From lardy cakes to simple scones: classic bakes that need no reinvention

I got into a small and pointless argument with a friend recently when she announced that a certain bakery chain was the only place in her London neighbourhood where she could buy scones. I thought of where I’d find them near my own home if I wasn’t going to make my own, and realised she may have a point.

(Fellow N1 folks, Quince Bakery always has them on the counter.) A few days later I was asked to go on BBC Radio 4 to comment on Somerset’s Burns the Bread stopping iced buns, which naturally made me crave one; I found an excellent iced bun for £1.60* at Raabs the Bakers on Essex Road.

Ruby Tandoh’s lemon zest-spiked recipe and Helen Goh’s strawberry finger buns are fine examples of soft, pillowy dough with a crackly smear of sugar on top, and they’d be just as good not jazzed up.

United Kingdom, London

scones, lardy cakes, iced buns, finger buns, ruby tandoh, helen goh, quince bakery, raabs, lemon zest, london