M&S Café reveals the launch of its BIGGER and BETTER than ever scone after more than a year in development. With a brand-new recipe that has been tried, tested, and perfected, with thousands of scones tasted, and 25 versions baked to reach their best ever recipe and a 10% larger scone – at no extra cost – just £2.50 (served with butter)!
Whether you pronounce it a ‘scone’ (rhyming with gone) or a ‘scone’ (rhyming with cone), or add the jam or the cream first, this treat has been a beloved afternoon staple for hundreds of years and M&S customers devour millions each year. Our product developers challenged themselves to take the much-loved scone to the next level, and spent a year tasting and testing, until they all agreed they had produced what they deemed to be the perfect scone.
Made using only our finest ingredients, this classic has been expertly shaped for the ultimate roundness and mixed with the best ratio of ingredients to give it the perfect rise. For the best ‘butter-ability’ ever, we combined two different flours to achieve a much lighter and more delicate texture, retaining more moisture so it doesn’t break when buttered.
Available in three versions – a Fruit scone filled with plump vine fruits, a classic Devon scone and a Mature Cheddar Cheese scone. These scones are made in small batches and are always baked fresh daily in the Café. They have been expertly developed to have the perfect level of crunch on the outside, a light inside, a glistening gold glaze, and are 10% bigger than before.
M&S Café
To put the scones to the test, the M&S Café hosted a secret M&S Café ‘Scone Lab’ in London’s Oxford Street – with 40 scone lovers from up and down the country attending an exclusive tasting and in-depth interview on what makes the ultimate scone. Proving they are not just any scones, the scone enthusiasts raved about them, with more than 9 in 10 giving top marks to their golden colour, generous size and crispy exterior. In a blind tasting, the majority didn’t just prefer the new M&S scone to a leading competitor: they rated our scone “the best I’ve ever tasted!”
THE ULTIMATE SCONE DOES EXIST….
M&S Café reveals the science behind making the perfect scone…
Lead Product Developer and M&S Café Food Queen, Claire Hodgson says it’s all in the ratios:
“We’ve spent a whole year in our super-sciencey scone lab (OK, development kitchen) testing and tasting scones until we’ve reached what we believe to be the ULTIMATE scone recipe and bake profile. A scone with a crisp golden crust and moist soft light interior that’s still perfect for buttering.
This really is not just any scone. We’ve used intricate precision in every element of the recipe. We’ve combined two different flours to achieve a much lighter and more delicate texture, that retains more moisture and doesn’t break when it’s buttered. We’ve also replaced cream with butter and buttermilk to give a rich flavour with more softness.
For our fruit version we’ve added even more quality vine fruit, with the plumpest, juiciest raisins we could possibly find! Scone lovers at the Scone Lab loved the new look and smell. We were thrilled when our tasters told us the scone had the perfect crumb and density, they loved the bigger size and depth, and said it was more delicious than ever!
These scones are shaped to perfect roundness with our own bespoke cutter for the ultimate rise. To finish them off, we’ve glazed them to give the scones the distinctive shiny finish you’d find in a 5-star hotel afternoon tea.
Whether you choose to eat yours with lathering’s of jam or Cornish clotted cream first, they are a true moment to savour!”
