Best ever recipe for scones

Cafe Society
1

I was given this recipe a few days ago and it makes the best scones that I’ve ever tasted. It’s very simple and great for those times when you’ve got people dropping by for coffee.

Ingredients:
3 cups of self-raising flour
1 cup of cream
1 cup of lemonade
pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients together. The mixture may be a little sticky, so just sprinkle some extra flour over it. Knead the dough lightly until it is smooth and then roll it out to a height of about 2-3cm. Cut the dough into scone shapes by using an upturned drinking glass. Place the scone shapes onto a greased tray and bake in a hot oven (around 210C) for 12-15 minutes, or until they’re just turning brown. Remove the scones and place them on a cooling rack. Or, better still, eat them immediately, hot and fluffy, with lashings of butter, jam and whipped cream.

2

Just to clarify, in Australia does lemonade = lemon juice + sugar + water, or does it mean a carbonated drink like Sprite?

3

*Lemonade * means the carbonated stuff.

4

And just to clarify, scones are sort of a half English muffin, right?

5

No, they’re not like English muffins at all. Here, English muffins are round and flat and are sold by the half dozen in a plastic bag, like bread. You break them in half and toast them or grill them with various toppings.

Scones don’t need to be toasted. They are a very doughy, floury type of cake. They can be served hot or cold, traditionally with strawberry jam and whipped cream at afternoon tea.

6

They’re usually like a biscuit, except made with butter instead of shortening.

I loooooooooove scones. I’m going to try this recipe this weekend.

7

Thanks. Seen pictures of them, and even been to England several times, but don’t ever recall seeing one “live”…and in the pictures they just look like a nice half English muffin. Still, they sound great and might try this recipe this weekend.

(Hmm, that’ll be a first…trying a recipe for something I have never really seen, or eaten before. Good news is, I won’t be able to say it doesn’t look or taste right!)

8

Cooking/recipe threads belong in Cafe Society.

I’ll move this for you.

Cajun Man
for the SDMB

9

I make scones at work, as I am baker! :smiley:

3 cups flour(413 grams)
1/2 cup sugar(100 grams)
5 teaspoon baking powder(25 milliliters)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups butter, softened(170 grams)
1 egg
7/8 cup half&half, aka lite cream(207 milliliters)
2 tablespoons(1/8 cup) orange marmalade
1-1/4 cup chopped, dried fruit(I use half apricots and half cranberry raisins)

Mix together first four ingredients. Cut in the butter, mixing rapidly with fingertips until mix is flaky looking. Toss with dried fruit, then add the egg, cream, and marmalade. Knead very gently just until evenly mixed.

For large scones roll dough into a circle and cut into eight wedges. Place on a papered, or lightly greased baking sheet. For smaller scone divide dough in half before making into a circle and cutting. Yield will be eight large or sixteen smaller scones. Bake at 350 degress Farenheit(about 177 degrees Centigrade) until lightly golden.

Texture of a scone is something like an American biscuit made from scratch. It’s generally a little sweeter, although definitely not sugary. The above recipe can be rolled and cut in rounds, as a biscuit is, of course.

10

Both these scone recipes sound great! I’m planning on providing refreshments for a technology workshop for my fellow teachers, and I think I just found a nice addition. It’ll be like a tea party!

:smiley: I LOVE tea parties. I may even wear a hat!

11

The recipe I use is a lot like Bakers, except mine uses regular milk instead of half and half. Think I’ll try it though.

Personally, I like mine with dried cherries and white chocolate chips. Heat 'em up and put a little raspberry jam on top for breakfast. :slight_smile: Good eats.

12

I do also make a chocolate chip version of the recipe in my last post.

Take out the two tablespoons marmalade and replace it with two tablespoons Hershey’s chocolate syrup. Replace the dried fruit with chocolate chips. Otherwise the directions are the same.

13

Starbucks around here sells a Maple Oat Nut scone that is to die for. I wonder if I can find a recipe online.

14

I’ve never liked my scones sweet, I prefer them with cheddar cheese and bits of ham baked in. I used to have a roommate who made them every Sunday morning (using the sour milk that could always be found in our fridge).

So if I left out the sugar, will it mess up the recipe?

15

Bingo.

16

**Gulo gulo ** - the recipe that I gave in my initial post, despite the cream and lemonade, produces scones that are not at all sweet.

17

The short answer is yes, probably, it will mess up the recipe. Baking’s three parts chemistry and one part physics. Sugar is needed to (among other things) retain moisture, brown correctly and produce the Maillard reaction (a flavor development thing). It’s also crucial in producing something with a shelf life. Here’s a website with information on sugar’s role in baking. If you don’t use sugar, you have to use something else to fufill these roles, or your baking will suffer.

18

I think you’re thinking of crumpets.

I usually make these to have Christmas morning:
Cherry Almond Scones

(Makes 8 scones)

For cherry swirl:

3 oz dried tart cherries
3 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp light brown sugar (or 1 Tbsp dark brown plus 1 Tbsp white)
1 ½ tsp Amaretto
2 tsp sliced almonds with skins (½ oz)

For scones:
2 3/4 all-purpose flour (plus additional for preparation)
3 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt*
1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbsp) cold unsalted* butter, cut into 1 cm cubes
3 ½ oz almond paste (1/3 cup)
4 Tbsp sliced almonds with skins (1 oz)
1 cup buttermilk (shake well)
2 large eggs
1 ½ tsp almond extract
Turbinado sugar (if desired)

  • If salted butter is used, salt may be omitted

For cherry swirl:
Simmer dried cherries and water in a small saucepan, for about a minute. Remove about 2 Tbsp slightly plumped cherries and set aside. Continue heating remaining cherries, stirring occasionally, until water is absorbed (around 3 minutes or so).

Transfer the hydrated cherries to a blender or food processor. Add sugar and amaretto, and puree coarsely. Add almonds and pulse a bit more to coarsely chop the nuts.

Transfer the cherry-almond puree to a bowl and cool to room temperature.

For scones:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt (if used), and butter in large bowl. Chop or crumble almond paste into small bits and add to bowl. Using pastry blender, combine until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized lumps of butter. Stir in 2 Tbsp almonds and the 2 Tbsp reserved plumped cherries. (You may snip the cherries into smaller bits using kitchen shears if desired.)

Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and almond extract. Remove 2 Tbsp of mixture to reserve for later use.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and pour in remaining buttermilk mixture. Stir until just combined; over-mixing leads to tough scones. Add cherry-almond puree and stir a few times just enough to distribute a swirl rather than fully incorporating into the mixture. The dough will be wet.

Coat your hands with flour, and transfer the dough to a well-floured surface. Turn the dough to coat with flour, and pat into a round shape 6-8" in diameter, and about 2" thick. Carefully transfer this to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut into 8 equal wedges using a floured knife. Leave the wedges together. (If the dough is too soft to cut, chill it for 30 minutes or so first to allow it to firm before cutting.)

Brush top and sides with reserved buttermilk mixture and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp almonds, and turbinado sugar (if desired)

Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a scone — about 40 - 45 minutes.

Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes, and then cut into wedges to separate.

19

http://search.allrecipes.com/recipe/quick.asp?q1=scones&lnkid=65&x=7&y=12 Lots of scone recipes.

The above link is from my favorite recipe site, www.allrecipes.com The recipes here can be altered to give metric measurements, or be increased or decreased, and have a variety of ways to print them out. The site will also give nutritional information on the recipes.

20

You sound like you’ve been watching Good Eats.