BEST SCONE RECIPE EVER
MY QUEST TO BAKE THE PERFECT SCONE
Step-by-step recipe for the perfect scones, plus a few tips I learned along the way.
INGREDIENTS
150ml/5oz ~ Milk
60g/2oz ~ Cold Butter, Cubed 1cm
30g/1oz ~ Granulated Sugar~ Extra for dusting
225g ~1 Cup Self-Raising Flour plus extra for flouring the surface
1 Egg ~Lightly beaten
1/2 TSP Salt
2 inch Cookie Cutter or Drinking Glass
TO SERVE ~ Makes 6~8 scones
Clotted Cream or Butter
Strawberry Jam or Lemon Curd
IMPORTANT: GET YOURSELF A ELECTRONIC FOOD SCALE. I find going between the British recipes and North American ones can be VERY confusing and way too much math when baking. To make that easier I did ask Siri to do the conversion and that worked to a degree. But I ended up using a scale and measuring even the liquid ingredients this way. British baking recipes really require a scale.
1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 220C ( 425 F). SIFT FLOUR AND SALT INTO LARGE BOWL. ADD BUTTER AND RUB BUTTER INTO FLOUR WITH YOUR HANDS UNTIL IT LOOKS LIKE COARSE BREADCRUMBS. STIR IN SUGAR.
2. MAKE WELL IN CENTRE. POUR IN MILK, STIR UNTIL DOUGH STARTS TO COME TOGETHER. DOUGH SHOULD BE SOFT, SPONGY AND A LITTLE STICKY. GATHER DOUGH WITH HANDS AND PLACE ON LIGHTLY FLOURED SURFACE. AVOID OVERWORKING OR OVER KNEADING THE DOUGH.
3. FLATTEN DOUGH BY HAND TO NO LESS THAN ABOUT 1 1/2 INCH (3CM). THICK. NO NEED TO ROLL IT OUT. I ACTUALLY GOT A BETTER RISE BY FLATTENING THE DOUGH BY HAND.
4. DIP CUTTER OR RIM OF THE GLASS INTO FLOUR AND CUT OUT THE SCONES. CUT FIRMLY AND AVOID TWISTING THE CUTTER AS YOU RELEASE THE SCONE. CUT AS MANY AS YOU CAN. GATHER THE EXTRA PIECES AND CUT AGAIN. NOTE THAT THOSE EXTRA SCONES MIGHT NOT BE AS TENDER AS THE FIRST CUT BATCH.
5. PLACE SCONES ABOUT 1 INCH/2.5 CM APART ON A BAKING SHEET COVERED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER. GLAZE TOP OF SCONES WITH BEATEN EGG. DO NOT GLAZE THE SIDES OF THE SCONES AS THAT WILL STOP THEM FROM RISING. THEY ACTUALLY RISE BETTER WHEN THEY ARE CLOSE ON THE BAKING SHEET. SPRINKLE LIGHTLY WITH SUGAR. PLACE IN TOP THIRD OF OVEN.
BAKE FOR 15-18 MINUTES OR UNTIL THE SCONES ARE WELL RISEN AND GOLDEN BROWN ON TOP. TRANSFER TO WIRE RACK
SERVE WARM WITH CLOTTED CREAM AND JAM.
A FEW SCONE TIPS
FREEZING SCONES
You can freeze scones. Wait until they have cooled before freezing. To reheat, best is to bring them out of the freezer and let them thaw before putting them in a moderate oven for about 5 minutes to warm them up.
MAKE ‘EM COLD
The most important thing to remember when baking scones is to keep your ingredients cold. Your butter in particular must remain solid until the scones go in the oven. This helps them to rise, giving them that tender, fluffy texture with plenty of air pockets.
DON’T OVERKNEAD THEM
The best scones are made by handling the dough as little as possible. If you overwork them they will lose their ability to rise. This in turn takes away that lovely tender texture!
USE FRESH INGREDIENTS
I know that sounds so basic but it is important. Did you know that even your flour has a "best before date'? So fresh, fresh, fresh.
AND FINALLY... CREAM ON TOP OR JAM?
Again a bit of a debate between Devon and Cornwall over the best way to serve scones. In Devon (home of the cream) the cream always goes on first with jam on top and in Cornwall it is the opposite. Either way they are delicious and use the best clotted cream and strawberry jam you can find. I also loved them with lemon curd.