The British Pantry

Cheri and Drew had lunch the other day at the The British Pantry and Cafe. A little British grocery store and cafe in Aldie, Virginia.

Yes, Drew is a very manly man and likes his greasy burgers, but he also knows when to sacrifice and spoil his wife with lady food.... They both ordered the M’Lady Tea, which included—a round of Tea Sandwiches, scones with Devon Cream and strawberry jam, and a pot of Tea.

They earned a raised eyebrow and perhaps a curled lip for ordering herbal tea instead of black. And then when they actually put milk in that dreaded herbal nonsense, which was yummy if you ask them, the woman (who was from England and had the appropriate accent) said that was practically sacrilegious. She was teasing. Sort of.... Then when she was explaining what creamed tea was to another couple, she said—loud enough for Cheri and Drew to hear—“Some people even put cream in their herbal.” There was no criticizing tone in it until she turned around and smirked at Cheri and Drew. When they laughed and said, “We heard that,” she chuckled, waved her finger, and said she said it for their benefit. Cheri replied with, “If we weren’t supposed to do it then why bring the cream?” The lady said, “Well, because the cream and sugar bowls come as such a cute little set.”

When the Schmidt’s went to England and had herbal tea at the Ritz in London and Little Betty’s in York they were never criticized for doing it, and cream was always served along with the pot of tea, even if it was herbal.

The sandwiches at the British Pantry were tasty and consisted of: egg salad, ham and butter, cucumber with cream cheese, and Irish cheddar with chutney. All pretty good, however, the Schmidt’s will tell you that the best afternoon teas they’ve had so far is a close tie between Little Betty’s in York and My Dear Lizzie’s in Highland, Utah.

Little Betty’s served the best herbal tea with a delicious honey instead of sugar and Dear Lizzie’s has the best scones by far. They both recommend trying the lavender white chocolate with a good slathering of lemon curd at Lizzie’s. Delish!!! A mix like it can be purchased online here, or here. The key is making the mix with cream instead of water.

Here is a recipe for homemade scones made with cream:

Tender and Tasty British Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Whole whipping cream to moisten

Mix dry ingredients. Slowly pour in whipping cream until you have a nice dough consistency. Knead dough a little. Press out into a rectangular shape. Using a pizza cutter cut into long strips then cut those strips into triangles. Place on a baking sheet. Bake in 450 degree oven until fluffy and golden brown. About 10-12 minutes. Note: it does seem like you have to add a lot of heavy cream while making these. You could add some half and half so you don’t have to put so much heavy cream in. But the secret to the nice flavor of these scones is the heavy cream. Add dried fruit, such as cranberries or blueberries, for variety.