Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Scones. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Scones. Sort by date Show all posts
I am a real scone lover. Who doesn't love scones! People have a tendency to think that they are the same thing as baking powder biscuits, but they couldn't be further from the truth!
They are not at all the same thing.
Baking Powder Biscuits are light as air, fluffy and flaky, or at least they should be. If your biscuits are like rocks, I hate to tell you but you're doing something wrong!
They are also on the more savoury side, rather than the sweet.
Scones are sweeter and denser, and much crumblier than biscuits . . . Biscuits tend to use shortening, although some modern versions use butter. Scones always use butter.
The fat in biscuits is cut in until you have a variety of bits, some the size of small peas. In scones, the flour is "rubbed" in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
So you can see, they really aren't the same at all. Both are beautifully delicious and wonderful in their own unique ways!
Its filled with tasty recipes using some of our favourite autumn ingredients like apples and pumpkin, sweet potatoes and plenty of warm baking spices!
Muffins, cakes, pies, breads, you name it!
I can't believe that it has taken me nineteen years to bake these! Wow! So long and now that I have baked them, I wish that I had baked them earlier!
They are actually called Golden Carrot Spice Scones in the booklet, but I thought Carrot Cake Drop Scones sounded so much tastier and believe me . . . these are plenty tasty!
They are everything a great drop scone should be. Dense, buttery, flavourful . . .
Flecked with sweet bits of carrot and studded with sweet sticky raisins . . .
Lightly flavoured with warm baking spices . . .
Glazed with a sweet and spicy glaze . . .
Altogether, all of these things create a scone that is so purely autumnal and delicious . . .
Put the kettle on and grab your tea pot, coz you are going to want to sit right down with one of these hot out of the oven and enjoy with a nice hot cuppa!
Yield: 8 large scones
Carrot Cake Drop Scones
If you want you can shape this into one large round and cut into 8 wedges. I like to just drop them onto the baking sheet, in large dollops. They have lots of character that way and are, as always, delicious no matter what!
ingredients:
For the Scones:
- 280g plain flour (2 cups all purpose)
- 45g sugar (1/4 cup)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 80g cold butter (1/3 cup)
- 80ml double cream (heavy cream) (1/3 cup)
- 90g finely grated carrot (1 cup, about 1 1/2 medium carrots)
- 45g sultana raisins (1/2 cup golden raisins)
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
For the glaze:
- 65g icing sugar (1/2 cup powdered sugar)
- 2 TBS milk
- 1/8 tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
instructions:
How to cook Carrot Cake Drop Scones
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder and spice. Stir in the salt and sugar. Cut the butter into bits and drop it into the bowl. Rub or cut in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the carrots and the raisins. Mix together the cream and egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into that. Mix together with a fork to make a soft dough that leaves the side of the bowl, adding a bit of milk if it seems too dry. Drop by heaped spoons, 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown.
- While they are baking make the glaze by whisking together all of the ingredients until you have a drizzle icing. Remove the hot scones from the baking sheet to a wire rack and drizzle the glaze over top. Enjoy warm!
The are just wonderful! Not just for tea times either, they go fabulously at an autumnal lunch with the ladies served warm with a tasty salad. Yum Yum!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Cherry and Vanilla Scones. These are not cherry scones. These are not vanilla scones. These are Cherry and Vanilla Scones and they are completely different from my other Cherry Vanilla Scone recipe.
That one uses dried sour cherries and is lovely in its own tasty right, sporting a sweet vanilla glaze.
This easy recipe uses candied cherries, or glace cherries as they are also known. Feel free to use maraschino cherries if you cannot find the glace cherries. Just make sure you rinse them well and then dry them before using them in the recipe.
Otherwise they will tint your scone dough pink.
The recipe for these scones was adapted from one I found in a little National Trust book entitled The National Trust Book of Scones.
I love National Trust recipes and their books. They are filled with lots of little antidotes and many are actually recipes which are used in the tea rooms at their various properties which are dotted all over the country.
We always belonged to the National Trust when I was in the UK. They are a trust for the preservation of historic properties, gardens and farms all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
I have always loved visiting their historic properties. Not only are they areas of great beauty, but they are always fascinating and quite informative, historically speaking. I do believe that the Prince of Wales is a Patron.
Beatrix Potter bought up huge scathes of land and properties in the Lake District in an effort to prevent developers from taking over the area and destroying its natural beauty, which was then turned over to the Trust upon her passing.
The Trust is a worthy association which has done a lot to preserve the history and beauty of the UK. They are mainly supported by people visiting these properties and by people who donate to and support the organization. I worry about how it may have fared during Covid.
