Light & fluffy Devon rhubarb & ginger scones (2026 recipe)

14 Jun

The secret to light rhubarb and ginger scones is a cool, delicate touch and using a butter knife rather than your hands to combine the dough. This Devon-inspired recipe pairs finely diced seasonal rhubarb with stem ginger for a sharp, warming twist on the classic afternoon tea staple. By avoiding over-handling the scone mix, you ensure a soft, airy rise that serves as the perfect base for thick Devon clotted cream and homemade rhubarb jam.

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Three rhubarb scones with cream and jam on floral plates served with vintage knives and a bowl of extra fruit preserve — Three rhubarb scones with cream and jam on floral plates

When I was 10 my great-granny Phyllis taught me the secret to making exceptional scones. A classic British afternoon tea treat, eaten with clotted cream and jam.

Phyl lived in Devon and Cornwall most of her life and there wasn’t much she didn’t know about scones, pies and pasties. Her secret for soft, light scones was simple, and I can hear her saying it now:

“Don’t touch the mix, for heaven’s sake, use a knife!”

This trick works for pastry too!

In order to get the dough to rise it needs to be handled delicately and stay nice and cool. She maintained that my hands would warm the dough too much, making it sticky and compact the mix. The wet ingredients should be stirred into the mix with a butter knife, and the dough hardly touched from this point on.

Ever so lightly bring it together into a ball and press to the required depth.

As rhubarb is in season and with the Queen’s platinum jubilee almost upon us, I thought I’d share with you my idea of a Devon classic; Rhubarb and Ginger Scones with Homemade Rhubarb Jam.

The recipe makes 14 (or possibly less if you compact the mixture too much!)

Close-up of a fruit scone on a decorative pink plate with a generous layer of red jam and a vintage bone-handle knife — Close-up of a fruit scone on a decorative pink plate

Ingredients for rhubarb & ginger scones

Ingredients for the rhubarb & ginger scones

750g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking power
185g caster sugar
185g butter
200g rhubarb (peeled and diced finely)
30g stem ginger (diced finely)
300ml milk (plus extra for brushing)

Ingredients for the jam (to go with the scones)

200g rhubarb
200g caster sugar
200ml water

Serving suggestion for the scones

Devon clotted cream - especially from Gays Creamery in Dawlish

Method for rhubarb & ginger scones

1. Heat the oven to 180°C

2. Sieve dry ingredients together in a bowl

3. Rub in butter till it resembles fine crumbs

4. Finely dice rhubarb and stem ginger and mix till coated in flour

Flour being sifted into a large white ceramic bowl with fresh rhubarb stalks and ginger pieces visible in the foreground — Sieve the dry ingredients together

Hands rubbing chilled butter cubes into flour in a white bowl with fresh rhubarb and ginger on a white tablecloth — Rub in the butter

Hand sprinkling a bowl of freshly diced pink and green rhubarb over a flour base to prepare fruit scone dough — Peel and dice the rhubarb

Hand adding chopped crystallised ginger from a small bowl onto a pile of diced rhubarb and flour in a large bowl — Add the stem ginger

  
    Add milk and mix together gently using a knife
Lightly, hardly touching, bring the dough together
On a floured surface press down until 4cm thick
Use a cutter (8cm) and cut out the scones

Milk being poured into a well in a bowl of dry ingredients to make scones with rhubarb stalks on a white cloth — Pour in the milk

Person using a butter knife to gently fold liquid into a flour mixture in a white bowl to create scone dough — Bring the mix together with a knife

Close-up of hands mixing a shaggy scone dough in a white ceramic bowl with fresh pink rhubarb stalks on the side — Hardly touching bring together

Hand using a metal circular cutter to stamp out round scones from a flat layer of dough on a floured dark surface — Cut out the scones

  
    Place on a lined baking tray and brush tops with milk
Cook for 20 minutes until light brown
While the scones are cooking in the oven, make the jam. Add the rhubarb, sugar and water to the pan and bring them together, stir till thick and all the liquid has evaporated. The jam should be thick and sticky
Leave to cool jam and scones to cool