The Key to Tall Scones is Lamination and...

...rolling out the dough to an inch or higher

Sourdough Discard Scones by Carol Banks Weber, recipe from Make It Dough.

After watching one too many London afternoon tea vlogs on YouTube, I finally caved and ordered clotted cream from Amazon, worrying that the product would arrive without dry ice.

It did. But it didn’t matter, clotted cream is basically pasteurized butter. As long as you don’t open the jar, then leave it at room temperature in the middle of a heat wave for weeks, you’re fine.

I’ve always been curious about clotted cream, how to make it (too much trouble, but good to know), and what it tastes like.

I’d planned to make proper British scones Thursday. But fuck it, I made a batch of sourdough discard scones from Make It Dough today. I wanted to have it for breakfast tomorrow and the next day and the next.

And, between 3 p.m.-5 p.m., it felt like golden hour for baking something sweet.

Except for handling the dough — use a spatula, not your hand — the recipe is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. What it doesn’t tell you, none of them do, is that, in order to get very tall scones, you must roll the dough out to an inch or higher after laminating four or five times, preferably with a bench scraper.

Are you a clotted cream then jam person, or vice versa? I treat clotted cream like butter, so it goes on first.

Never ever use your hands, unless absolutely necessary.

Everything should be cold, even if it means another trip to the fridge to chill.

Invest in a metal scraper.

I didn’t this time, but from now on, I will keep grating the frozen butter. It matters.

If I don’t, I’m putting too much pressure on my hands pushing the pastry cutter down longer to cut the cubes of butter into the flour. Grated butter breaks up the cubes even more, which equals less pressure and thus, less chance of my fingers locking up.

Let the clotted cream warm a little from the fridge to avoid those yellow chunks.

Before baking off, put the tray of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes. When you brush egg wash on top, take care not to let it drip or the scones may not rise much, or rise wobbly.

The recipe calls for you to reserve three tablespoons of the egg and buttermilk, which seems a waste, since I didn’t use up all the egg wash. Maybe just hold back a tablespoon; the scones might do better with more moisture.

I dropped off five of the scones and a sample of the clotted cream to my friends, and received a baguette (for garlic bread) and baked ziti in return. We had it for dinner last night, and I so wanted more. The universe provides!

How was it? Delicious, especially with a hint of lemon zest (my idea). The scones were light, yet craggy around the edges, not too sweet…the perfect vehicle for the clotted cream and jam.

The clotted cream? I didn’t really taste anything, other than creamy, bland (unsalted) butter. It was a nice partner to the sweet jam, which, I guess, is the whole point.

To use up the leftover egg wash, I’ll bake more later this week…maybe with leftover berries. Make It Dough’s sourdough discard recipes come in handy for scones, cakes, biscuits, and focaccia, btw.