunciation: ‘scone’ *definitely* rhymes with ‘shone’. ‘Moan’ scoanes are not acceptable, ‘Moon’ scoons an interesting linguistic abberation.
2. Swallowing a dry scone – ah, you have my sympathy. I am extremely sorry to hear that you have experienced this. May i recommend a strategic sip of tea taken with mouthful of said dry scone?
3. Thank you for raising the geopolitical implications of scone eating, this has raised the debate to a whole different level.
4. Likewise the EU food labelling initiative – thank goodness for the clarity the EU brings to us.
Thank you for raising the bar on this important subject!
I was directed here by Alison of Journeys to Scotland and I can see why she sent me – you and I share a passion for the perfect scone. I, too, have read the Guardian article and have changed my scone making method as a result. I must say that my scones are now consistently better than they used to be and I’m most grateful to Felicity for her scone work. I published a book last month about tearooms in Perthshire, Angus and Dundee, several of which serve excellent scones. Like you, I am constantly on the hunt for great scones, it is a most worthy and noble pursuit!