Best Ever Classic Scones Food

CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 240°C (220°C fan-forced). Grease 23cm-square cake pan.
• Sift flour, sugar and salt into large bowl; rub in butter. Stir in milk and enough water to mix to a soft, sticky dough.
• Turn dough onto floured surface; knead quickly and lightly until just smooth. Use hand to press dough out evenly to 2cm thickness; using cutter, cut 5cm rounds from dough.
• Place rounds in pan; brush with extra milk. Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes. Turn onto wire rack to cool.

CLASSIC SCONES WITH JAM & CLOTTED CREAM

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the self-raising flour into a large bowl with ¼ tsp salt and the baking powder, then mix.
• Add the butter, then rub in with your fingers until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the caster sugar.
• Put the milk into a jug and heat in the microwave for about 30 secs until warm, but not hot. Add the vanilla extract and a squeeze of lemon juice, then set aside for a moment.
• Put a baking tray in the oven. Make a well in the dry mix, then add the liquid and combine it quickly with a cutlery knife - it will seem pretty wet at first.
• Scatter some flour onto the work surface and tip the dough out. Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour, then fold the dough over 2-3 times until it's a little smoother. Pat into a round about 4cm deep. Take a 5cm cutter (smooth-edged cutters tend to cut more cleanly, giving a better rise) and dip it into some flour. Plunge into the dough, then repeat until you have four scones. You may need to press what's left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four.
• Brush the tops with a beaten egg, then carefully arrange on the hot baking tray. Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top. Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking, generously topped with jam and clotted cream. If freezing, freeze once cool. Defrost, then put in a low oven (about 160C/140C fan/gas 3) for a few minutes to refresh.

THE BEST SCONES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the cream, egg and milk powder in a liquid measuring cup. Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse only until pea-size pieces remain. Transfer to a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and mix with a fork, incorporating the dry ingredients a little at a time until a shaggy dough forms (it's okay if the dough looks a little dry, just don't overwork it). Lightly knead the dough in the bowl until it just comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 1-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 by 7 inches). Cut in half lengthwise, then cut in half again crosswise; you should have 4 equal rectangles. Cut each piece in half from corner to corner making 8 triangular wedges. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
• Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake the scones until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 more minutes. Serve warm with softened butter and jam.

CLASSIC CREAM SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry cutter (or very quickly with your fingertips). Add the cream and the eggs, stirring together into a dough.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8- to 9-inch-wide, 1/2-inch-thick circle. Cut into 8 triangles. Spread the triangles across the tray. Bake until toasted on the bottom and lightly golden on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

CLASSIC CREAM SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425F.
• Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives used scissors fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla.
• Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combines.
• Stir in the currents/raisins (optional). With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured cutting board.
• Using a floured 2 1/2-inch-diameter round biscuit cutter or a glass, cut out rounds from the dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Gather the scraps together and repeat until all the dough is used.
• Lightly brush the tops of the scones with the egg mixture, if desired.
• Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.
• Using a spatula, transfer the scones to the wire rack to cool.
• Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container.
• Makes about 14 scones.
• Variation: Add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of grated lemon peel to the dry ingredients.
• My variation: Classic Scones 280 grams all-purpose flour 65 g granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 110 g unsalted butter, chilled 6 tablespoons milk 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar 125 g raisins Preheat oven to 220C.
• Directions as above.

CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the flour, salt, baking powder and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
• Add the egg and just enough cream to form a slightly sticky dough. If it's too sticky, add a little flour, but very little; it should still stick a little to your hands.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice, then press it into a 3/4-inch-thick circle and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass. Put the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again. Brush the top of each scone with a bit of cream and sprinkle with a little of the remaining sugar.
• Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the scones are a beautiful golden brown. Serve immediately.

