There is little in the world which can trump the creativity, colour and warm intentions of a sumptuous afternoon tea.
Heaven scent: spiced golden scones with lashings of butter and jam.
Whether taken with friends or alone, its singular tenor – a moment of banqueting in an otherwise unremarkable day – enervates the weariest of minds, and comforts the most forlorn of hearts with delicate, somewhat feminine blessings which have remained fashionable ever since its inception, and which I hope will remain so forever.
Even the amber oozings of grapes and the nectar of summer’s best peaches surrender to the charm of an afternoon tea, offered as it always is, with affection and grace by the host in what is perhaps the most famous of British traditions. Started by Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, in 1840, as a polite extension of noon-day entertaining and designed to bridge the long gap between lunch and her fashionably late dinners at 8pm, afternoon tea was soon to become all the rage and has since settled into comfortable popularity around the global.
A Scandi tea on glassware: smoked salmon on rye with lemon cream, pickled cucumber, rose-geranium
tea, and berry compote with cream.
Presented on botanical bone china amidst vases of blousy flowers, and offering sandwiches, scones and pretty fancies on tiered trays, this multi-layered repast is a veritable feast for the eye, and is the perfect occasion for presenting frivolities, encouraging its maker to play with ideas that will surprise and delight the guests.
Indeed I have rarely attended one which didn’t achieve this, and many of them have become singular memories in my personal history, etched there along with Constable’s ‘Haywain’, and Monet’s ‘Waterlilies’. The latter is a testament to where I now live – Cognac country – and still serve it, but this time greedy anglophiles are among my guests.
Despite the predictability of its main ingredients, it is the flavours achieved and presentation which draw gasps and create luxuriant moments in a human life: I have experienced as much pleasure from an afternoon pot of hot rose chai with bacon, tomato and pink peppercorn muffins, as I have from spiced chocolate with brandy cream dolloped on kirsch cherry jam resting in majestic domes on hot clove-scented scones.
Rustic tea by the fire: rose chai with bacon, tomato and chilli muffins dotted with pink peppercorns.
In France, where a suitable animalistic alternative to clotted cream must be found, I recently served strawberry jam and crème D’Isigny on warm spiced scones to our neighbours, who fell in love with the combination, indulging in multiple helpings, and surprising us by devouring lemon curd tartlets after that. If luxurious Breton Crème D'Isigny is not available, a Crème fFraîche Epaisse with 30% fat is a good alternative and has a lovely colour too.
It is the recipe for these sensational scones which I present today, along with some culinary notes about the many variations of an afternoon tea which you could create. Do not be afraid to experiment with the timing, the drinks served, and the combination of savoury and sweet flavours presented.
Above all I encourage you to layer your flavours – check the notes at the foot of this recipe –by scenting your pastries and sandwich fillings to intensify the eating of them. Providing unexpected revelations, this is a reliable way of surprising your guests and creating a talking point. Let your imagination reign and be bold, I say.
Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 20mins max.
Ingredients
500gr of flour
2 tsps of baking powder
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
250g of cubed or grated butter
100 gr sugar
1 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
300ml of kefir or buttermilk
Flour for dusting the work surface
Milk for brushing the scones
Method
1-Pre-heat the oven to 200C, and while it is warming up, measure the ingredients and put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, and stir then with a spoon to mix them up.
2-Add the butter and rub it in.
3-Add the wet ingredients and stir the mixture with the back of a wooden spoon until it just comes together. Then use your hands to form a soft, sticky ball. Do not overwork the mixture or the scones will become tough.
4-Flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Dust your hands with flour and use them to gentle flatten the dough to a circle that is 4cm thick, dust it with flour and cut out 12-13 scones using a cookie cutter or the rim of a coffee mug or glass which you have dipped in flour.
5-Place the scones on a silicone baking sheet with 2cm space around each one, and brush the tops with milk.
6-Bake at 200C for between 5 and 15 mins or until the scones have risen and are golden brown. Then place them on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
1-I used white flour for this and found that the addition of the spices turned the dough golden brown. Speaking personally, I really like this because it is a very pretty colour, but you may not, so to get the same flavour without the colour change,. try using baking essences instead. 2-You can use kefir, home-made buttermilk or plain milk for the dough. To make home-made buttermilk add 1tsp of lemon juice to milk and stir. As this is runnier than kefir, use less of it than the kefir. I suggest adding it 50ml at a time and stirring the mixture to stop the dough from becoming too wet. I do find my best scones are made with kefir, however.
3-In the UK self-raising flour would normally be used for this recipe, but in countries where this is not available, add the baking powder I’ve mentioned here. You can omit this if you use self-raising flour – or do as I do and gild the lily for super-fluffy scones: use self-raising flour and add the baking powder.
4-Even these scones can be elevated further by adding flavours to the dough. Experiment with these ideas or any of your own: add lemon thyme and candied lemon rind to the mix and serve the scones with lemon curd and lemon-scented cream; mix dried oregano and parmesan into the scone dough and serve with slices of cheese and red pesto for a savoury flourish; or add chilli seeds and oregano, and serve the scones with dollops of hummus, sprigs of coriander and drizzles of lemon. For sweet versions you can blend in bourbon vanilla and cinnamon flavours and serve with dulce de leche or sweet chestnut puree and mounds of Chantilly; or add chocolate chips and serve with chocolate truffle paste and whipped cream garnished with chocolate swirls. A girl has gotta have fun. after all!
If you are looking for a hearty addition to an afternoon tea Welsh rarebits will do the trick, especially on a chilly day.
5-Take things further by stretching to afternoon coffee: Irish coffee can be served with scones dotted with whisky marmalade and whisky cream; or make a black forest afternoon of it: scone dough dotted with chopped maraschino cherries, crowned with cherry and kirsch jam and brandy cream, and this served with mulled wine or hot chocolate.
6-Sandwiches can also be a source of revelation: try dipping cucumber slices in malt vinegar for the merest refreshing tartness; add smoked paprika and fresh oregano to egg; mix grated cheese with homemade pesto; and layer smoked salmon with sour cream flavoured with salted lemon rind and little petals of lemon thyme.
7-For all this let’s not forget the drinks you can add to make the tea super festive or seasonal: a snowball is a perfect addition to lemon scones, served after a long summer day on a hot beach; peach, elderflower and mint cordial is a pretty foil for sticky orange conserves on scones; while our local Pineau Rouge and autumn berry liqueurs - blackberry, blueberry or mulberry – are proud to partner clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace-flavoured scones, with cinnamon cream. In fact, I once served mulled wine with spiced scones as the dessert after a pub lunch while seated on a rock in unusually balmy weather at Reculver Towers. With the luxurious addition of giant chocolate cookies, it created a luxurious and most memorable Xmas Eve. 8-If you enjoy this creativity, you can even scent your ice cubes: we serve freezing cold Pineau Rouge with basil ice: drop freshly washed herb leaves (take the tiny ones from the top of the plant) into ice cube trays, add water and freeze.
Basil ice - fresh and charming at the same time
Pineapple spritz can be served with angostura cubes: pour soda water into ice cube trays, add one drop of angostura to each cube and freeze. Drop two cubes of the ice into a brandy glass full of pineapple spritz and watch how the melting ice cube creates a pretty ombre effect at its base.
Any of these ideas will turn a basic afternoon tea into a moment of stately recovery from your daily labours and allow you to usher in the evening hours with a feeling of complete sensory fulfilment.
*****bon appetit*****
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