| Scones vs muffins |
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| Written by Claire Hopley, 2008 | |
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Whether you're a devotee of the British scone or secret scoffer of the
American muffin, both are yummier when you make them yourself. Claire
Hopley tells you how. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the ritual of English afternoon tea probably imagines that scones have always been a part of it. Not so. Though scones feature at teatime today, they didn't really appear on English tea menus until the very end of the 19th century. They hail from Scotland, and almost certainly made their way to England along with the many other Scottish things that Queen Victoria loved. But they didn't make it in time to appear in the Mrs Beeton's famous Book of Household Management in 1861, nor on Harrods 1895 tea menu - though when Harrods opened its Georgian Restaurant in 1911 they were included. Teatime up to then included plain bread-and-butter, rarely seen at teatime today, and the real favourites - muffins. Generally, these were bought from bakeries or itinerant salesmen like the one recalled in the old song, "Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane?" These muffins were yeast raised, full of holes ready to capture pools of butter, and flat because they were baked on a griddle or bake-stone. Similarly, scones were also originally baked on a griddle. In Scotland the first reference comes from the 16th century, in a translation by Gavin Douglas of Virgil's The Aeneid. Describing an epic feast in Rome, he writes: The flour skonnis were set by and by With other messis The flour mentioned here would be wheat flour, and this made scones fit for a heroes' feast because the wheaten breads were softer than the oat or barley cakes that were everyday Scottish fare. Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, appreciated this quality, calling them "souple (supple) scones, the wale (choicest) of food". When scones arrived south of the border in the second half of the 19th century, they transferred from the griddle poised over the fire into the oven. A ratio of an ounce or two of fat and a couple of ounces of sugar to a pound of flour was standard in many recipes even as late as the 1960s. Then scones gradually got richer with more fat and more sugar along with the addition of raisins and currants and other good things. They have, however, always been best when made with sour milk or buttermilk. In the US, muffins were also a favourite. These, like their British counterparts, also became oven-baked, changing their form as they did so. Instead of using yeast, which takes a while to do its work, 19th-century American housewives began to use newly created baking powder to lift their muffins. These airier muffins were baked in tins like cup-cake tins - usually called muffin pans in the US. And because they could be made quickly, they became favourite fare for breakfast or mid-morning snacks. As these new muffins developed, the old muffins continued in the US, keeping the name 'English muffins'. In the past two decades American muffins in all their variety have invaded Britain: blueberry muffins are probably the favourite on both sides of the Atlantic, but cranberry muffins, apple muffins and date muffins have their aficionados too. At the same time, scones, once rare in the US, now give muffins a run for their money at breakfast. And in both countries scones are appearing in new forms. Fruit scones have long been popular; treacle scones appear in both Scottish and Welsh cookery books; and cheese scones are familiar favourites, especially in the north of England. But now cherries and even candied peel often pop up in scones. Other winning combinations are dried apricots teamed with flaked almonds and blackberry-ginger scones. Herb scones are good too, especially served with soups or stews. As American muffins and British scones now share the limelight, the teatime muffin of a century or so ago has faded away. It is plainer and takes longer to make. Yet the hands-on work is scarcely any more arduous, and once you've tasted a warm-from-the-griddle muffin you'll certainly understand why they were once stars of the tea table. Scone and muffin recipes available here Fruit Scones - View recipe Cheese Scones - View recipe Old-Style Muffins - View recipe Blueberry Muffins - View recipe |
