In continuation of yesterday’s post on cream tea, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make perfect scones. As
with any baked treats, stick to the exact measurements, and there are very
little chances of going wrong! Scones are relatively easy to make and are a
very elegant accompaniment to your afternoon tea, or for your next tea party. I
came across this recipe in Pamela Timms’ delightful blog Eat and Dust and I
have made slight modifications to the original. Drop by her blog for more baked
goodies.
This recipe makes 12-14 scones.
This recipe makes 12-14 scones.
You’ll need:
- 450g plain Flour (that’s 4.5 cups)
- 1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2tsp Cream of Tartar (you can substitute the cream of tartar + bicarb mixture with 3tsp Baking Powder)
- A pinch of Salt
- 110g cold unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes (that’s slightly more than 1 cup)
- 50g Caster Sugar (1/2 a cup)
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten with Milk added; this mixture should be 250ml
- Some extra Milk for brushing the scones
- Jam and thick cream or mascarpone to serve (if you can get your hands on clotted cream that would be the icing on the cake)
- Preheat your oven to 220 C.
- Sift together the flour, salt, bicarb and cream of tartar (or baking powder, whichever you are using) so that the raising agents are thoroughly mixed with the flour.
- Add butter, and working quickly, rub it into the flour mixture, using only your fingertips. The mixture should resemble bread crumbs. Mix in the sugar.
- Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the egg + milk mixture. Lightly mix together until you have soft dough.
- At this point you can go one of two ways.
- You can pat the dough down on a floured surface and make a disc about 3 cm thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut out the scones.
- Or you can simply pick up small balls of the dough and pat them onto a floured baking tray. They should be roughly even-sized, about 3 cm tall.
- Brush a little milk on top of each scone. This will give them a shiny finish.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, till the scones are lightly brown on the top.
- Cool them slightly and serve warm with jam and cream, with a pot of tea for that quintessential English Cream Tea experience!
Remember:
- Handle the dough as lightly as possible to get light, airy scones. Kneading the dough will only make them chewy and hard.
- If you think that the amount of sugar is too less, remember that scones are not cakes and they are not supposed to be sweet. The sweetness comes from the jam and cream. Traditional scone recipes don’t use any sugar.
- Don’t worry if your scones look uneven; this is how they should be.
