British fruit scone recipe needed urgently. Can you help please?!
My scones (using my mother's recipe) are terrible and fairly hard. They break into bits when I try to slice them across the centre.
I want to make some similar to the ones they serve in Devon and Cornwall which they serve with thick clotted cream and strawberry jam.
Any tips to make nice fluffy light ones would be very much appreciated.
Answers:
Sweet Scones
8 oz self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 oz cold butter
30 g caster sugar
150 ml milk
for glazing
1 egg beaten (optional)
Heat oven to 425'F/225'C/gas mark 7. Flour a baking sheet.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces, toss in the flour and rub in with your fingertips until combined.
Stir in the sugar.
Working quickly, pour in the milk and stir with a table knife to make a soft dough. The dough should be a bit sticky. Turn out on to a floured surface and pat to 1 in thick using floured hands. Use a small round cutter dipped in flour to cut the scones.Gather the scraps together to make more scones. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg if you like a shiny crust.
Bake for 15-10 minues or until well risen and brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Fruit Scones: Add 4 oz raisins with the sugar.
Note: Tough dry scones come from making the dough too dry and/or working it too much. make sure you mix, cut and bake in quick succession.
All purpose flour is the same as plain flour. Use 5 oz plain flour to substitute for a cup.
Leiths Baking Bible
It's amazing! may be useful as a personal reference http://seekitnow.info/35840/baked-powders
http://seekitnow.info/35840/baked-powders
for making good fluffy scones or American Biscuits, techniques are to be followed exactly.
American measures came originally from Britain!!! Get over it!!! We just don't wish to toss all our cookbook collections and go metric.l And we have been being urged to do just that for over 50 years! Our measure cups have both measures on them.
So pick a cup in your house and use it for my measures!!
cup should be about 8 ounces level measure liquid.
2 cups regular or all ppurpose flour
2 spoons (dessert) baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1 spoon salt
2 serving spoons sugar
stir dry ingredients together well. Cut in butter the same as for pastry crust, use a fork and mash and blend until it looks like cornmeal. sort of grainy but you can't really see the butter.
chill this back to cold, about 30 minutes.
stir in 1 cup milk, half n half or heavy cream, your choice, but cream is best. When dough pulls from bowl to center it is stirred enough.
dust bread board with flour, put dough there, dust with a bit more flour. roll to 1/4 inch thickness, If you want fruit bits in it, add dried fruit now in smooth layer across half this dough. Fold dough over on itself and press together, if you want more fruit, put on half of dough. Now roll dough to half inch, cut with diamond or round cutters. Dip in melted butter and lay on baking sheet not touching.
Bake in 400 F oven or medium heated oven, not sure what the celsius is here, but where ever you bake cakes, just a bit ahead of that 15 to 25 minutes. I live on a mile high mountain and my timing is different.
Just don't overwork your dough too much. The folding is ok. And bake only to golden brown on top.