Scone recipe

This is my recipe for scones. I have to warn you, I never measure anything so if these aren't quite to your liking, tweak the measurements a bit to get exactly what you like. I encourage you to do that with all your recipes. A recipe is a starting point, not an end point.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups self raising flour OR 4 cups of plain (all purpose) flour with 6 teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
100 grams (4 oz) room temp butter
enough buttermilk or milk to make a dough

All flours are different and flour will take more liquid on a dry day than on a humid or rainy day, so add a cup of milk to start, then add it in small amounts until you have a dough you're happy with.

METHOD
Sift the flour (and baking powder if you're using it), salt and sugar into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it's crumbly like breadcrumbs. Add the milk and mix.

IMPORTANT
The one thing that will mean success or failure is the way you mix your scones. Over-mixing (and over-kneading) will kill them. You need what used to be called "a light hand" when making scones. That means that when you add the milk, you mix - I use a butter knife to mix - only until the flour and milk are just combined. Then stop.

METHOD (continued)
Take the mixed dough from the bowl and place it onto a clean floured bench. Knead the dough very gently, maybe only four or five times, until the dough is smooth. Over-kneading will ruin the scones. When the outside of the dough ball is floured and smooth, pat it down with you hand to about 4 or 5 cm ( 1½ - 2 inches) in height. Cut with a wine glass and place the scones , almost touching, on a baking sheet. Place in a pre-heated hot oven to cook until golden.

OVEN TEMPERATURES
Another factor that helps scones rise is oven temperature. Baked goods have two kinds of lift - the lift they get from the raising agent you use (baking powder, yeast, bicarb etc) and also "oven lift" which comes from the hot temperature when the dough first goes into the oven. What you are aiming for is a hot oven for the first five minutes, then turn it down. So, set your oven to it's highest - mine is 250C (480F) - while you're mixing your scones. Put the scones into the high heat oven for five minutes, then turn it down to about 200C (390F) and cook until the scones are golden on top - about 15 - 20 minutes.

Just a note about the strawberry jam recipe. If you like a firm jam, add pectin to the recipe when you add the sugar. Also, in the US, make sure you use 100% pure cane sugar, not beet sugar in your jam. You need cane sugar to help jam set properly.

Happy baking everyone! Let me know how you went with your scones if you bake some.

Welcome to all the new readers who have joined us over the past week or two. I hope you enjoy reading here. Thanks to everyone who left comments, it's wonderful getting feedback, but more than that, I really love interacting with all of you and knowing that Hanno and I are not alone in our quest for a simple life.

SHARE: