In general, I'm not too fond of raisins. There are people who put them into apple cake, and into cheese cake, and I find that... um... unattractive. Very unattractive. Same is true for raisins in muesli, and in chocolate (there's nut-and-raisin chocolate available in Germany, and I only eat that very rarely as a reminder of childhood days). I'm also not too fond of them in trail mix.

There's a few places, though, where I find them acceptable - or even necessary. One prime example?

Scones.



I love scones. Preferably with clotted cream (which is hard to get in Germany). So here's my recipe for scones, just in case you are feeling like going on a bit of a pandemic baking spree, like so many others:

75 g raisins or currants (I prefer currants)
115 g buttermilk

75 g butter
45-50 g sugar
1 large egg
pinch of salt
15 g baking powder (amount generally recommended for 500 g of flour)
340 g flour (typically wheat, I use spelt)
optional: quarter teaspoon of baking soda (or less)

Soak raisins or currants in buttermilk for at least one hour.

Mix cold butter, flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder to prepare for making a shortcrust-type dough. Form into a ring on your work surface, add buttermilk, currants, and egg to the inside of the ring; knead until it forms a smooth dough.
Roll out your dough straight away (no rest needed), to about 2.5 cm of thickness on a floured surface, then use a glass or a suitably sized round cookie cutter to cut circles. Put on baking sheet and wash with leftover buttermilk or an egg-buttermilk-mix or just egg. (I tip the buttermilk and currants into the floury ring, then whisk the egg in the now-vacated bowl, then tip it into the ring as well. The bits of egg and buttermilk left in that bowl are enough  or almost enough to glaze the scones; they definitely are if another small bit of buttermilk is added.)

Bake at 189-190°C in a non-fan oven, for about 15 minutes.

They still taste nice the day after baking, and even the day after that. They never survived for longer in our household...