I was so thrilled to see Jasmine Guillory’s Royal Holiday while browsing the ‘new arrivals’ shelves at the library and quickly snapped it up before anyone else could. Of course there was no one else near said shelves except a rather elderly man but who knows, maybe he too was a fan of Jasmine Guillory. Her books are such a fun escape after all. Maybe he too enjoys the light romance and those ‘could it be? really?’ moments. Or those oh, hello, it’s you, type things. Or maybe it’s all that food she mentions in her books. Like burgers. Tacos. Doughnuts. More doughnuts.

And so here we are with scones.

Because it’s a book set in England! And opening in Sandringham Castle (where the Royal Family holidays at Christmas) in Norfolk no less! For Vivian Forest’s daughter is dressing a member of the Royal Family, and Vivian gets to tag along for a holiday. And it’s in Sandringham Castle that she meets Malcolm, who is the Queen’s private secretary. And sparks fly and all that. Also, lots of scones are consumed.

So I just had to make some!

I’ve been making scones for a while but it was only in recent years that I found the best scone recipe ever. It’s from The Bread Bible by Ruth Levy Bernanbaum.

Maybe it’s all the letter folds that she calls for, that is, where you fold the rolled out dough in thirds like a letter, one third on top of the other, giving you three layers of dough. Previously none of the scone recipes I tried ever asked for that, it was more of a roll out the dough and cut it kind of recipe. After one letter fold, the dough is turned 90 degrees and folded again. And one more time after that.

Does that make a difference? I like to think it does. That’s after all how puff pastry is made. All those letter folds.

Whether it is a result of letter folds or the ingredients used, this makes for a beautiful, buttery scone. Which can even be eaten on its own. It is that good. No need to slather in anything to disguise any dryness!

I love scones and since I live in suburban USA, there aren’t many to be found.

 

 

 

(All this was from one high tea set, for three people)

 

 

When I make my annual visit back home to Singapore, one thing I always do is hit a high tea. Singapore has many wonderful places, usually hotel cafes, that serve gorgeous high teas. Some places offer lavish buffets, others have lovely multi-tiered high tea trays serving up delicate treats. Sometimes scones are in the mix. And sadly, while most of the rest of the food is great, often the scones are not. So I’m just happy to have found this amazing recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs