Scones with Plum Compote

Scones are an element sine qua non for a brunch, at least if you ask me! They are salty and sweet at the same time, so you can eat them either with butter and cheese or with honey, marmalade - or with this easy plum compote with a hint of cinnamon. They can be baked with any flour of your liking - I prefer a mixture of rolled oats and spelt. I’ve tried a vegan version of scones as well - I just left the egg out and replaced butter with margarine and milk with spelt milk (a bit more than in the original recipe, to compensate for the egg). The structure was great, but the taste was a bit compromised. Maybe you’d want to add some dried fruit - raisins, cranberries, sour cherries - to make them tastier!

For about 10 scones, you need

• 100g butter (or margarine)


• 300g flour (rolled oats, spelt, wheat..)


• 50g sugar (or more, if you like it sweeter)


• 50ml milk (or soy milk)


• 1 egg (for a vegan version, leave out)


• 1,5 tsp baking powder


• 0,5 tsp salt

First, preheat your oven to 225 degrees Celsius. Cut butter into small cubes and place in a baking bowl. Measure all dry ingredients together and pour onto the butter. Work with your fingertips until fine and crumbly, then add egg and milk and work into a dough. It’s a bit on the liquid side, but don’t add too much flour, or they’ll get dry! Divide the dough into 10 pieces (about 40g each) and, with your hands, form round cakes. Use some extra flour in doing this if the dough is too liquid. Bake in the oven for some 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. Let the cool a bit before serving as a part of brunch - or for afternoon tea.

For the plum compote, cut 400g ripe plums into small cubes, set in a pan with 100g sugar and one cinnamon stick and cook until plums are thoroughly cooked. Take the cinnamon stick out and serve either warm or cold.