Dear Sun Spots: My husband and I just came back from the British Isles and tasted the wonderful English scones made there. Any chance you could locate the recipe for these great biscuits? All of them from these four countries were made the same – thick, with dark brown tops and filled with raisins. I do not have a computer so any help in finding the recipe would be very much appreciated.

Also, a recipe on Oct. 16 for Emeril Lagasse’s Salmon Pie listed a savory pie crust. Were the herbs omitted from the recipe? – No Name, No Town.

Answer: Hopefully you and your family will enjoy the following traditional English Scones which yields 10 scones. Ingredients: 2½ cups all-purpose flour; ½ cup bread flour; 6 tablespoons sugar; 1½ tablespoons baking powder; ¾ teaspoon salt; 4½ tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut in pieces; 1 cup whole milk; 2 large eggs; 1 large egg yolk; 1 cup raisins (optional); 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water for glaze; strawberry preserves. Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a large, heavy cookie sheet. Mix the first five ingredients in large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine meal. Stir in the milk, 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. Add the raisins. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out rounds using floured 3-inch round cookie cutter. Gather scraps and re-form into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out more rounds. Transfer the rounds to the prepared cookie sheet, spacing evenly. Brush with glaze. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve scones warm with berry preserves.

Hopefully you and your family will also enjoy the following savory Stilton Scones from www.recipes4us.co.uk:

Ingredients: 8 ounces self-raising flour; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper; ½ teaspoon dry mustard; 50 grams/2 ounces margarine; 100 grams/4 ounces Stilton cheese, rind removed; 150 milliliters/5 fluid ounces milk; 1 egg, beaten. Method: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease and flour a baking sheet. Sieve together the flour, salt, pepper and mustard into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the margarine and cheese and enough milk to make a soft but not wet dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to no less than 2 centimeters/¾-inch thick. Cut into rounds about 5 centimeters/2 inches in diameter using a biscuit cutter and lightly brush with beaten egg and milk. Place spaced apart on the baking sheet, bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

In addition, you might enjoy the following scone recipe based on one found online at Irishabroad.com. Sun Spots often adds fresh orange or lemon peel to her scone recipes:

White Soda Scones by Darina Allen. Ingredients: 1 pound (450 grams/3¼ cups) white flour, preferably unbleached; ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda; sour milk or buttermilk to mix, about 12 to 14 fluid ounces (350 to 412 milliliters) approximately. Method: First fully preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured working surface. WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS. Knead lightly for a second, just enough to tidy it up, flip over. Flatten the dough into a round that is 1-inch (2.5 centimeters) deep approximately. Cut into scones. Cook for 20 minutes approximately in a hot oven.

You and your family might also want to check out the Web site for several savory (unsweetened) variations on this recipe, such as olive and sun-dried tomato scones. And, regarding your question on the salmon pie recipe: The savory pie crust meant it wasn’t a sweet pie crust as you would typically use for an apple tart or pumpkin pie.

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