Fruit Scones!
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Delicious, light, and buttery fruit scones that are perfect for afternoon tea – Serve with jam & clotted cream for a classic treat!
Tea and scones
I love afternoon tea, and I LOVE scones. I have always been slightly obsessed with them, especially when I go down to Cornwall on holiday as they just seem to be that much better.
You guys also seem to love a scone just as much as I do! For example, my lemon and blueberry scones, cheese scones, and my white chocolate and cranberry scones. They alway manage to get such a better reception than I anticipate and it surprises me every time!
Variations of a classic
My classic buttery scones have always been a popular recipe to go to, especially on weekends such as Father’s day and Mother’s day, and I have wanted to post another delicious recipe in a while. I did also post my white chocolate & cranberry scones which proved to be popular as they were ‘different’.
I have wanted to post my alternative to my classic buttery scones for a while as I have made them countless times, but they’re always gone before the photos could be taken
With this recipe, a couple of little things changed. I obviously added in the sultanas to make them fruit scones! I increased the milk just slightly, and the same with the butter, and it makes the perfect difference because of the addition of the fruit.
The risk of adding dried fruit is that it can dry out, but the extra little touch of butter & milk has prevented that. Admittedly, my scones never look perfect, but why should they? It proves they’re homemade
The perfect texture
For me, the perfect fruit scone is light, buttery, and just slightly crumbly when you break it open. It should feel soft in the centre without being doughy, and golden on the outside without being hard. That balance is everything.
The key is not to overwork the dough. Folding it gently and handling it as little as possible keeps the texture fluffy rather than tough. The more you knead, the denser they’ll become, and nobody wants a heavy scone.
Admittedly, my scones never look perfectly uniform. Some rise more than others, some lean slightly to one side, and I actually love that. It proves they’re homemade and baked with care rather than churned out in a factory.
Jam & clotted cream
I always always always serve my scones with clotted cream. Then, I either add in fresh strawberries for example, or jam, but clotted cream is a MUST. I use Rodda’s clotted cream because it’s just perfection, and suits a fresh scone ideally.
I tend to lean towards strawberry jam, but any flavour will work! Whether you put jam then cream, or cream then jam is the million dollar question… but hey! I do one of each to keep both sides of the battle happy! These are such a classic recipe, yet so easy and fun to bake for all the family.
Tips & tricks
- You could easily make this mix and use a smaller cutter so that the scones are more delicate which I often do. I then usually get 12 out of the mix then
- I use this scone cutter
- They do last in an airtight container for 2-3 days. I also freeze them for up to 3 months!
- You can use plain flour, and use 2tsps baking powder instead
- You can swap the milk and lemon juice for buttermilk. Skip the heating stage and just add it to the dough.
Fruit Scones
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter (cold/cubed) (not baking spread)
- 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 350 g self raising flour (plus extra for dusting)
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 185 ml whole milk (warm)
- 125 g sultanas
- 1 medium egg (beaten, to glaze)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 220ºc/200ºc fan/430F and place a lined baking tray in the oven to preheat.
- In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar mixture until breadcrumbs are formed.
- Alternatively, tip the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until it resembles bread crumbs
- Add the lemon juice to the dry mixture with the vanilla
- Slowly add the warm milk. Mix in while you add in the liquid as you may not need all of it - you can do this with a spatula, or still in the food processor
- Fold/knead through the sultanas until even
- Dust the work surface with some flour and tip the dough onto it - fold the dough over a few times so it is smooth but do not over work it
- Flatten the dough out until it is about 5cm thick
- Dip a 5cm round cutter into the spare flour and cut out the scones
- Flatten out the dough again and cut the rest out until the dough is all used up - trying not to over work the dough
- Add the scones to the tray and brush the tops with the beaten egg so it's glazed.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Leave to cool slightly when baked, and enjoy!
Notes
- You could easily make this mix and use a smaller cutter so that the scones are more delicate which I often do. I then usually get 12 out of the mix then
- I use this scone cutter
- They do last in an airtight container for 2-3 days. I also freeze them for up to 3 months.
- You can use plain flour, and use 2tsps baking powder instead
- You can swap the milk and lemon juice for buttermilk. Skip the heating stage and just add it to the dough.
Every one I loves these that have eaten them thank you Jane fir sharing
Just banged these together double mixture at 9:30 at night, my Son commented on my mad random tangent. Bought clotted cream no scones. Wowzer just took these out the oven OMG they look super amazing. Worst bit is I have too hover anxiously until they are just cool enough not to burn my mouth. Big thanks for your awesome recipe. X
Hi Jane.
Do you use cold or room temperature butter please?
Cold!