A scone is a baked quick bread, with flour, fat and a raising agent, which were originally baked on a griddle and was around the size of a medium dining plate. The cooked scone would be cut into triangles, in Scotland thought to be one of the homes to the origins of the scone the large griddle cake is called a bannock. With the development of baking powder, scones became a popular recipe bake in the oven, slightly sweetened and often with the addition of an egg-wash glaze. Scones are an integral part of a cream tea, served with jam and clotted cream.
Families have their own favoured recipes and can include raisins or currents and even mixed peel and glacé cherries. In America blueberry scones are popular, you can also make savoury scones with ingredients such as cheese, bacon, onion, dill, and chives, cheese scones are almost a New Zealand national dish. The baked scone should not be confused with the dropped scone, or drop scone, which is like a pancake, and made by dropping or pouring batter onto a hot griddle or frying pan to cook it.
Classic Sweet Scone Recipe
The secret to making light crumbly scones is to handle the dough as little and as lightly as possible. Many recipes call for buttermilk, this is not always easy to get hold of, so this recipe substitutes a little lemon juice and milk. The acid helps activate the baking powder to aerate the scone mix.
350 gr Self Raising Flour, plus more for dusting
85 gr cold unsalted Butter, cut into cubes
175 ml Full Fat Milk
40 gr Golden Caster Sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
A generous pinch of Salt
A beaten egg with a little milk for the glaze
Pre-heat your oven to 425 F / 200 C / Gas Mark 7. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and using a metal whisk, mix thoroughly together. Add the butter then rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the golden caster sugar and gently mix in with a fork.
Pour the milk into a small heavy-bottomed pan and warm over a low heat. It does not want to boil or form a skin it should be just warm to the touch. Add the lemon juice and stir, make a dip in the middle of your crumb mix, add the milk and quickly combine with the fork. Once the mix comes together to stop, it is really important from now on to try not to overwork the dough.
Now comes the slightly mess part, sprinkle some extra flour on to your work surface, over the dough and onto your hands, tip the dough on to the flour and gently knead it three or four times to make a smooth formed ball of dough. Sprinkle a little more flour then gently pat the dough down until it is a level four centimetres thick. Take your cutter or a sharp cook’s knife if you prefer diamonds and press straight into the dough trying not to twist. Place the cut scones onto a flat baking tray. Combine any remaining dough into a ball and press into the cutter, this last scone will probably not rise as much as the others. Brush the scones with the egg wash and carefully place into your oven.
Bake for ten minutes until the scones are risen and golden on the top. Eat still warm, generously topped with jam and clotted cream. The scones can be frozen, defrosted and warmed through in the oven.
Allergens in this recipe are;
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