Scotland’s best scone can be found in Perthshire, The Courier can reveal.
The sweet treat made by Athole Bakery took the title in the Scottish Baker of the Year 2013 awards. The award-winning plain scone was judged alongside 150 other baked goodies to come out top in the Tayside and Central region.
It then went up against the gold, silver and bronze winners in each region to eventually be crowned the top cake in the country.
The bakery is one of 13 in the Tower Bakery chain, which has been run by husband and wife team Angela and Sandy McKinnon since 1981.
Sandy said the award recognised all the hard work the pair had put in. He said: “It’s nice to know that your products are valued and it’s nice to know that people enjoy your products that’s why we bake.”
Asked what made his scones so special, he said: “The scone is hand-made, all our goods are hand-made, and we are craftsmen.
“It’s the care we take to make them.”
Gordon McGhee, president of Scottish Bakers, said: “Our winner, Athole Bakery, has shown time and again that they are a worthy winner by making it through each and every stage of the competition with flying colours.”
Although the pair were aware their scone had been nominated, they received an additional surprise on the night of the ceremony when their soda farl was given a special award.
Angela said: “The products were voted for by the customers they voted for their favourite baker and their favourite product within that bakery and in this shop alone over 100 people filled in the questionnaire.
“The farl got an award for ‘Exceptional Product’.
“Because we have 13 shops I think the farl had come out top overall in customer votes.”