Scones

Well my oh and gd made scones he used Hilda ,s recipe says he's going to work down posts , they were very good if a bit thin but practise makes perfect ?

The best, lightest and loftiest scones I ever had were in a small tearoom on one of our local canals. I collared the lady who made them and asked for the secret. She said “eggs - lots of eggs.” She could not (or would not) give me an exact quantity of eggs to other ingredients, saying it was all in her head and depended on how many she had to make at a time. She gave me a sort of recipe which I went away and tried. They had three eggs in and were a complete failure ☹️.

Am I alone in not using sugar in scones. With jam it doesn't seem necessary

Ooh thanks craicon - good tip!

If you make a large quantity of mixture, cut out the scone shapes in the dough and freeze them individually on a baking tray. Once frozen, you can then put them all in a bag back into the freezer. Take them out of the freezer individually or in small batches to cook and eat fresh. It’s lovely if you have friends pop in for a visit and you can have fresh scones from the oven within 20 minutes.

Thank you, Greyduster. I have just made a batch of scones using your recipe and they have turned out well. I hadn’t used yoghurt before.

Just looked at the main page of Gransnet and there’s a recipe for “3 ingredients scones” - flour, cream and lemonade!!

Thanks Bathsheba - I used to do quite a bit of baking but then got out of the habit, when children left home. I think I might make some scones this week though!

Oh and wholemeal flour? Well yes you can, but they won't be quite as light as ones made with white flour. Tastier though!

I usually get about 18-20 Sallyann. Some go in the freezer for later because scones are really best eaten within 24 hours. Having said that, any left after a couple of days can be easily rejuvenated by a few minutes in a hot oven

How many scones does your recipe make Bathsheba? ( I mean roughly - I realise it would depend on the size of the cutter) Also, can you use wholemeal flour? Thanks

I started young natural yogurt instead of milk when I purchased the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook and they are much better and lighter than the ones I have been making for years and years.

I use the same amounts as hildaj but use just milk and no egg. Handle the mixture as little as possible and pat out mix to about an inch thick rather than rolling it. I sometimes make one large circle and mark it into eight triangles before baking (when too lazy to cut rounds lol) which then break into individual pieces as needed.

Good tips, thanks everyone.
I have a Mary Berry lemon cake recipe, which uses yogurt and the cake is as light as a feather.
I can see now how yogurt would work in scones.

You are right grannyticktock when treated milk turns it tastes awful after just a short while even in scones. Yoghurt is good but if I don't have any I have turned fresh milk myself by adding a tablespoon of white or cider vinegar to the milk and letting it turn lumpy and it makes the scones very light.

The less you handle the dough the lighter the scones will be.

Oh yes, you could be right grannyticktock, hadn't thought of that.

I think modern (pasteurised or filtered) milk that is on the turn is different. In the Olden Days, fresh milk just went quietly sour in a few days, but heat-treated milk goes bad and has an unpleasant taste. That's my understanding, anyway.
A mix of natural yoghurt and water or milk will substitute for buttermilk, giving that slight acidity.

Thanks for your recipes I will show them to oh he can decide which to use he may even try more than one thanks for good wishes hildajenniJ

Thanks, Bathsheba I have used milk that was on the turn, but only because I hate to waste anything and I remembered my mum doing it.

Your gran knew what she was doing hildaj

My gran used milk that was just on the turn. Her scones were delicious.

I bake a lot, but have never used buttermilk in scones. Does it make any difference to the finished result?
It tends to make the scones a bit lighter and fluffier, something to do with the acid working with the flour and breaking it up more. You can use yoghurt or a mix of yoghurt and milk for a similar effect. Also, as I mentioned before, I often use the whey that I strain from my homemade yoghurt, which is acidic.

I don't put salt in my scones as I use salted butter. Also, I meant to add, brush the tops of the scones with a little milk before baking.

New Zealand Scones

250g / 9oz self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g / 2oz dried fruit
1 tbsp sugar
142ml carton double cream
142ml fizzy lemonade (NOT diet lemonade - use the cream carton as a measure)

Preheat oven to 210C (190C fan oven)
Grease and flour a baking sheet. Mix all ingredients together, the mixture will be quite soft so add a little flour if needed to make it into a dough. Roll out on a floured board to 2cm thickness and cut into rounds.

Transfer to baking sheet and cook for 15 mins until brown.

Really easy recipe, no rubbing in1

The recipe I use is
12ozs SR flour
1.25ml salt
2ozs caster sugar
3ozs butter
125ml milk
4tbsps natural yoghurt
2 ozs sultanas

Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and rub in butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Mix the milk and yoghurt and stir into the mixture; work together until a soft dough is formed.
Turn onto a floured board and knead lightly to get a smooth surface. Flatten out to an even thickness of about 2cm. Using a 2” cutter cut out 12 to 14 scones and place on a baking tray
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.

The addition of the yoghurt helps the rise.
To make savoury scones leave out the sugar and replace with 2ozs of grated cheddar cheese and 2.5 ml of dried mustard.