Anne Cortz

I gave away little boxes full of afternoon tea goodies to the mother figures near me. Below is the recipe for my favorite part of this box, the scones. I made two variations, plain cream scones and and cream scones with currants. This recipe is adapted from the Baking and Pastry cook by The Culinary Institute of America.

Cream Scones, plain and with currants

Makes around 15 baby scones, or roughly 580g total

Ingredients

• 250g pastry/cake flour
• 4g salt
• 10g baking powder
• 30g sugar
• 115g butter, cubes, cold
• 40g egg
• 140g cream
• (optional) 60g dried currants and a cup of black tea

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. If making currant scones as well as plain, pour hot black tea over currants until covered. Set aside. If only making plain scones, then no need to prepare currants.
3. Sift your dry ingredients together: flour, salt, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl or a working surface.
4. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk  your egg and mix with the cream.
5. Work in your cubed cold butter into the flour mixture by blitzing for a few bursts in a food processor, by using a pastry cutter/pastry blender, or rubbing the butter into the flour with your hands. Work until your butter pieces are pea-sized.
6. Add the egg-cream mixture and combine until you get a shaggy dough. Do not overwork. Optional, split the dough in half. Mix in drained currants on one half, while the other half remains plain.
7. Line a tray with baking paper. Press the dough ball onto the tray until roughly 3/4-inch thick. Cover with another sheet of baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
8. Usual recipes would ask for an egg wash brushed on top of the scones before baking. I skipped this part since I didn’t want to use another egg for such a small recipe.
9. After chilling the dough, you may cut it with a knife into triangles (like pizza slices) or with a ring cutter. I decided to make baby scones, cutting with a 2.5-inch diameter round cutter.
10. Space out on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Check out my Youtube video below for a little peak of the afternoon tea boxes I made and gave away on Mother’s Day.

This is the first Mother’s Day since my mom died. I would usually bake or cook something special for Mother’s Day, and it didn’t feel to stop doing it. I feel the need, maybe more than ever, to express my love and appreciation for her.

If she were here, I would treat her to a fancy high tea, where everything is made from scratch, and where I’d show off the things I learned in pastry school. Maybe one day, I can make it for her.

For now, I hope to express my love to all the other mother figures in my life. There are many of them, and most of them, at least one ocean away.

For those near me, I hope they like the little afternoon tea boxes I made for them. They may not be the best, but they were made with love.