I hope that it will come out alright in the end.
I wish they had properties such as those here in Canada. I am a real history buff and I love visiting places like this. This is one thing I have in common with Susan Branch.
Anyways, if you ever have the chance to visit the UK, so go to as many National Trust Properties as you can. You won't regret it. You can buy a membership for the time that you are there and it will allow you to into as many places as you wish to for that given year. Well worth the price.
Most of their properties have shops and tearooms/restaurants/cafe's attached where you can go and sit down and have a lunch or a drink and a piece of cake or whatnot. Their treats on offer usually reflect the property where the teashop is located.
All of their food is great. We never visited one without having a drink and a piece of cake or a scone.
As I said, this scone recipe comes from one of their books and I would classify it as an every day type of scone. There are no eggs and cream in it.
Just simple ingredients. Self raising flour, butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. Oh, and those candied glace cherries.
True confession here. I did run out of red cherries today and had to resort to using a few green ones. I could have left them out altogether, but I did want to be able to taste the results from having used the full amount.
It is a generous amount of glace cherries to be honest, which is just lovely. That means they are generously studded throughout with bits of sweet cherry.
I know that it might be difficult for some of you to get glace cherries. You can use maraschino cherries in a pinch, but do beware that they are a bit flimsier than glace cherries.
You will need to rinse them well, and dry them really well, and then be gentle in your handling of them. I always rinse and dry my glace cherries as well.
These are not quite as rich as scones made with cream and butter, but they are still really lovely. Light and crumbly and sturdy enough to spread with cold butter without tearing or breaking apart.
You can enjoy them warm of course, but the wonderful thing about scones is they are equally as delicious to enjoy cold as they are warm.
The same basic principles apply when making scones as when making biscuits. You will always need to use a gentle hand in order to keep them from being tough.
You also need to get as many cuts as you can from the first patting out as subsequent cuts will not be as perfect looking once baked as the first cuts will.
Also for straight sided scones, take care not to twist your cutter when cutting them out. Twisting the cutter seals the edges which prevents your scones from rising properly.
You will get a much higher rise if you stamp them out with a straight up and down motion. Also the re-pats and cuts will not be as tender, because once again . . . they are a fussy bread which benefits from the least amount of attention as possible.
I know my scones and have shared quite a few different recipes on here over the years for a variety of both savory and sweet scones.
Some of my favorites are: Honey and Date Scones (flavored with honey and studded with plenty of bits of dates), Cheese, Spring Onion and Bacon (studded with cheese, chopped spring onions and crispy bits of bacon. Great with soups or salads), Nan's Sugar Scones (a lemon soaked sugar cube is inserted in the center prior to baking, resulting in an almost lemon curd like filling), Irish Coffee Cake Scones (studded with dried currants and topped with a crunchy streusel topping), Three Ingredient Cheese Scones (yes, only three ingredients. Nice and cheesy.)
My favorite all time Classic Fruited Scones (the kind you will find on offer at most establishments and tearooms in the UK), these are scone perfection. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. If you click here you will get a list of all my scone recipes.
So you can see, I really love scones, and I was very pleased with the way these turned out. Warm or cold, with butter or without.
With or without jam or honey, even just on their own, these are quite simply really nice scones. I was very pleased with the outcome and I think you will be too! Enjoy!
Cherry & Vanilla Scones
Yield: Makes 10 (3-inch) scones
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 33 Min
Simple to make, studded with cherries and flavored with vanilla.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups + 2 TBS (500g) self-raising flour
- 1/3 cup (40g) finely granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120ml (1/2 cup) whole milk (may need more)
- 1 3/4 cup (200g) glace cherries, quartered
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking tray with some baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Drop in the bits of butter. Rub the butter in, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs.
- Mix the milk with the vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk gradually, mixing with a round bladed knife until you have a soft dough. You may need more or less milk. Stir in the cherries, distributing them as evenly as you can.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat out to approximately 1 1/2 inches in thickness. Cut into 3 inch rounds using a floured cutter and taking care not to twist the cutter.
- Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each. Re-pat the scraps and repeat cutting until you have cut all your scones. (Bear in mind the most tender scones will be the ones from the first cutting, so do try to get as many from that as you can.)
- Brush the top of each scone with a bit of milk and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
- Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool. Best served warm with some butter and jam.
Notes:
You can easily make your own self-rising flour. Just add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt to each cup (140g) of flour needed. Works a charm. This is what I used here today.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I am a huge fan of scones. They are such a lovely treat, especially at the weekend.
