
Ashton Hall is set in a stately historic home on the outskirts of Cambridge, England, a setting that provides many opportunities for exploring English cuisine. I love English food— when people complain about it, I just don’t understand! In the novel, young Nicky becomes especially focused on scones, crumpets, gingerbread, and biscuits—what the English call cookies— reflecting my own culinary obsessions. Nicky enjoys these treats on a daily basis, courtesy of the bakers at Ashton Hall’s café, who indulge him.
Any Ashton Hall book club meeting should include scones with clotted cream and jam. The British are constantly debating whether the clotted cream or the jam should go on the scone first. When I lived in England, I was drawn into countless discussions about this during afternoon tea with English friends, and the question is discussed in the novel when Hannah meets her American friend Lizzie at the Orchard Tea Garden in Grantchester. After extensive taste-testing of my own, I have a firm opinion on the question, but I don’t want to tell you until you’ve had a chance to experiment!
Enjoy this Fruit Scones recipe from the National Trust, an organization that protects British historic homes. Their website offers recipes, sweet and savory, and this version of their scones, with currants and chopped dried apricots, is my favorite.