With Saint Patrick’s day coming up this month, I want to share one of my favorite pastries that my Irish family has been making for generations: Irish scones. These traditional Irish pastries are simple to make and delicious with a cup of Irish black tea.
Last weekend, I spent the day with my grandmother, former O’Maley Middle School Math teacher, Geraldine Davis to learn more.
Having two parents who immigrated to the United States from Northern Ireland in the early 1900’s, Davis grew up making scones.
“Irish scones are lightly sweetened and made with soured milk,” she said. “They frequently include raisins or currants, and are often served with butter and jam.”
Despite the simple recipe, these scones have been passed down through history and represent the “most loved baked goods in Ireland,” Davis said. “Their history traces back to rural Irish kitchens where simple ingredients were transformed into warm, flaky scones, made over an open fire, often on a griddle or bakestone.”
In the US, the word scone is pronounced so that it rhymes with cone. However, people from the Republic of Ireland (where my ancestors lived) usually pronounce it to rhyme with “gone.” The word “Scone” originated from the Gaelic term ‘sgoon” meaning shapeless mass or mouthful.
Scones are thought to have originated in Scotland in the early 1500s. Around 1840, scones became an essential part of the fashionable ritual of afternoon tea.
Scones are commonly served with butter, jelly, and traditional Irish black tea. Depending on what part of Ireland or England they are served in, there are commonly preferred toppings that you can put on your scone. For example, in Devon, England, a town seven miles away from Ireland, many prefer to add clotted cream between the jam and the scone.
Here is the recipe I made with my grandmother. It is short, easy to follow, and will result in buttery, crumbly, delicious scones. Try them for St. Patrick’s Day!
TRADITIONAL IRISH SCONES RECIPE
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup whole milk soured with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1 large egg
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl.
Grate cold butter then rub into the dry ingredients
Put lemon juice in milk and let it sit for five minutes.
Soak the cranberries in the milk for five minutes before adding to the wet mixture
For wet mixture Combine milk, (with lemon juice and cranberries inside) and one egg
Before adding the egg to the milk, whisk the egg individually.
Mix wet and dry ingredients together in one bowl and mix until it is a dough
Turn dough out (knead dough with hands on flour surface);
Pat into an 8” round, ¾” thick
Use a 2” biscuit cutter to cut into rounds; press scraps together; make more rounds
Refrigerate unbaked scones until chilled (about 15 minutes)
Bake in the center of the oven for 16-21 minutes, until golden brown.
Enjoy!
