Author: Kwan, Kevin
Book: Crazy Rich Asians
Difficulty rating: Little Women
Deliciousness rating: Outstanding

The first course of our Crazy Rich Asians Dinner.

“You sure about this?” Rachel asked again, blowing softly on her steaming cup of tea…. Nick laughed, slathering jam and clotted cream onto a scone still warm from the oven. (Kwan 11)

 

NICK & RACHEL’S SCONES WITH TEA

From Cam Gere (our Official British Friend)’s recipe

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (250g) self-rising flour. Old baking powder can mess it up, so make sure your self-rising flour is reasonably fresh.
• 1 stick of unsalted KerryGold butter, chilled. We are usually all about salted butter, but self-rising flour already has a bit of salt in it.
• Scant 1/4 cup sugar
• Calamansi lime peel, minced
• A bit of candied ginger, minced
• Scant 3/4 cup buttermilk
• Double Devon cream
• Jam
• Tea

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
   Put the flour in a mixing bowl.
2. Dice the butter and add to the flour. Rub between your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse
   breadcrumbs.
3. Add the sugar, calamansi lime peel, and candied ginger.
4. Fold in the buttermilk. The mixture should be pretty stiff, about the consistency of bread dough.
5. Using a large cookie scoop, portion out the dough onto a cookie sheet. Mash them down a little with your fingers so they make flattish discs. Sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
7. Serve warm with Double Devon cream (found at Whole Foods), all the jam we have from the Anne of Green Gables experiments, and PG Tips tea (left over from our Hogwarts’ Breakfast). Make sure to use the fanciest plates you own.

Did it measure up?
This scone recipe is fairly simple but it’s an old favorite. The calamansi lime peel and candied ginger complemented the flavors in the later courses beautifully. We’re just so classy.

I actually did visit Tea & Sympathy when I was in New York for the first time ever this January, and I made sure to try the real scones with tea that were Nick and Rachel’s favorite (or favourite, if you’d prefer). Lovely, to be sure, but phew, pricey ($15 minimum order per person). Plus, I thought Jenne’s scones and tea held up considerably well.

Kwan, Kevin. Crazy Rich Asians. New York: Doubleday, 2013.