Friday 24th June is officially called National Cream Tea Day and no cream tea is not complete with a selection of light scones, served with jam and clotted cream. Making your own scones by hand is simple and easy – these take less than 30 minutes to make in total.
Like with any scone recipe, the key is not to overwork the dough when you mix everything together so I use a palette knife to fold and bring the wet and dry ingredients together and because I, like most others, have a tendency to overwork the scone dough when shaping and cutting out, I bring everything together to a loose rubble and work it on the surface by hand.
I like to use a fluted cutter for my scones. Paul Hollywood says that fluted cutters are for common people; I disagree, I like the appearance of fluted scones and I think they’re more upmarket than a round scone.
Here I have recipes for 3 scones, all of which are a twist on that classic scone recipe. This is a great thing to make with your kids and you don’t have to stick to sweet; try adding cheese, bacon, chives, spring onion, chilli flakes or even use wholemeal flour instead. Other ideas for sweet scones include lemon scones, apple and cinnamon scones or cherry!
Apricot and Mixed Peel Scones
These scones came about because I found small amounts of dried fruit I had to use up in the cupboard. I thought I had dried cranberries as well which would work well here to add colour and a sharp sweet burst of flavour.
250g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, cubed
50g granulated sugar
1 egg
About 120ml milk
30g mixed peel
75g dried apricots, chopped finely
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment.
Place the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir to combine. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the butter is evenly incorporated and the mixture is full of even crumbs. Shaking the bowl will help move any larger pieces of butter to the surface. Add in the sugar, mixed peel and apricots and give a brief mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together the egg and milk until even. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add about three-quarters of the wet ingredients. Using a palette knife and a cutting motion, bring the ingredients together into a dough.
When the majority of it has come together, tip it all out onto a clean work surface. Use your hands to bring the scone dough together until it is smooth, gathering all of the uncombined crumbs if there are any, adding another teaspoon of liquid if it feels dry. Once smooth, do not knead any more.
Flour the surface and a rolling pin slightly and roll the dough out to 1 inch thick. Using a 2-inch fluted cutter, cut out as many scones as you can from the dough, rerolling and reshaping the leftover dough, doing this no more than twice.
Place onto the baking tray, leaving space between them. Use a pastry brush to glaze the scones using the extra egg and milk mixture. Make sure that only the top is glazed and don’t let it run down the side.
Bake for 13 – 15 minutes until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, the scones are well risen and have that definitive split around the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Sugar Crusted Sultana Scones
I got inspired to make these because I had a bag of Demerara sugar to use up in the cupboard. They give a wonderful sweetness and crunch to the scone and are a modern twist on the classic sultana scone.
250g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, cubed
50g granulated sugar
1 egg
About 120ml milk
75g sultanas
75g Demerara sugar, placed on a plate
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment.
Place the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir to combine. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the butter is evenly incorporated and the mixture is full of even crumbs. Shaking the bowl will help move any larger pieces of butter to the surface. Add in the sugar and sultanas and give a brief mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together the egg and milk until even. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add about three-quarters of the wet ingredients. Using a palette knife and a cutting motion, bring the ingredients together into a dough.
When the majority of it has come together, tip it all out onto a clean work surface. Use your hands to bring the scone dough together until it is smooth, gathering all of the uncombined crumbs if there are any, adding another teaspoon of liquid if it feels dry. Once smooth, do not knead any more.
Flour the surface and a rolling pin slightly and roll the dough out to 1 inch thick. Using a 2-inch fluted cutter, cut out as many scones as you can from the dough, rerolling and reshaping the leftover dough, doing this no more than twice.
Place onto the baking tray, leaving space between them. Use a pastry brush to glaze the scones using the extra egg and milk mixture. Make sure that only the top is glazed and don’t let it run down the side. Take the scone and dip it into the Demerara sugar and return to the tray.
Bake for 13 – 15 minutes until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, the scones are well risen and have that definitive split around the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Hot Cross Sultana Scones
I came up with this idea back around Easter time. I wanted to bake something Eastery but I had no time to make Simnel Cake and Hot Cross Buns so I decided to revamp my scone recipe to feature the cross so symbolic of Easter.
250g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, cubed
50g granulated sugar
1 egg
About 120ml milk
75g sultanas
20g plain flour
15ml water
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment.
Place the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir to combine. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the butter is evenly incorporated and the mixture is full of even crumbs. Shaking the bowl will help move any larger pieces of butter to the surface. Add in the sugar and sultanas and give a brief mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together the egg and milk until even. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add about three-quarters of the wet ingredients. Using a palette knife and a cutting motion, bring the ingredients together into a dough.
When the majority of it has come together, tip it all out onto a clean work surface. Use your hands to bring the scone dough together until it is smooth, gathering all of the uncombined crumbs if there are any, adding another teaspoon of liquid if it feels dry. Once smooth, do not knead any more.
Flour the surface and a rolling pin slightly and roll the dough out to 1 inch thick. Using a 2-inch fluted cutter, cut out as many scones as you can from the dough, rerolling and reshaping the leftover dough, doing this no more than twice.
Place onto the baking tray, leaving space between them. Use a pastry brush to glaze the scones using the extra egg and milk mixture. Make sure that only the top is glazed and don’t let it run down the side.
Prepare the topping by mixing together the plain flour and water to form a paste. Place into a disposable piping bag and cut a small hole at the end. Pipe a cross on the scones, making sure it remains on the surface.
Bake for 13 – 15 minutes until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, the scones are well risen and have that definitive split around the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Serve with jam and clotted cream (not necessarily in that order!)
Andrew in the Kitchen 