Scone

The scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea.

The scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, but are eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea.

Lexicology

The pronunciation of the word within the United Kingdom varies. According to one academic study, two-thirds of the British population pronounce it /ˈskɒn/, rhyming with "con" and "John", with the preference rising to 99% in the Scottish population. The rest pronounce it /ˈskoʊn/, rhyming with "cone" and "Joan". British dictionaries usually show the "con" form as the preferred pronunciation, while recognizing that the "cone" form also exists.^[1] This is alluded to in the poem which contains the lines "I asked the maid in dulcet tone / To order me a buttered scone / The silly girl has been and gone / And ordered me a buttered scone." In John Betjeman's "How to Get on in Society" the poem ends "I'm afraid the preserve's full of stones; / Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doyleys / With afternoon tea-cakes and scones."
The Oxford English Dictionary reports that the first mention of the word was in 1513. The word scone derives perhaps from the Middle Dutch schoonbrood (fine white bread), from schoon (pure, clean) and brood (bread).^[2]

[edit] History

The original scone was round and flat, usually the size of a medium size plate. It was made with unleavened oats and baked on a griddle (or girdle, in Scots), then cut into triangle-like quadrants for serving. Today, many would call the large round cake a bannock, and call the quadrants scones. In Scotland, the words are often used interchangeably.^[3]
When baking powder became available to the masses, scones began to be the oven-baked, well-leavened items we know today.^[4] Modern scones are widely available in British bakeries, grocery stores, and supermarkets. A 2005 market report estimated the UK scone market to be worth £64m, showing a 9% increase over the previous five years. The increase is partly due to an increasing consumer preference for impulse and convenience foods.^[5]

Varieties

British scones are often lightly sweetened, but may also be savoury. They frequently include raisins, currants, cheese or dates. In Scotland and Ulster, savoury varieties of scone include soda scones, also known as soda farls, and potato scones, normally known as tattie scones, which resemble small, thin savoury pancakes made with potato flour. Potato scones are most commonly served fried in a full Scottish breakfast or an Ulster fry.
The griddle scone (or "girdle scone" in Scots) is a variety of scone which is fried rather than baked. This usage is also common in New Zealand where scones, of all varieties, form an important part of the traditional cuisine.
Another common variety is the dropped scone, or drop scone, after the method of dropping the batter onto the griddle or frying pan to cook it.
In some countries one may also encounter savoury varieties of scone which may contain or be topped with combinations of cheese, onion, bacon etc.
In the United States, scones are drier, larger and typically sweet.

Regional variations

Europe

Scones are popular in Ireland as well as England, Scotland and Wales, and were chosen as the Republic of Ireland representative for Café Europe during the Austrian Presidency of the European Union in 2006 (the United Kingdom chose shortbread). Scones are also a popular baked good in the Scandinavian countries.

Australia

Pumpkin scones are a well-known variant in Australia, made famous during the period when Florence Bjelke-Petersen was in the public eye.^[9] Date scones, which contain chopped candied dates, are also popular in Australia. Another old style of cooking scones, generally in the colder months, is to deep-fry or deep pan-fry them in dripping or oil, they are then known as puftaloons.

North and South America

In Canada, scones are popular and widely sold in both bakeries and ordinary grocery stores. As in the United States, the term 'biscuit' is sometimes used interchangeably.
Round-shaped British scones can resemble North American biscuits in appearance, but scones rely on cold butter for their delicate, flaky texture, while biscuits are more often made with animal fat or vegetable shortening and are crumbly rather than flaky. Also, while scones are served with coffee and tea or as a dessert, biscuits are served more as a bread, often with breakfast.^[8]
In Utah, the bread products locally called "scones" are similar to Indian Frybread and are made from a sweet yeast dough, with buttermilk and baking powder and/or soda added, and they are fried rather than baked. They are customarily served with butter and honey.^[10]
Scones are quite popular in Argentina (brought by Irish and English immigrants and from Welsh immigrants in Patagonia).^[11] They are usually accompanied by tea, coffee or mate.^[12]

[edit] Other usage

In Scots the verb scon means to crush flat or beat with the open hand on a flat surface, and "scon-cap" or "scone-cap" refers to a man's broad flat cap or "bunnet".


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