I'm after a reliable recipe for fruit scones (and a method) having achieved hit and miss results with my current mixture. I'd really like to get tall ones that dont crumble apart, if anyone has succes with scones i would love some guidance!
Mandy
scone recipe
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Hello Mandy
Like you I've had successes and failures with making scones. These are a few things that I've found that will help but I've yet to find a foolproof method that gives good results every time.
Firstly recipes with plain flour plus raising agent seem to work better than those that call for self-raising flour. For 8oz plain flour use 6 level tsp of baking powder. I prefer 4 tsp of cream of tartar and 2 tsp of sodium bicarb. Scones are really a quickbread with a soda based raising agent so work the dough a bit to strengthen the mixture as you would a bread dough - it doesn't need vigorous kneading though. The tartar/bicarb mix starts to work as soon as the liquid is added so shape the dough into a rough square then cover and leave it in a cool place for about 15 min to rest and rise.
Roll out the dough to a good thickness, say 3 cm, then cut out the scones. Push the cutter straight down into the dough without twisting or turning and transfer to your baking sheet carefully. If you don't do this scones will turn out lop-sided.
Use a preheated oven at 220°C but turn it down to 200°C when you put the scones in and use the shelf above middle. They should take 20 min or so.
Finally don't be afraid to try a different make of flour. We regularly make our own bread and have always been surprised how much flours can differ between makes.
Hope this helps.
John
Like you I've had successes and failures with making scones. These are a few things that I've found that will help but I've yet to find a foolproof method that gives good results every time.
Firstly recipes with plain flour plus raising agent seem to work better than those that call for self-raising flour. For 8oz plain flour use 6 level tsp of baking powder. I prefer 4 tsp of cream of tartar and 2 tsp of sodium bicarb. Scones are really a quickbread with a soda based raising agent so work the dough a bit to strengthen the mixture as you would a bread dough - it doesn't need vigorous kneading though. The tartar/bicarb mix starts to work as soon as the liquid is added so shape the dough into a rough square then cover and leave it in a cool place for about 15 min to rest and rise.
Roll out the dough to a good thickness, say 3 cm, then cut out the scones. Push the cutter straight down into the dough without twisting or turning and transfer to your baking sheet carefully. If you don't do this scones will turn out lop-sided.
Use a preheated oven at 220°C but turn it down to 200°C when you put the scones in and use the shelf above middle. They should take 20 min or so.
Finally don't be afraid to try a different make of flour. We regularly make our own bread and have always been surprised how much flours can differ between makes.
Hope this helps.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
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PLUMPUDDING
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Thank you John, I've always wondered how the bought scones come out tall while my home made ones are always flatter. I'm going to try your method this weekend and hope for the best.
Pat
Pat
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PLUMPUDDING
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Success - nice tall scones, thanks John. I tried rolling it out and cutting the scones after it had risen and rolling it out first and letting the cut scones rise and I think the latter were better. Both tasted good though and didn't last very long especially when topped with home made seedless raspberry jam.
Glad it worked, PP.
It took me many many tries to even get somewhere near to a decent scone and even now sometimes it all goes wrong!
I'll try your rolling then rising method next time.
John
It took me many many tries to even get somewhere near to a decent scone and even now sometimes it all goes wrong!
I'll try your rolling then rising method next time.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
Hi thanks for replies, i tried the new method and they were a big improvement, but my end product is still a bit crumbly, can I have your ammounts of butter, sugar, milk and eggs to flouur please plum pudding?
Hello Mandy
I asked DW about this. She said did you overwork the mixture - easy to do apparently if you use a food processor.
John
I asked DW about this. She said did you overwork the mixture - easy to do apparently if you use a food processor.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
-
PLUMPUDDING
- KG Regular
- Posts: 3269
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:14 pm
- Location: Stocksbridge, S. Yorks
Hi Mandy, I just used the usual 8 oz plain flour, (John's 4 tsp cream of tartar and 2 tsp baking soda), 2 oz butter, 2 oz sugar and one beaten egg and milk, probably 4 fl oz, but just added a bit at a time to it just held together rather than being wet. I like them with sultanas in too.
I cooked them at 200 C for 14 minutes.
They also freeze very well when cooked and taste just cooked if you pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds before splitting them and filling with cream and jam - so very handy to have if you get visitors. (But I'm sure everyone already knows this)
I cooked them at 200 C for 14 minutes.
They also freeze very well when cooked and taste just cooked if you pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds before splitting them and filling with cream and jam - so very handy to have if you get visitors. (But I'm sure everyone already knows this)