Tag: scones

Fruit scones recipe by Ranveet Gill

FRUIT SCONES

One of my earliest pastry jobs involved making hundreds of scones each morning for afternoon tea service. The key was never to overmix the dough and to get your hands involved to bring it together, then to rest it before cutting. A scone is best served on the day it is baked with copious amounts of clotted cream and jam on the side.

MAKES 6 SCONES

Equipment
flat baking tray
15g/1 tbsp raisins
just-boiled water, to cover
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
12g/21/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
30g caster sugar
75g cold unsalted butter, cubed
25g (prepped weight) eating apple
(approx. 1/4 small apple), cored and grated
125ml full-fat milk
1 egg, beaten, for the egg wash

Put the raisins in a small, heatproof bowl, cover with just-boiled water and leave to soak for 20 minutes, then drain.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter and use your fingertips to breadcrumb it together. Mix through the apple and strained raisins.

Keeping one hand out of the bowl, make a well in the centre and add the milk. Use your hand (that’s in the bowl) to bring it together initially to a loose dough, but do not overwork it. Tip this onto your workbench and then use both hands to gently bring it together to form a dough. Gently shape into a disc, then wrap tightly in baking paper or clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6. Line the baking tray with baking paper.

Lightly dust your workbench and a 6.5cm (23/4in) round biscuit cutter with flour. Unwrap the chilled dough and gently roll it into a round, about 3cm (11/4in) thick. Position the cutter, then press down in one straight motion (don’t twist the cutter) with your hand to cut out each scone, then gather the trimmings and cut out another scone.

Place the rounds on the lined baking tray, then brush the top of each one with egg wash.

Bake for 18–20 minutes or until risen and lightly golden.

Remove from the oven, transfer the scones to a wire rack and allow to cool fully before serving. Serve split and spread with butter and jam, or clotted cream and jam, or all three!

These scones are best eaten fresh on the day they are made.

Cook more from this book
Fig rolls

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Buy the book: Baking for pleasure by Ranveet Gill
£26, Pavillion Books

Recipe: Flakey cheese and pickle scones by Nicola Lamb

Cheese and Pickle Scones

The humble cheese scone is given the flaky treatment. The addition of rye flour
and pickle chunks in the layers gives these scones a deli sandwich energy that
would be welcome at any picnic. Working fast and having a light touch here is key
for the flakiest scones possible

Equipment
6.5cm cutter

Ingredients
210g plain flour
30g dark rye flour
10g baking powder (about 2½ tsp)
4g flaky sea salt (about 1⅛ tsp)
2g black pepper (about 1 tsp)
100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
110g butter, very cold
75g pickled gherkins, drained and chopped
120g buttermilk (see Note)
Egg wash (see page 343 of Sift) 

  1. Get everything cold. And I mean cold. If you have time, put your dry ingredients in
    the freezer for 20 minutes before mixing. Your butter must be fridge-cold and firm
    to the touch.
  2. Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl, plus half the grated Cheddar cheese.
  3. Cut the butter into 2cm cubes. Using the paddle attachment or your fingertips, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients, along with the chopped gherkins for about 30 seconds. Only go so far that the butter is in irregular-sized pieces. You need some larger bits of butter to get the layers later.
  4. Now, add the buttermilk in a steady stream and mix until it is looking just hydrated – there can still be dry bits.
  5. Tip onto a clean surface and push together, scraping all the dry bits into the middle.
  6. Roll to approximately 40cm long, sprinkle over half of the leftover cheese and perform a single fold – that’s when you bring the top down two-thirds and then the bottom over the middle third, like a business letter!
  7. Turn 90 degrees and roll to 40cm long, then sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and perform another single fold. Use a knife or a bench scraper to cut the folded edge –this will give you the best layers possible.
  8. Pat the dough into a rectangle around 2.5–3cm high. Trim the edges (you can bake these as snack scraps!) and pat down slightly to get the dough back into proportion. Cut into six large squares. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put into the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for 45 minutes.
  9. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
  10. Gently brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, if desired. Bake for 12–15 minutes (watch the colour), then turn the oven down to 190°C/170°C fan and continue cooking for 5–10 minutes until the scones are golden and well baked. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool, then serve warm.

Note: If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 115g whole milk with 5g white wine vinegar and then leave in the fridge to curdle for about 5 minutes. It will appear thickened but a bit split.

Cook more from this book
Miso Walnut Cookies
Secret Chooclate Cake

Click the link to buy this book:
SIFT: The Elements of Great Baking
£30.00, Ebury Press

Click here to read the review