These are rather rich versions of the traditional British scones and rather like my grandmother’s pie pastry recipe, which uses double cream as the liquid to bring the mixture together. This recipe will make more than you need but you can freeze the excess or use them during the course of the week.
Timings
Prep time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves
Six
Ingredients
For the scones
- 200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 10g baking powder
- 25g caster sugar
- a couple good pinches of fine sea salt
- 60g cold unsalted butter, finely diced
- 200ml double cream
- 1 tbsp chopped fennel fronds, or dill
To serve
- 1 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
- 80g hot smoked trout fillet
- a few fennel fronds or sprigs of dill
Method
1. To make the scones, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl then rub in the butter with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb-like consistency.
2. Add the cream and chopped fennel and mix it in with your hands to form a smooth dough. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thick, then stamp out 5cm rounds, placing them on a greased or non-stick baking tray about 3-4cm apart. Gather and re-roll the dough trimmings to stamp out more scones. Leave them to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, or freeze any you don’t want straight away.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes until golden.
4. Once cool, cut them in half then mix the mayonnaise and horseradish together and spoon on to each half. Flake the trout on top and add a fennel frond or sprig of dill.
