“And that’s a wrap!” Spencer yelled over their cheering family and friends.
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Recipes from the
Mirror Lake Inn
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you were hoping to make a reservation for afternoon tea at the Mirror Lake Inn, you’ll be waiting a long time. The inn’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the movie came out, and their website crashes every second day with the number of people trying to make reservations at the inn and for afternoon tea.
The last time I checked, they were booked through December 2024. But with a little coaxing, Ellie agreed to share some of their recipes with you. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the inn’s recipes were almost identical to the recipes my Scottish granny passed down to me.
And here are three of my granny’s tips for making scones:
Tip #1: Don’t overwork the dough.
Tip #2: Don’t take your butter, buttermilk, cream, or egg out of the refrigerator before you’re ready to use them.
Tip #3: Don’t twist the dough when cutting it into shapes.
Currant Scones
A classic and one of our favorites. We serve with Devonshire cream and strawberry jam, the same as they do at the inn. If you can’t find Devonshire cream at your local grocery store, you can use whipping cream instead. We don’t add sugar or vanilla when we whip the cream to stiff peaks, but feel free to do so if you like it sweet. Serve Devonshire cream and jam with strawberry scones as well as with lavender scones. Lemon curd and Devonshire cream are extra yummy with lavender scones.
2 cups flour (plus extra for dusting hands and countertop)
⅓ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
⅓ cup cold butter
1 cup currants
½ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg white whisked with ½ tsp. water or cream to make a wash (optional)
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and baking powder together. Cut cold butter into small pieces over the flour mixture. With your fingers, or you can use a pastry cutter or two knives if you prefer, combine the mixture until the butter resembles pea-size crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together currants, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and stir (I use a wooden spoon) to combine.
Gather the dough into a ball—it will be sticky—and place onto a lightly floured countertop. With lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth—a minute or two at most. With your hands, pat dough into a ½-inch-thick round. You can then brush with egg white wash, but you don’t have to. Lightly flour a round cookie cutter and cut out the scones. You should get 10–12 scones from this recipe.
Transfer scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer for 10–15 minutes. Bake for 20–25 minutes until scones are golden brown, depending on how hot your oven is. (Mine take 22 minutes to bake, but it’s always a good idea to check after 18 minutes.) Transfer baked scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve right away or cool completely and place in an airtight container. Scones will keep for four days in the refrigerator, two months in the freezer.
Strawberry and Cream Scones
2¼ cups flour (plus extra for dusting hands and countertop)
⅓ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
⅓ cup cold butter
1 cup fresh strawberries, quartered
⅓ cup cream
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg white mixed with ½ tsp. water or cream to make a wash (optional)
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and baking powder together. Cut cold butter into small pieces over the flour mixture. With your fingers, or you can use a pastry cutter or two knives if you’d prefer, combine the mixture until the butter resembles pea-size crumbs. Gently fold strawberries into the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and stir (I use a wooden spoon) to combine.
Gather the dough into a ball—it will be sticky—and place onto a lightly floured countertop. With lightly floured hands, gently knead dough until smooth, being careful not to squish the strawberries—a minute or two at most. With your hands, pat dough into a ½-inch-thick round. You can then brush with the egg white wash, but it’s fine if you prefer not to. Lightly flour a round cookie cutter and cut out the scones. You should get 10–12 scones from this recipe.
Transfer the scones to a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer for 10–15 minutes. Bake for 20–25 minutes until scones are golden brown, depending on how hot your oven is. (Mine take 22 minutes to bake, but it’s always a good idea to check after 18 minutes.) Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve right away or cool completely and place in an airtight container. Scones will keep for four days in the refrigerator, two months in the freezer.
Lavender Scones
2 cups flour (plus extra for dusting hands and countertop)
⅓ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 tsp. culinary lavender (the inn gets organic dried lavender from the mayor, but I order mine off Amazon)
⅓ cup cold butter
½ cup buttermilk
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg white mixed with ½ tsp water or cream to make a wash (optional)
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, grated lemon peel, and lavender together. Cut cold butter into small pieces over the flour mixture. With your fingers, or you can use a pastry cutter or two knives if you’d prefer, combine the mixture until the butter resembles pea-size crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and stir (I use a wooden spoon) to combine.
Gather the dough into a ball—it will be sticky—and place onto a lightly floured countertop. With lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth—a minute or two at most. With your hands, pat dough into a ½-inch-thick round. You can then brush with the egg white wash, but you don’t have to. Lightly flour a round cookie cutter and cut out the scones. You should get 10–12 scones from this recipe.
Transfer the scones to the parchment-lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer for 10–15 minutes. Bake for 20–25 minutes until scones are golden brown, depending on how hot your oven is. (Mine take 22 minutes to bake, but it’s always a good idea to check after 18 minutes.) Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve right away or cool completely and place in an airtight container. Scones will keep for four days in the refrigerator, two months in the freezer.
Lavender Shortbread
1 cup butter