By Anne DesBrisay

I guess I get the cupcake craze: a return to a kinder, gentler world of childhood treats. But Really? Come on… cupcakes can’t hold a candle to scones. Easier to make, I’ll give ‘em that. How hard is it to bake and ice a decent cupcake? Not very: the trick is to keep them  fresh and not to mountain-on the buttercream.

But a good scone?  Now that’s tough (which is also how so many of them turn out.) And when they’re not tough, they’re trying to be muffins. Or worse yet, cupcakes, minus the roof. The scones I crave have a biscuit crunch and a yielding, crumbly heart. Put what you will in them — currants, berries, cheese, lemon zest — but plain works too. Add a dollop of clotted cream and some rhubarb jam, and there’s Polly putting the kettle on…  It doesn’t get happier than that.

I’ve been sampling the scones at the Red Apron at an alarming rate. The Raspberry-Spelt sounds too healthy to be any good. (And isn’t spelt a lousy spit of a word?) But they are in fact splendid. And big enough to share. But I didn’t.

Red Apron, 564 Gladstone Ave., 613-695-0497, www.redapron.ca.