A snack fit for a queen. The recipe for these scones was Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite.

Queen Elizabeth II may have gone to her final rest last week, but her legacy of hard work and dedication to her country, and commonwealth countries such as Canada, lives on – as does the recipe for her favourite scones. 

Scones are a biscuit-like food that are commonly served with afternoon tea in England, topped with some fruit jam and a dollop of clotted cream. In honour of her Royal Highness, we thought it would be fitting to make a batch of scones for a fun – and regal – school snack. 

To prepare them once they’ve baked and cooled, slice them open, burger bun style, and slather on a layer of jam. Put them back together or serve separately, open faced. For school, you can swap out the clotted cream for vanilla Greek yogurt to make them more kid friendly (and more healthy). I recommend sending the yogurt in a separate container with instructions to add it at the time of consumption, to avoid a royal mess. 

As for me, I will be making a batch to enjoy with some Earl Gray tea on Monday, 19 September, to toast the queen’s long and faithful contribution on the day of her funeral. For that special occasion I will definitely indulge in some imported clotted cream. Save-On-Foods and Limey, the British Shop, are two great sources for clotted cream in Kelowna.

And don’t forget to form a strong opinion about what order to layer the jam and cream on the scone while you eat them. It is a long-standing tradition to debate the “correct” way to eat your scone. For what it’s worth, the queen herself ate them jam first, with cream on top, rather than the other way round.

English Tea Scones from the Queen’s Royal Chef

Time: 30 minutes

12 servings

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 8 tablespoons salted butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar4 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg 1 cup milk 1 cup raisins1 egg yolk, for glazing

Instructions: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 F and lightly grease a baking sheet.Combine flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.Make a well in the center and add beaten egg and milk. With a metal spoon, bring the mixture together (do not overmix). Lightly flour your work surface. Roll or lay out the dough by hand to about 1-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut the scones out and place them on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Brush the tops with beaten egg yolk.Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.A batch of royal scones, fresh out of the oven. Perfect for a high tea in the queen’s honour – or a yummy school snack.