These are a cross between a pastry and a North American Biscuit . . . there are about as many varieties of scones that you can come with as your imagination can dream up!
Today I baked us some Honey & Date Scones . . . I love dates and I love honey . . . the two have very similar qualities . . . both being sticky and sweet . . .
Dates have a Toffee, almost Caramel-like flavour . . . which is why they are such an integral part of a Sticky Toffee Pudding.
They are like nature's candy!
They are lovely in all kinds of baked goods. We love them in cakes and cookies . . . pies even . . . it seemed to be only a natural thing to try them in scones.
I found a recipe on line for Honey & Ginger Scones on What's Cooking America. This recipe has been adapted from that one, adding chopped dates and converting it to British measurements.
I thought the temperature on the original recipe was a bit on the high side, and as you can see my scones got a tad bit dark, however perfectly baked they were.
I have reduced the temperature to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Most scones bake well at that temperature.
A few things to remember. Keep your ingredients cold. The butter, the cream . . . you don't want the butter to melt before you bake it or while you are cutting it into the flour.
If your ingredients are cold, your scones will rise higher. You may even want to chill your bowl and pastry blender prior to using them.
Don't over work the dough. Bring it together and pat it out with the least amount of handling as possible. You can knead it very gently just a couple of times if necessary to help bring it together.
But the most tender and flaky scones come from a dough that has not been overly worked.
When you are cutting them out, use a sharp tapping motion, pushing it straight down and then lifting it straight up. Don't twist the cutter. When you twist the cutter the end result will be lopsided scones.
The flavour will still be excellent, but they won't be as aesthetically pleasing to the eye! So if you are going for something that not only tastes good, but looks good . . . don't twist the cutter!
I picked up some clotted cream for us to enjoy with the scones. Clotted cream is thick, rich and indulgent with the consistency of soft butter.
It is made by heating normal cream to evaporate some of the liquids, and contains at least 55 per cent butter fat, which gives it a pale yellow colour that is often topped with a deeper yellow crust.
It has the same Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status as Stilton Cheese and Jersey Royal Potatoes, which gives its name EU-wide protection from potential imitators.
Clotted Cream comes from Devon and Cornwall. Anything else is a pretender. I will say that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to make proper authentic clotted cream at home.
At best you will only ever come up with something similar, but not the same . . . and if anyone ever tells you anything different, they don't know what they are talking about.
Along with the clotted cream, I served it with some Bonne Maman Caramel for spreading. That and the clotted cream turned these scones into a really wonderfully indulgent taste experience!
Yield: Makes 6 to 8
Honey & Date Scones
prep time: 15 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 30 mins
These lovely scones are buttery, flaky, flavoured with honey and studded with sticky bits of date.
ingredients:
315g plain flour (2 1/4 cups)
45g caster sugar (1/4 cup fine granulated sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
120g unsalted butter, cut into cubes (1/2 cup)
40g chopped pitted dates (1/4 cup)
120ml heavy cream (1/2 cup whipping)
60ml liquid honey (1/4 cup)
1 TBS cream to brush on top
demerara sugar (turbinado) to sprinkle on topinstructions:
Preheat oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside
Measure
the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk together.
Drop in the cold butter and then cut it in with a pastry blender. Stir
in the chopped dates. Whisk together the cream and honey. Pour into
the flour mixture and stir together, just to combine. Tip out onto a
lightly floured surface. Knead a couple of times to bring together and
then lightly pat out to a 7 inch round, about 3/4 inch thick.
the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk together.
Drop in the cold butter and then cut it in with a pastry blender. Stir
in the chopped dates. Whisk together the cream and honey. Pour into
the flour mixture and stir together, just to combine. Tip out onto a
lightly floured surface. Knead a couple of times to bring together and
then lightly pat out to a 7 inch round, about 3/4 inch thick.
into rounds using a floured cutter, using a sharp up and down motion.
Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with a bit of
cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until
well risen and golden brown.
It's very dull and gloomy today . . . these fabulous scones brought a little bit of sunshine into our lives for sure! I hope you will give them a try! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I felt like having a scone today with my mid-morning break. Call it a late brunch as you will, as I didn't really have time for breakfast this morning and I was famished.
I didn't necessarily want to bake a full batch of scones, however. Especially where there is just me in the house.
Oh, I know you can always freeze the extras. I am a fan of fresh scones, but not so much frozen thawed out scones. You cannot beat fresh when it comes to baked goods.
I really love cream scones best of all. There is no having to cut or rub in butter. You just stir in the cream and go. Easy peasy.
