Ingredients / Shopping List
300g SR white flour1 rounded teaspoon baking powder (optional)75g margarine125g milk1 egg80g dried fruit (sultanas, raisins or currants)
300g SR white flour
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder (optional)
75g margarine
125g milk
1 egg
80g dried fruit (sultanas, raisins or currants)
Prep to Cook: Mixing bowl, jug, fork, flour shaker, cutter ( optional), baking tray with non-stick paper to save washing up, cooling rack. Pre-heat Oven 210ºC, Gas Mark 7
Prep: Prep the dough:
Sieve the flour ( I think it is worth it for good scones) and the baking powder into the mixing bowl. Add the margarine ( or butter ) and rub the fat into the flour using your finger tips. This should not take very long and the margarine all but disappears.
Add the dried fruits, checking that they do not clump together. Stir them in with the fork.
Now in a measuring jug put the egg and milk together and whisk them up using the fork.
Pour most but NOT all of the liquid into the dough and stir with the fork.The dough should form and it should be soft and not sticky. If it is sticky sieve a little more flour over the dough. Also sieve some flour onto the work surface.
Prep the scones:
Tip the dough onto the work surface and shape the dough using your hand to form a ball of dough. Push back any dried fruits that pop out of the mixture.
Pat the surface of the dough until the mixture is flattened but ‘really thick.’ This is the sole secret of making good scones – throw out your rolling pin do not use it!
Using a cutter, press out the circular shapes and place the scones on a flat baking tray.
Using a pastry brush and the remaining egg and milk mixture brush the tops of the scones (not the sides as this will prevent the scones from rising)
Spread out the scones evenly over the baking tray and put into a hot oven.
Cook them for 12 – 15 minutes.
Are they cooked?Scones should rise up to almost double their initial size. They should have a golden tops and white sides that have a split. One good scone becomes two servings! That is the reason you need them nice and thick before you cut them out.
A batch of everyday scones are quick and easy to prepare. You can sit and eat them within half an hour fresh from the oven. What could be nicer.
You can manage without a cutter – after you have pressed out the dough just use a sharp knife and cut the dough into 8 scone squares. This is easy and the results are just as good.
Cooks Know How: Aim for well risen and golden topped scones. The method for making scones is the 'rubbing- in method' because the margarine is rubbed into the flour. Because the recipe uses only used a little fat in the recipe you can serve them spread with butter. The importance of a well risen end product is helped by the use of self raising flour and some added chemical raising agent such as baking powder. During cooking in a hot oven the raising agents produce a gas called carbon dioxide that pushes up the dough. The gluten (a protein in flour) will allow the dough to rise an then it will set (denature) to hold the risen shape. Milk used in the recipe also turns to steam during cooking and helps the dough to rise. Scones should rise to double their pre-cooked height. Egg and milk mixture can be used as a glaze on the top of scones to create a golden shiney top after cooking. Scones are wonderful when freshly cooked but again, due to the small amount of fat in the recipe, scones go stale quickly. Cool your scones on a cooling rack to let the steam escape from them and eat them on the day you make them.