Scones are thought to have originated in Scotland in the early 1500s and the first known print reference was made by a Scottish poet in 1513. Scones were originally made using oats, shaped into a large round and scored into four or six wedges. They were then griddle baked over an open fire, although today’s versions are made with flour and baked in the oven.
The word is thought to have originated from the Dutch “schoonbrot,” meaning fine white bread; and the closely-related German “sconbrot,” which means fine or beautiful bread.
Around 1840, scones became an essential part of the fashionable ritual of afternoon tea in England. This was popularised by Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, who was a close friend of Queen Victoria. One afternoon she requested some ‘light food’, which included tea, biscuits and scones. It’s said that she enjoyed it so much that she ordered it every afternoon and the English ritual of ‘Afternoon Tea’ was born.