The Warm Scone and the British Summer

There is something quietly perfect about a scone pulled from the oven on a Saturday afternoon, split open while still warm and piled with berries and cream. It asks very little of you — twenty minutes of work, a hot oven and a light hand — yet it delivers a tea table that feels generous and unhurried.

The beauty of this combination is that it brings the garden into the kitchen. Even a modest patch of strawberries or a couple of raspberry canes will give you fruit that tastes nothing like the chilled punnets from the shop. Warm scones with freshly picked berries is a marriage enjoyed in these islands for centuries, and it costs little more than a bag of flour and a bit of patience.

Growing Soft Fruit in a Small Space

You do not need an orchard to grow your own. Most soft fruit is happy in containers, and even a sunny patio will give you enough for a few teas through the summer. Keep picking, too: the more you harvest, the more the plants produce.

• Strawberries: Plant in pots or a raised bed in full sun, and tuck straw underneath the fruit to keep it off the soil. Net them as soon as they colour, or the blackbirds will beat you to it.
• Raspberries: Happy in a little shade and moist, well-drained soil. Plant canes in autumn and cut fruited stems to the ground each winter. Autumn types crop right into September.
• Blackcurrants and redcurrants: Hardy, generous bushes that tolerate poorer soil. One mature bush will give you kilograms of fruit.
• Blueberries: These need acid soil, so grow them in ericaceous compost and water with rainwater where you can. Two varieties together crop more heavily.

Pick in the cool of the morning, when the fruit is firm and the flavour is brightest. Eat what you can fresh and freeze the rest in a single layer before bagging.

A Reliable Scone Recipe

This makes eight to ten scones and takes barely longer than heating the oven. Have everything cold, work quickly, and handle the dough as little as you can.

• 350g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 85g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 40g caster sugar
• 175ml milk, plus a splash for glazing
• A squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of fine salt

Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan, gas mark 7) and line a baking tray with parchment. Stir the lemon juice into the milk and leave for a few minutes to sour slightly. Tip the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Pour in most of the milk and bring together with a knife, adding the rest only if the dough seems dry. Turn onto a floured surface and pat — do not knead — into a round about 3cm thick. Cut out rounds with a 6cm cutter, pressing straight down without twisting, and place close together on the tray. Brush with milk and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a rack for five minutes, then wrap in a clean tea towel to keep the crusts soft.

Quick Seasonal Berry Jam

You can reach for a jar of good strawberry jam, but a small batch of your own takes fifteen minutes and tastes of the garden. This makes about two jars.

• 500g prepared berries
• 400g jam sugar with pectin
• Juice of half a lemon

Put a saucer in the freezer to test the set. Warm the berries gently in a wide pan until the juices run, then add the sugar and lemon juice and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Raise the heat and boil hard for 8 to 12 minutes, skimming off any foam. Drop a little jam onto the cold saucer; if it wrinkles when you push it with a finger, it is ready. Pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal. Raspberry, strawberry and blackcurrant all work beautifully, and a few redcurrants added to strawberries give a lovely sharp edge.

Clotted Cream and the Order of Things

No scone is complete without clotted cream — that thick, golden-crusted cream from the West Country. Spoon it on generously. As for the order, the argument between Cornwall and Devon shows no sign of ending: in Cornwall the jam goes on first, in Devon the cream does. Both are delicious, and nobody will be offended for long once the pot is empty.

If you cannot find clotted cream, whip double cream lightly with a little icing sugar until it just holds its shape. Do not overbeat it, or you will lose the softness that makes it such a good partner to a crumbly scone. Serve at room temperature with a pot of strong tea.

Small Tweaks That Make a Difference

A few details separate a good scone from a great one. Use very cold butter and cold milk, and if the kitchen is warm, chill the bowl first. Do not twist the cutter — a straight press gives the cleanest rise. If you want fruit inside the scones themselves, fold in 75g of berries or a handful of dried fruit at the end, but keep it light. And eat them the same day: a scone is at its best within an hour or two of baking, which is really the whole point of making them.