Classic English cherry Scones are quick and easy to make, moist, light, and fluffy! Perfect for High Tea or Afternoon Tea. This is a very popular recipe and for those searching for a good, reliable English scone recipe, this won't disappoint!
Classic English Scones are traditionally served with afternoon tea, and you would have jam and clotted cream spread on each half of the scone.
In some parts of England, it is known as a 'cream tea'. Watch out for signs along the road saying there is Cream Tea available!! It's worth stopping and having one!
This recipe has been inspired by our classic raisin scone recipe, and you can certainly use this as a basic scone recipe and make variations, which we've listed at the end of the recipe for you.
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These scones are the softest, lightest and fluffiest, moist and flavorful, and remember when you make this recipe, light hands make a light scone! The scone texture is incredibly soft inside, and the easiest way to open these is to simply pull them apart and they will naturally open into 2 halves.
Traditionally, you would serve scones split open, buttered, and then add cream and jam. Served for an afternoon tea party or breakfast, these are great to eat and so easy to make.
These scones are flexible in that you can easily multiply the ingredients and make a few batches, and then add a variety of different fruits to each batch if you wanted a mixture to serve at a party.
These scones don't take long to make, so be sure to follow my tips and you too will love this recipe. So let's see how you make this lovely Classic English Cherry Scone.
Table of Contents 📋 hide
1) Prep Time
2) Cook Time
3) Yield
4) You will need
5) Ingredients You'll Need
6) INSTRUCTIONS
7) Storage and Serving Suggestions
8) Variations
9) English Cherry Scones
10) Recipe Card
11) English Classics
Prep Time
10 minute
Cook Time
10 minutes
Yield
16
You will need
A baking tray & a 5 cm / 2 inch round cutter
Ingredients You'll Need
- self-raising flour (US Measure is 2 cups and 13 tablespoons) *** Please sieve
- salt
- baking powder
- caster or regular sugar
- butter, cubed
- milk
- vanilla extract
- lemon juice
- • beaten egg
- glace or candied red cherries
See the recipe card below for quantities.
NOTES:
- Please ensure you use Self Raising Flour for this recipe and not All Purpose / Plain Flour.
I cannot say if making your own mix of Self-raising will work.
The best scones need to rise properly and not taste of soda or baking powder, and so the above ingredients are what I can advise for best results.
- Optional – You can add a handful of white chocolate chips to these scones if you wish.
- You can also used canned or frozen cherries, just make sure you pat them with some kitchen paper first to remove any excess moisture.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 220C/ 425 F / Gas 7. Also, preheat your baking tray. Roughly chop the cherries into halves or quarters if they are whole.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder, and combine.
3. Add the butter
and rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Using a flat bladed knife, stir in the sugar.
Then add the cherries and use your hand to give it a good mix, so it's all combined.
4. Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot.
Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then set aside for 2 minutes.
5. Make a well in the dry mix. Then add the liquid and combine with a flat bladed knife.
6. Once combined, place it on a well-dusted work surface.
- When it starts coming together, I use my hand to gently gather the dough around the side of the bowl so it’s nice and smooth. It will be quite a wet dough at first.
- Don’t be frightened to dust the work surface with plenty of flour. This mixture is quite ‘wet’ from the strawberries but will firm up once you get it on the floured surface.
7. Shake some more flour on the dough and your hands, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it's a little smoother.
Pat into a round shape, about 4 cm (1 ½ inches) deep.
Make sure you are very light with your hands and don’t over work the dough as you will end up with tough scones.
**** Please, the thickness is VERY IMPORTANT so measure if you are not sure!
When you turn the dough out onto the work surface, it will be sticky and a little wet at first. Don’t worry about this as you need to dust your hands and dough.Try to handle the dough as little as possible, and not be heavy-handed. This will cause the scones to be heavy and tough
8. Take a 5cm (2 inch) cutter - and dip it into some flour. (see image below, for how to use the cutter)
Plunge in a single movement into the dough, then repeat, dipping the cutter in flour if need be, until you have used the dough.
