Editing Scone (section)

== History ==

When [[baking powder]] became available to the masses, scones began to be the oven-baked, well-leavened items we know today.<ref name='Delia'>{{Cite book| last = Smith | first = Delia | author-link = Delia Smith | title = Delia's Complete Cookery Course | publisher = BBC Books | date = 2007-03-27 | location = London | isbn = 978-0-563-36249-4 }}</ref>
The Yorkshire-based family bakery, Haywood & Padgett, was the first bakery to launch their scones in supermarkets in the UK in the late 1980s.
<ref>{{Cite web|title=Haywood & Padgett |url=https://www.haywood-padgett.co.uk}}</ref>  Modern scones are now widely available in British [[bakery|bakeries]], [[grocery store]]s, and [[supermarket]]s. A 2005 market report estimated the UK scone market to be worth £64m, showing a 9% increase over the previous five years. The increase is partly due to an increasing consumer preference for [[Impulse purchase|impulse]] and [[convenience food]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Processing-Packaging/Back-bite-free-scone-mix-launched-in-UK | title=Back-bite free scone mix launched in UK | publisher=bakeryandsnacks.com | date=28 June 2005 | access-date=22 September 2015 | archive-date=10 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210025359/http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Processing-Packaging/Back-bite-free-scone-mix-launched-in-UK | url-status=live }}</ref>

Scones sold commercially are usually round, although some brands are [[hexagon]]al, as this shape may be [[tessellation|tessellated]] for space efficiency. When prepared at home, they may take various shapes, including triangles, rounds and squares.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Scones.htm |title=The History of Scones |access-date=2008-09-09 |date=2001-03-01 |work=Food History |publisher=The Kitchen Project |archive-date=28 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728182028/http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Scones.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Baking scones at home is often closely tied to heritage baking. They tend to be made using family recipes rather than recipe books, since it is often a family member who holds the "best" and most-treasured recipe.<ref name="Goldman">{{Cite book | last = Goldman | first = Marcy | title = A Passion for Baking | publisher = Oxmoor House, Inc. | year = 2007 | location = Birmingham, Alabama | pages = [https://archive.org/details/passionforbaking0000gold/page/85 85] | url = https://archive.org/details/passionforbaking0000gold/page/85 | isbn = 978-0-8487-3179-3 }}</ref>

In 2023, a West London woman completed a decade-long project to sample a scone at every [[National Trust]] location (244 sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64822669|title=Woman completes 10-year National Trust scone-eating project|work=BBC News|date=2 March 2023|access-date=7 April 2023|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410202929/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64822669|url-status=live}}</ref> Scones became a staple of afternoon tea in the early 19th century, a tradition popularized by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, who introduced the practice of enjoying scones with tea as a light refreshment between meals.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.perlego.com/book/2428432/the-rituals-of-dinner-the-origins-evolution-eccentricities-and-meaning-of-table-manners-pdf | isbn=978-1-5040-1169-3 | title=The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table Manners | date=23 June 2015 | publisher=Open Road Media }}</ref>