Need a safe plain Scone recipe

Wizwoo

My parents will be up for a couple of days and I plan to make a nice cream tea on Sunday - Scones, clotted cream, strawberries (in jam probably!). I've always struggled with scones in the past and made them too wet. Or they turn out rock hard :rotfl:

Recipes and suggestions please...

thriftlady_2

Makes 16
Oven 230c/gas mark 8

Sift together
1 lb self-raising flour
half a tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Rub in
4 oz butter

Stir in ABOUT half a pint of milk.
Do this gradually otherwise you will end up with the dough too sticky.You probably won't need all the milk.You need to bring the mixture together into a dough that is soft but not sticky.

Flour your worktop and roll out gently to a thickness of about 1 inch.Cut out with a 2 inch cutter.Place on greased/lined baking trays.

Bake for 10-12 mins

HTH

comping_cat

I have a slightly different recipe, which works evertime for us =

8oz s/r flour,
1 oz caster sugar,
2 oz softened butter,
4floz (120ml) milk,
220 C - gas 7 for 12 - 15 minutes.

Mix all ingredients together to form a soft dough. Roll out 1 inch thick and use round cutters!!!!

Bossyboots

I always add a pinch of cream of tartar or some buttermilk to mine. Also, you must not overwork them. Handle the dough as little as you possible can.

hilary1

I add an egg to the basic recipe. Whether it actually improves the taste I dont know, it just a habit.

tootles_2

I used to make scones by the dozen for a National Trust garden, the recipe I used 8 ozs SR flour, level teasp baking powder, 1oz sugar, 2ozs marg, 1/4 oz of dried milk powder.

Rub the fat into the flour and stir in the sugar, add the dried milk and mix in well, use about 4 fl ozs of water to mix to a stiffish dough, I cook mine in a ring in a round sponge tin, but 8 ozs makes 8 scones, roll out to about 1/2" thick and use a straight sided cutter, bake for about 10 - 15 minutes at 220c, if you make it in a sponge tin, roll out to fit the tin cut into quarters in the tin and bake for approx 25 minutes at 220c, once they are baked put on a wire rack to cool....... spilt and spread with butter, jam and clotted cream..............yummy...............

Pink.

Here's Delia smiths step by step (with pictures) how to make scones. I make scones in batches and freeze them, then lift out a couple at a time and blast them in a hot oven and they taste as fresh as the day they were made.

Pink

SnowyOwl_2

These are v.easy to make and devilishly good. I made them twice this week. Only three survived until the weekend (now in the freezer so I don't wolf them down too). The recipe is off the back of a packet of Andrews Flour (suspect only available in N.Ireland, not that it matters):

450 grams self raising flour (the white stuff, non-bleached if you see it)
5 ml (1 teaspoonful) salt
110 grams butter
50 grams caster sugar (I used ordinary granulated, no problems with it)
285 mls milk
Beaten egg to glaze (I didn't bother, thought it wasteful, nobody was any the wiser!)

Method:

1. Sift flour and salt into a big bowl. Cut the butter up into little bits then rub it into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. The butter can be straight from the fridge or at room temperature - but defo not warm or getting v.soft or melting.
2. Add sugar and mix it in well. Add the milk, a bit at a time, and using a spoon mix it in. It'll get a bit thick at the end so put some flour on your paw and use that!
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about half a minute. Roll it out to about 1.5 cms thick.
4. Cut your scones using one of those pastry cutter thingies. You'll get about 12 or so, depending on the thickness of your mixture and the size of your cutter. If you haven't got a pastry cutter thingy then a glass or cup will do (dip in flour before each cut).
5. Place the scones onto a greased baking tray. If you're using the beaten egg to glaze, paint it onto the scone tops now with a pastry brush.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes at 230 deg C, 450 deg F, or gas mark 8. (The temp on my oven is badly marked - I ended up leaving the scones in for about 15 minutes, and just looked to see that the tops were golden brown before deeming them ready).
7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
8. Serve to wrinklies and stand back for praise and oohs and ahhs of delight.

NB: Whichever method you use make sure your oven is nice and hot, so turn it on to the baking temperature just as you begin. Don't open the oven during baking time if you can avoid it. When sieving the flour hold the sieve up as high as you can. When rubbing the butter in hold it up nice and high to incorporate as much air as possible. Have a trial go before the real thing and test on peers.

I tried one of Delia's recipes and it was pants. The above, IMO, is about a thousand times easier, more reliable, and gives better results.

Good luck - once you work out which is the easiest recipe for you you'll be having home made scones every day as they are better and more economical than packet or shop bought.

Sorry for the long post, am a bit of a windbag.

Edit:

Eeek, I cross posted with Pink-Winged who thinks Delia's recipe is fantastic. Sorry Pink-Winged!! I can do a fantastic Delia curry but Delia scones turn out like manky biscuits for me, and I can never figure out why even though I follow it all to the letter. It's like there is only half the amount of mixture needed to make the quantity she says it will make. V.odd indeed.

taplady

This is my favourite scone recipe! taste lovely, freeze really well too!:D


1lb SR flour
1 tsp salt
4oz butter/marg
2oz Castor sugar
1/2 pint milk

You'll need to convert them if you prefer metric. as mentioned above don't over handle them. I always brush mine with a little milk before baking.
Good luck!;)

Pink.

SnowyOwl wrote:

Eeek, I cross posted with Pink-Winged who thinks Delia's recipe is fantastic. Sorry Pink-Winged!! I can do a fantastic Delia curry but Delia scones turn out like manky biscuits for me, and I can never figure out why even though I follow it all to the letter. It's like there is only half the amount of mixture needed to make the quantity she says it will make. V.odd indeed.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Snowy!

That isn't the recipe I normally use, I use the one from the Delia Smith complete cookery course which is very similar to catowen's. I posted that one because I couldn't find the one I normally use on line and because I thought the pictures might make it easier for Wizwoo.

I do agree with you though, Delia's recipes never make as many scones as they say they do. Maybe we just like big scones.

Pink

dragonsoup

I use a food processor for the rubbing the fat into flour bit. It keeps the mix cool and gets plenty of air into it ( which gives you the essential rise)