By this point, you'll probably need to press what's left of the dough back into a round to cut out another few scones until the dough is all used up.
Try not to overwork the dough, be light with your hands when reshaping.
Tips for cutting the scones
- To ensure your scones rise vertically in the oven, when you use your cutter, be sure to cut the scone in one vertical action straight down through the dough.
- When removing the cutter, DO NOT do a twisting action, but remove the cutter straight up
- If you twist the cutter, this will destroy the structure of the dough and you will not get the scones to rise properly with the classic break apart in the middle look.
9. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place them onto the hot baking tray.
Be sure to brush only a little egg wash on the tops. Make sure none of the egg runs down the sides of the scones as this will prevent the scones from rising during baking.
10. Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top.
Then transfer to a cooling rack or serve warm from the oven.
Storage and Serving Suggestions
These scones will freeze very well once cooked in an airtight bag, just defrost and reheat if you want them warmed through.
Serve with fresh whipped cream or clotted cream and or a simple spread of butter and cherry jam, alongside a cup of tea.
Variations
Rhubarb scones
Strawberry Scones
Raisin Scones
Blueberry Scones
Lemon Scones
Cranberry and Lemon Drop Scones
Classic Plain Scones
We've also got a great savory scone recipe if you'd like to make that to serve with your afternoon tea, Cheesy Sausage and Jalapeno Scones. Delicious!
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
English Cherry Scones
Yield: 16
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Classic English Cherry Scones. Quick and Easy to make, moist, light, and fluffy! Perfect for High Tea or Afternoon Tea. This is a very popular recipe and for those searching for a good, reliable English scone recipe, this won't disappoint!
Ingredients
- 350g self-raising flour (US Measure is 2 cups and 13 tablespoons) *** Please seive
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp caster or regular sugar
- 3 oz or 85 g butter, cubed
- ¾ cup or 175 ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A squeeze lemon juice
- beaten egg, to glaze
- 1 cup or 200 g glace or candied red cherries
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 220C/ 425 F / Gas 7. Also, preheat your baking tray. Roughly chop the cherries into halves or quarters if they are whole.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the sifted flour, salt, and baking powder, and combine.
3. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
4. Using a flat-bladed knife, stir in the sugar. Then add the cherries and use your hand to give it a good mix, so it's all combined.
5. Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, then set aside for 2 minutes.
6. Make a well in the dry mix. Then add the liquid and combine with a flat-bladed knife.
7. Once combined, place it on a well-dusted work surface.
8. Shake some more flour on the dough and your hands, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it's a little smoother.
9. Pat into a round shape about 4 cm (1 & ½ inches) deep. Make sure you are very light with your hands and don't overwork the dough as you will end up with tough scones.
**** The thickness is VERY IMPORTANT so measure if you are not sure!
10. Take a 5cm (2 inch) cutter - and dip it into some flour. Plunge in a single movement into the dough, then repeat, dipping the cutter in flour if need be, until you have used the dough.
11. By this point, you'll probably need to press what's left of the dough back into a round to cut out another few scones until the dough is all used up.
12. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then carefully place them onto the hot baking tray.
*Be sure to brush only a little egg wash on the tops. Make sure none of the egg runs down the sides of the scones as this will prevent the scones from rising during baking.
13. Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top. Then transfer to a cooling rack or serve warm from the oven.
Notes
- You will need:
A baking tray & a 5 cm / 2 inch round cutter
- NOTE:Please ensure you use Self Raising Flour for this recipe and not All Purpose / Plain Flour. I cannot say if making your own mix of Self raising will work. The best scones need to rise properly and not taste of soda or baking powder, and so the above ingredients are what I can advise for best results.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 151Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 372mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 6gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
Recipe Card
English Classics
Here's a selection of classic English Recipes for you to enjoy!
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