A Cornish Cream Tea in Toronto

In my last post I mentioned Cornish cream teas. These are culturally very important to my husband, who although from Devon, has a good deal of Cornish blood. I have no Devon or Cornish blood, but I have taken cream teas to heart (probably literally, as the fat content of the cream is ridiculously high) and they are my favourite afternoon treat. A decent pot of tea (preferably Yorkshire Tea) made with boiling water, left to brew long enough to get a decent colour, a fresh scone, spread thickly with clotted cream and topped with jam, either strawberry or raspberry. You can't beat it.

There is a difference between Cornish and Devon clotted cream - one is thicker than the other. And apparently one county spreads the jam first, whilst the other spreads the cream first. I can't remember which, but frankly, who cares - they both taste amazing. Incidentally, my daughter has told me that in the USA clotted cream would be classed as butter, due to its excessive fat content. Just as well it's not easy to find in Canada, eh?

Now that I mention clotted cream, I was recently introduced to a delicious cream by a Syrian friend of mine. It was a lot like clotted cream and you can buy it in Toronto! I have yet to get round to heading out to Arz Bakery http://www.arzbakery.com/ on Lawrence, but when the Rodda's has all gone and the cravings return I will go.I believe it is called something like Kaymak, but my friend mentioned another name for it that I have since forgotten. I will know it when I see it! Incidentally, the Arz baba ghanoush (aubergine dip) is absolutely delicious and I will pick up some of that too.

And on the subject of scones, the recipe I now swear by is based on a Julia Child recipe given to me by my American friend Christina, who is married to a German. I know that as a diplomatic spouse from good old Blighty I should possibly not admit to using an American scone recipe, but I comfort myself with the fact that Julia Child was herself a diplomatic spouse, and these scones are so blinking good I am sticking to it. Until yesterday, I had always baulked at using the melted butter to brush the tops, replacing it instead with beaten egg. However, the slight crispy crunch added by the butter and sprinkled sugar topping just adds that perfect finishing texture.

Here is the recipe and I apologize for the mixture of imperial, metric and cup measurements; that is what comes of travelling the world and picking up recipes from all over the place, then converting them in my own slapdash way. I always prefer to weigh baking ingredients rather than use cup measures and I would not be without my trusty digital scales. These scones are best eaten on the day you bake them.

Scones

(adapted from Baking with Julia Child)

Ingredients:

1.      3 cups flour (450g)

2.      1/3 cup sugar

3.      2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

4.      ½ teaspoon baking soda

5.      ½ teaspoon salt

6.      1 ½ sticks (6 oz) cold unsalted butter, cubed

7.      1 cup buttermilk  (or 2 Tbsp sour cream + milk to equal 1 cup)

8 Melted butter for brushing

Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1.      Heat oven to 400F

2.      Rub together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt and butter pieces.  (Use the K beater on the Kitchen Aid or Kenwood if you have one, or Pulse in a processor (or mash) until you get a mealy, crumbly sort of mixture.  Don’t over-mix, lumps are OK.

3.      Pour in buttermilk and mix just until mixture holds together. You don't want to overmix - it will go leathery (I think it is something to do with the gluten)

4.      Put out onto floured counter and press until dough just holds together, flatten into a 1-inch (2.5 cm) disk. I usually make them slightly higher, so that you can cut the scones in half and still get two good sized rounds. 

5.      Cut into little rounds and place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

6.      Bake for 12 minutes or until tops turn light brown.

Serve with clotted or double cream and strawberry jam