Recipes | One tin cream tea

Recipes

One tin cream tea

I would never in a million years have come up with the brilliant idea of baking a scone in a single tin as Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber has done in his book One Tin Bakes but then all the recipes can - miraculously - be cooked like that. I can't quite bring myself to call it a slab scone though which doesn't make it sound nearly as enticing as it is. So I've renamed it One tin cream tea (sorry, Edd!).

Edd writes: British folk can’t agree on how to correctly pronounce the word scone or even whether the jam or cream should go on first, so this slab scone will be sacrilege for some, but I love it, as it turns a dainty afternoon tea staple into a perfect summertime dessert.

Of course, I have kept the clotted cream, it is after all one of the best tasting things in the world. For the topping, however, I have lightened it up a tad using fresh macerated strawberries with a little hint of vanilla instead of the more traditional jam.

If you can’t get clotted cream you can also use mascarpone or whipped cream, but just do me one favour, if there is clotted cream available that is made in Devon and you’re not in the UK, then don’t buy it, it will have been sterilized and pasteurized and the flavour is a shadow of the real deal and not worth the disappointment.

SLAB SCONE

SERVES 8–10

FOR THE SLAB SCONE

500g (1lb 2oz/4 cups) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

50g (1 ¾ oz/ ¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

150g (5.oz/1⅓ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and diced

120ml (4fl oz/1/2 cup) whole milk, plus a splash for the egg wash

4 large eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

FOR THE TOPPING

400g (14oz) fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

25g (1oz/⅛ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

340g (11 ¾ oz) clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas Mark 5. Line the base of the baking tin with a strip of parchment paper, so some excess hangs over the longer side of the tin.

For the slab scone, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest together in a large bowl, then rub in the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs with a few larger pieces remaining. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk and three of the beaten eggs, stirring to form a soft but not sticky dough.

Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface, press or roll into a 23 x 33cm (9 x 13in) rectangle and transfer to the prepared tin. Beat the remaining egg with a splash of milk to form an egg wash, and brush over the top of the scone, then sprinkle liberally with the demerara sugar.

Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely in the tin.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping. Place the strawberries intoa large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar and vanilla, stirring together briefly. Leave to macerate for 30 minutes–1 hour, until the sugar has dissolved.

Once cool, remove the scone from the tin, spread the clotted cream all over the scone and then top with the macerated strawberries, drizzling with the syrup that is left in the bottom of the bowl. Cut into portions and serve.

This slab scone is best served on the day it’s made, soon after assembling.

What to drink: Well given that it's essentially a cream tea, a good cuppa, obviously but you could push the boat out and drink a moscato d'asti, an off-dry sparkling rosé or an 'extra-dry' prosecco which, curiously is sweeter than the 'brut' versions.

One Tin Bakes by Edd Kimber is published by Kyle Books. Photograph © Edd Kimber

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