I found a recipe for a small batch of cream scones on One Dish Kitchen. It looked quite reasonable and so I decided to adapt it with a few ideas of my own.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
First of all I don't think vanilla has a place in scones, not cream scones anyways, so I left that out completely. I also didn't feel like raisin/sultana scones.
I did, however, have a nice fresh bag of Zante currants and so I decided to go with them. I also decided that nothing goes better with currants than orange zest and so I added some freshly grated orange zest.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
I pat the dough into an even square and then trim the edges slightly with a sharp knife and then use that same sharp knife to cut the square into evenly sized scones. Press straight down and up for a nice straight rise and even rise. No slanted lop-sides.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE ORANGE AND CURRANT CREAM SCONES
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.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
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This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content, and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
I also think a good scone deserves a bit of a glaze, especially a cream scone. I added a brush of cream on top of the scones prior to baking and a tiny sprinkle of coarse Demerara sugar to give it just a bit of a sweet crust on top.
It really makes a nice finish. You could use milk as well, or even a beaten egg yolk, but I already had the cream out, so I went with the cream.
Yummy!
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Look at how nice and tall they rose. This is largely due to making sure my egg and my cream were both very cold, as well as cutting them straight.
Also, I like to handle the dough as little as possible. Over-handling the dough makes for a tough scone that doesn't rise as high.
Just stir your ingredients together to form a slightly tacky dough, dump onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 2 or 3 times and then lightly pat into your square shape.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
One thing I love about these is that you need only a very few ingredients.
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- ¼ cup (40g) dried currants
- more cream to brush on top
- Demerara (turbinado) sugar to sprinkle on top
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Orange zest really helps to bring out the sweetness of the dried currants. In the U.K. I had my own currant bush and would dry my own currants in my dehydrator.
Today I used Zante Currants that I had bought from Amazon. I buy a lot of my things like that on Amazon. The prices are usually quite reasonable in price, and they come right to my door.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE AND CURRANT CREAM SCONES
Remember a light touch is key to getting a perfect result!!
Preheat oven to 425* F /220* C/ gas mark 7. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper or use a silicone liner.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Stir in the dried currants.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream, and egg yolk. Pour into the flour mixture and stir together until combined. You should have a soft slightly tacky dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly a few times and then shape into a 4-inch square 1-inch thick.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Using a sharp knife, cut into 4 even squares and place on the baking sheet. Brush the tops lightly with cream and sprinkle with some demerara (turbinado) sugar.
Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Serve with butter, jam, and clotted cream, if you have it.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
Boy oh boy do I ever miss clotted cream. I have never tried to make any here at home. When you have had the real thing, nothing else quite comes up to it.
These scones were lovely split and spread with some softened butter and strawberry jam. I was really pleased with the end result. Flaky and light. Little bits of sticky sweet currant, a slight hint of orange and then the butter and the jam.
Washed down with a hot cup of herbal tea. This was the perfect mid-morning treat! Simply lovely.
.JPG "Orange and Currant Cream Scones")
If you are a fan of the scone, you are in for a real treat. I have loads of scone recipes here on The English Kitchen. Here are just a few of my favorites!
CARROT CAKE DROP SCONES - These are everything a great drop scone should be. Light and fluffy, no fuss, no muss. Simply mix and drop. Filled with sweet carrots, warm baking spices and sticky raisins. Sweetly glazed. These are a real favorite.
MAPLE GLAZED BLACK PEPPER SCONES - This is a small batch recipe which makes two very large scones. They have that sweet and savory thing going on. Short and buttery, studded with the heat of black pepper and sweetly glazed. Who know that maple and pepper got along so well! Simply fabulous.
Yield: 4
Small Batch Orange and Currant Cream Scones
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 14 MinTotal time: 24 Min
Tender and Flaky, these lovely scones are flavored with zingy orange zest and studded with plenty of dried currants.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose plain flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
- ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- ¼ cup (40g) dried currants
- more cream to brush on top
- Demerara (turbinado) sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425* F /220* C/ gas mark 7. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper or use a silicone liner.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt. Stir in the dried currants.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream, and egg yolk. Pour into the flour mixture and stir together until combined. You should have a soft slightly tacky dough.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very lightly a few times and then shape into a 4-inch square 1-inch thick.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into 4 even squares and place on the baking sheet.
- Brush the tops lightly with cream and sprinkle with some demerara (turbinado) sugar.
- Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Serve with butter, jam, and clotted cream, if you have it.
Notes
One of the secrets to flaky scones with a high rise is to make sure your cream and egg are cold. Also try not to handle the dough overly much as this will toughen the dough.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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