Scone Spy: A taste of joy for our cafe critic at Celebrations, Turriff

It could be said that there aren’t many reasons to celebrate these days. We’ve come through the pandemic only to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while on the home front we battle soaring inflation, and sky-high heating and food prices.

So this week your Scone Spy went on the hunt for a wee taste of joy, and emerged jubilant.

At the aptly named home store and restaurant of Celebrations, we found happiness on a plate – the Rocky Road Scone, a first of its kind for this delighted reviewer and guest.

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An independent, family-owned retailer specialising in furnishing, homewares and gifts, along with a restaurant and coffee parlour, it’s been a much-loved haunt for locals and visitors since 1998. Open seven days a week, we were pretty confident we would find what we were looking for in its expansive eatery where the lunch menu includes traditional home-cooked favourites like macaroni cheese and Cullen skink, a rich soup made with fresh local haddock, potatoes and milk and served with a crusty roll, as well as sweets such as lemon roulade and banoffee pie.

We placed our order at the counter and while my guest went for a pancake, prepared before her eyes with maple syrup on the side, yours truly eyed the scones. Fruit, plain or cheese, and the special of the day, the Rocky Road. Now this spy has had Rocky Road bakes and even ice cream in the past, but never in the form of a scone, and although dubious that it would work, was curious enough to give it a try.

As my guest gushed superlatives over the “delicious” pancake, I took a first tentative bite of the most unusual scone sampled to date. Laced with sweet chocolate, crunchy peanuts and coconut, it was topped with marshmallows and glace cherries. After the initial, satisfying crunch, the bake melted in the mouth, and exploded with flavour on the tongue. Off-the-scale scrumptious it was truly something to celebrate!