Scone

Lore & Background

The earliest written recording of the word 'scone' comes from 1480, when a petty customs account noted a baker had '400 spice cakes and 500 scone Jesus'. The earliest recorded recipe, from 1669, is titled 'Mrs Fellard's scone cake' and includes flour, currants, eggs, sugar, ale yeast, and cream, with a savoury version using bacon and gravy. During the Middle Ages, scones were piled up with biscuits to form wedding cakes. When baking powder became available in 1843, the modern British sweetened scone first appeared. The first written reference to the scone being part of cream tea was in The Cornishman in 1932, though Devonians had adopted scones earlier.

Reader's Guide

The scone holds a significant place in British and Irish culinary tradition, particularly as a staple of afternoon tea, a practice reputedly popularized by Anna, Duchess of Bedford in the early 19th century. Its classification remains debated: the Oxford Companion to Food names it a cake, while the Food Standards Australia New Zealand agency places it in its own category alongside rock cakes. The pronunciation of 'scone' varies regionally, with rhymes with 'gone' dominant in Northern England, Scotland, and Southern England, and rhymes with 'tone' strongest in the English Midlands and Ireland. The word's etymology is uncertain, with the most widely accepted origin being Scottish Gaelic 'sgonn' meaning a large lump, though other sources suggest the town of Scone in Scotland. Modern scones are widely available in bakeries and supermarkets; a 2005 market report estimated the UK scone market at £64 million. In 2023, a West London woman completed a decade-long project to sample a scone at every National Trust location across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Did You Know?

• The earliest written recording of the word 'scone' comes from 1480, in a customs account mentioning '500 scone Jesus'.
• The pronunciation of 'scone' varies: rhymes with 'gone' in Northern England and Scotland, and rhymes with 'tone' in the English Midlands and Ireland.
• Scones were chosen as Ireland's representative for Café Europe during the Austrian presidency of the European Union in 2006.
• In Newfoundland and Labrador, a similar baked good is called a 'tea bun' and may include raisins, blueberries, or salted pork.