How to Make Cornish Drop Scones

Blighty's British Recipes is back from a fortnight's sojourn in the United Queendom. While we were there we collected a lot of very interesting recipes. We will be presenting several of them over the next few weeks here on this blog and in the Blighty's British Recipes newsletter.

England stretches from the warm sunny county of Cornwall in the southwest all the way up to chilly Northumberland in the northeast - a distance of several hundred miles.

It was while I was on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast, near the Scottish border, that I came across this interesting recipe from all the way down south in Cornwall.

You may be pleased to hear that this recipe is a very easy one. It takes 10 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to bake and will probably be eaten in far less time than it takes to make.

Ingredients

• One and a half cups of McDougalls self-raising flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter
• Half a cup of milk
• Pinch of salt
  

Preparation

• Rub the margarine into the flour
• Add all the other ingredients and stir until you have smooth stiff dough
• Roll onto a floured board and flatten the dough into circles about a centimeter thick
• Bake at 425F for 15 minutes or until light golden in colour

John's Notes
This recipe makes about eight scones. They taste just the way scones ought to taste - full of flavour and a little heavy. Serve them buttered or with Devon cream and jam. And, of course, wash them down with a nice cup of tea.

I washed mine down with a cup of home-made Chai tea. Here is a simple bonus recipe for Chai tea: Prepare a pot of tea in the usual way (I used Marks & Spencer Gold Loose tea prepared in a French Press). Add half a teaspoon of cardomom and a pinch of nutmeg. Chai tea is very refreshing and a pleasant alternative to everyday tea.

We'll be back next week with another traditional British recipe. Until then ... enjoy!