Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Scones

I love scones. They're the perfect thing to have with tea, and they look so imperfect yet taste so good! 


Scones (adapted from America's test kitchen cookbook, as posted here)

Makes 10 (based on using a 2.5 inch chef's ring to cut scones from the dough)

2 cups (284g) unbleached plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp (70g) unsalted butter
1 cup cooking cream OR 1 cup double cream + 3 tbsp whole milk

A couple handfuls of raisins (optional)

1. Measure out the butter into a bowl. Cut the butter into 1cm cubes and freeze.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Add the butter to the flour and rub in with your fingers till it looks like this:

I stopped rubbing in at this stage. Note that there the crumbs not all the same size- this is fine.  Keep rubbing and you'll risk melting all the butter

4. Add the raisins, if using, and the cooking cream OR double cream + milk and mix gently till just combined
5. Pour out mixture onto countertop lined with cling wrap. Knead gently till the cream is evenly absorbed by the flour mixture, about 10 sec
6. Press the dough into a ball and flatten into 2cm thickness
7. Lightly flour the chef's ring and cut up discs, placing them 2.5 cm apart on baking sheet that is greased OR lined with baking paper
8. Gather the dough scraps and repeat the process so they don't go to waste. If baking more than one tray, keep the cut-out dough in freezer till ready to bake.
9. Bake at 220 deg c, 18 min.


Dough cut-outs. 
Done!
Note:
This recipe easily transforms from sweet to savoury. I once filled them with Maggie Beer's mushroom pate for a roast chicken dinner. The creaminess of the pate went extremely well with the subtle sweetness of the scones. It also went well with sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese.

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