Cherry & Vanilla Scones

 

Cherry and Vanilla Scones.   These are not cherry scones. These are not vanilla scones.  These are Cherry and Vanilla Scones and they are completely different from my other Cherry Vanilla Scone recipe. 

That one uses dried sour cherries and is lovely in its own tasty right, sporting a sweet vanilla glaze.

 

This easy recipe uses candied cherries, or glace cherries as they are also known. Feel free to use maraschino cherries if you cannot find the glace cherries. Just make sure you rinse them well and then dry them before using them in the recipe.

Otherwise they will tint your scone dough pink. 

 

The recipe for these scones was adapted from one I found in a little National Trust book entitled  The National Trust Book of Scones.  

I love National Trust recipes and their books.  They are filled with lots of little antidotes and many are actually recipes which are used in the tea rooms at their various properties which are dotted all over the country.

 

We always belonged to the National Trust when I was in the UK.  They are a trust for the preservation of historic properties, gardens and farms all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

I have always loved visiting their historic properties. Not only are they areas of great beauty, but they are always fascinating and quite informative, historically speaking.  I do believe that the Prince of Wales is a Patron. 

 

Beatrix Potter bought up huge scathes of land and properties in the Lake District in an effort to prevent developers from taking over the area and destroying its natural beauty, which was then turned over to the Trust upon her passing.

The Trust is a worthy association which has done a lot to preserve the history and beauty of the UK. They are mainly supported by people visiting these properties and by people who donate to and support the organization.  I worry about how it may have fared during Covid. 

I hope that it will come out alright in the end.

 

I wish they had properties such as those here in Canada. I am a real history buff and I love visiting places like this.  This is one thing I have in common with Susan Branch. 

Anyways, if you ever have the  chance to visit the UK, so go to as many National Trust Properties as you can. You won't regret it. You can buy a membership for the time that you are there and it will allow you to into as many places as you wish to for that given year.  Well worth the price. 

 

Most of their properties have shops and tearooms/restaurants/cafe's attached where you can go and sit down and have a lunch or a drink and a piece of cake or whatnot.  Their treats on offer usually reflect the property where the teashop is located.

All of their food is great.  We never visited one without having a drink and a piece of cake or a scone.

 

As I said, this scone recipe comes from one of their books and I would classify it as an every day type of scone. There are no eggs and cream in it.

Just simple ingredients.  Self raising flour, butter, sugar, milk and vanilla.  Oh, and those candied glace cherries.

 

True confession here. I did run out of red cherries today and had to resort to using a few green ones.  I could have left them out altogether, but I did want to be able to taste the results from having used the full amount.

It is a generous amount of glace cherries to be honest, which is just lovely.  That means they are generously studded throughout with bits of sweet cherry.

 

I know that it might be difficult for some of you to get glace cherries. You can use maraschino cherries in a pinch, but do beware that they are a bit flimsier than glace cherries.

You will need to rinse them well, and dry them really well, and then be gentle in your handling of them.  I always rinse and dry my glace cherries as well.

 

These are not quite as rich as scones made with cream and butter, but they are still really lovely.  Light and crumbly and sturdy enough to spread with cold butter without tearing or breaking apart.

You can enjoy them warm of course, but the wonderful thing about scones is they are equally as delicious to enjoy cold as they are warm.

 

The same basic principles apply when making scones as when making biscuits. You will always need to use a gentle hand in order to keep them from being tough.

You also need to get as many cuts as you can from the first patting out as subsequent cuts will not be as perfect looking once baked as the first cuts will. 

 

Also for straight sided scones, take care not to twist your cutter when cutting them out.  Twisting the cutter seals the edges which prevents your scones from rising properly.

You will get a much higher rise if you stamp them out with a straight up and down motion. Also the re-pats and cuts will not be as tender, because once again . . .  they are a fussy bread which benefits from the least amount of attention as possible.

I know my scones and have shared quite a few different recipes on here over the years for a variety of both savory and sweet scones.

Some of my favorites are: Honey and Date Scones (flavored with honey and studded with plenty of bits of dates), Cheese, Spring Onion and Bacon (studded with cheese, chopped spring onions and crispy bits of bacon. Great with soups or salads),  Nan's Sugar Scones (a lemon soaked sugar cube is inserted in the center prior to baking, resulting in an almost lemon curd like filling), Irish Coffee Cake Scones (studded with dried currants and topped with a crunchy streusel topping), Three Ingredient Cheese Scones (yes, only three ingredients. Nice and cheesy.) 

My favorite all time Classic Fruited Scones (the kind you will find on offer at most establishments and tearooms in the UK), these are scone perfection.  And this is only the tip of the iceberg.  If you click here you will get a list of all my scone recipes.

So you can see, I really love scones, and I was very pleased with the way these turned out. Warm or cold, with butter or without.

With or without jam or honey, even just on their own, these are quite simply really nice scones.  I was very pleased with the outcome and I think you will be too!  Enjoy!

Cherry & Vanilla Scones

Yield: Makes 10 (3-inch) scones

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 33 Min

Simple to make, studded with cherries and flavored with vanilla.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups + 2 TBS (500g) self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup (40g) finely granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cubed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120ml (1/2 cup) whole milk (may need more)
• 1 3/4 cup (200g) glace cherries, quartered

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5.  Line a large baking tray with some baking paper. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Drop in the bits of butter. Rub the butter in, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs.
3. Mix the milk with the vanilla.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk gradually, mixing with a round bladed knife until you have a soft dough. You may need more or less milk.  Stir in the cherries, distributing them as evenly as you can.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat out to approximately 1 1/2 inches in thickness.  Cut into 3 inch rounds using a floured cutter and taking care not to twist the cutter.
5. Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each.  Re-pat the scraps and repeat cutting until you have cut all your scones. (Bear in mind the most tender scones will be the ones from the first cutting, so do try to get as many from that as you can.) 
6. Brush the top of each scone with a bit of milk and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
7. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool.  Best served warm with some butter and jam.

Notes:

You can easily make your own self-rising flour. Just add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt to each cup (140g) of flour needed. Works a charm. This is what I used here today.

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