BEST EVER CLASSIC SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet or two (depending on how large your baking sheets are) by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a fork or a whisk.
• In a liquid measuring cup, measure the cream and add the eggs. Whisk together using a fork and set aside.
• The next few steps should be done quickly, as you're working with cold butter and you want the butter to be as cold as possible when it hits the heat of the oven. This will result in a flaky scone, rather than a heavy and dense one.
• Cut up your butter, right from the fridge, into little pieces and dump it into the flour mixture. Using your hands (wash them well first and remove any rings), pick up handfuls of the butter and flour mixture, rubbing the pieces of butter and the flour between the heels of your hands to create "sheets" of butter. You should act quickly here, and don't allow the pieces of butter to sit in your hands for any length of time as the heat from your hands will cause it to soften. The goal is to create paper-thin pieces of butter, small and large throughout the mixture. Once there are no thick chunks of butter remaining, only thin sheets, remove your hands from the mixture. Hands equal heat, so handle the mixture as little as possible.
• Pour in the wet ingredients and mix roughly with a fork. Do not over mix, or the result will be heavy and dense.
• Once the wet ingredients have been incorporated but there are still several streaks of flour, turn the dough out onto a clean and floured counter surface. Press the dough down into the counter and then fold one half over the other half like you are folding a piece of paper. Press down again and make another fold. Repeat this 2 or 3 more times, gathering any outlying dough bits and flour into your folds. Don't knead the dough like you would if you were making bread, and don't stir or mix the dough like you would if you were making muffins. Scones are technically a pastry, so the goal is flaky layers that are created by the thin sheets of butter and all the folding.
• Once your dough is formed after folding several times, shape it into a rectangle about 1 3/4 to 2 inches thick (approximately). Again, be careful not to handle the dough too much, so a few little cracks here and there are fine.
• Cut out circles of dough using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a class or jar. Arrange the circles of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash (whisk together the egg and water).
• You'll need to re-shape the leftover dough to form another rectangle - do this carefully and gently, without adding much extra flour if possible. The less you handle the dough, the more tender and flaky the scones will be. Cut out the remainder of the scones until you have about 10-12 in total.
• Bake for about 15-18 minutes just until barely golden brown and the surface of the scones lose their shine. Let them cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

BEST EVER PUMPKIN SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200°C Place pumpkin in a steamer over a saucepan of boiling water, cover and steam until tender (about 15 minutes), then transfer to an oven tray and bake for 10 minutes to dry out. Cool, then pass through a coarse sieve.
• Sift flour, nutmeg and 1 tsp salt into a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat icing sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, add egg yolk and beat to combine. Using a wooden spoon, stir in pumpkin, then half the flour mixture. Add remaining flour mixture and, using your hands, bring together to make a dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth (dough should be a little sticky).
• Roll out to 2cm thick and, using a 5.5cm-diameter cutter dipped in flour, cut rounds (without twisting cutter) from dough and transfer to a lightly greased oven tray. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Brush tops with milk and bake until golden and sound hollow when tapped (10-15 minutes). Serve hot or at room temperature with butter.

CLASSIC CHEESE SCONES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 with a large baking tray inside. Sift the flour, salt, cayenne pepper and baking powder into a bowl, then sift again to make sure the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
• Add the butter to the bowl and combine with your fingertips to make breadcrumbs. Sprinkle 100g of the cheese into the breadcrumb mixture and rub together until evenly distributed. Try not to mix too much as the heat from your hands may start to melt the butter.
• Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in enough milk to give a fairly soft but firm dough. Do not pour in all the milk at once as you may not need it all to get the right consistency.
• Lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough to approximately 2cm thick. Cut out the scones with a medium (about 8cm) cutter, then put on a sheet of baking parchment, glaze with a little milk and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Slide onto the hot oven tray.
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins or until golden brown and cooked through.

ULTIMATE SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C and lightly butter a baking sheet (unless you're using a non-stick sheet). Tip the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt. Shoot in the butter, then rub together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine crumbed mixture, lifting to aerate the mixture as you go. Try not to overrub, as the mixture will be lighter if it's a little bit flaky. Now stir in the sugar.
• Measure the buttermilk, then mix in the milk to slacken it. Make a bit of a well in the middle of the flour mixture with a round-bladed knife, then pour in most of this buttermilk mixture, holding a little bit back in case it's not needed. Using the knife, gently work the mixture together until it forms a soft, almost sticky, dough. Work in any loose dry bits of mixture with the rest of the buttermilk. Don't overwork at this point or you will toughen the dough.
• Lift the ball of soft dough out of the bowl and put it on to a very lightly floured surface. Knead the mixture just 3-4 times to get rid of the cracks.
• Pat the dough gently with your hands to a thickness of no less than 2cm and no more than 2.5cm. Dip a 5.5cm round fluted cutter into a bowl of flour - this helps to stop the dough sticking to it, then cut out the scones by pushing down quickly and firmly on the cutter with the palm of your hand - don't twist it.You will hear the dough give a big sigh as the cutter goes in. Gather the trimmings lightly then pat and cut out a couple more scones.
• Place on the baking sheet and sift over a light dusting of flour or glaze if you wish. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack, uncovered if you prefer crisp tops, or covered loosely with a cloth for soft ones.
• Serve with strawberry jam and a generous mound of clotted cream (Cornish people put jam first, then cream, Devonians the other way round). Eat them as fresh as you can.

THE BEST CRANBERRY SCONES EVER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven.
• Butter or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.
• Stir in the cranberries and mixed fruit peel, making sure not to crush the berries.
• Add the milk and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
• Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough into a circle that is 8 inches (20cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick.
• Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and then brush the scone with milk. Using a sharp knife, score the top of the scone into eight triangles and then sprinkle with the sliced almonds.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the scone comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on a high setting. Sift icing sugar over the top of the scone and place under the broiler.
• Broil for just a few seconds, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scone carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly!
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Enjoy!