Ensconced with Scones

    By Chewy                      

   

     Scones. If you have read my previous article on clotted cream,  you’ll  realize that for me, scones are merely a clotted cream delivery system, socially more acceptable then my fingers and significantly slowing down the fat intake process. Clotted cream has a minimum 55% butterfat. And you wondered why it was so good? Some actually like putting butter and jam on these delightful little cakes and then topping them with clotted cream. Seems like gilding the lily to me but I do appreciate a complex character and would not condemn the practice.

     The preferred pronunciation of this tidbit varies geographically, but generally, in the United Kingdom, the majority pronounce it “skon” rhyming with  “con”. Here in the States we put our own spin on it and rhyme it with “cone”. This cute poem suggests the confusion has been around for a while and pokes gentle fun at those who mistakenly use the wrong one:


     “I asked the maid in dulcet tones
      To order me a buttered scone
      The silly girl has been and gone             
      And ordered me a buttered scone.”

I will now be using both pronunciations to ensure I am right at least half the time. For our etymologists out there, the Oxford English Dictionary offers the word’s origin as Middle Dutch (didn’t see that coming, did you?) schoonbrood, from schoon, beautiful, bright, white and broot, bread. And if you want to side step a blunder altogether, they have also been referred to as rock cakes, fat rascals or , and this is my favorite, singing hinnies. You just know there is a story there.

     As with EVERYTHING when it comes to food, origins are murky and frankly I think some people just make stuff up! Of course, that can make for a better story, especially when one gets tired of saying “we just don’t know”. For example. Scones could be an ancient Welsh tradition of whipping up some round cakes on hot rocks (later moved to a griddle) OR it could be named after the Stone (scone) of Destiny (said in an echo-y deep voice), which really exists. It presently resides in Westminster Abbey, but previously, Scotland was it’s home and Scottish kings would sit on it when  they were crowned. While the later is a possibility, it’s not likely, albeit exponentially more fun.

     Your basic modern scone consists of wheat flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, butter, milk and eggs. Imagination reigns with additives of raisins, currants, dried fruits, chocolate chips, orange rinds (it’s beginning to sound like fruitcake) and a multitude of savory options.

     Ever wonder why scones are often triangle shape? Because they were originally shaped into a medium  plate size round cake, cooked on a griddle and then cut into triangular quarters  for serving. Then along came commercialization and spitting out little round shapes was easier and more “perfect”. When baking powder became available, cooking on the griddle moved to baking in the oven and to the shelves of supermarkets. Universally, everyone can now enjoy a spot of tea and scones with clotted cream. And so dear Anglophiles…..pinkie up!