In my post last Tuesday I mentioned scones. Some of my American friends are unsure of what Irish scones are like or how they are made. Well Grannymar aims to please, so I called on good old YouTube and found this:-
Everyone has their own recipe and below I give you mine.
Scones
Preheat the oven to 200°C
8ozs Plain Flour
2-teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
½ teaspoon Salt
2oz Butter or Margarine.
Approx. ¼ pint of Milk
A small Egg, beaten
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar together.
Rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and then mix to firm-ish dough with the milk and about half of the egg.
On a floured surface, pat the mixture out to a thickness of about 1in and cut the scones, either with a knife or a circular cutter.
Place on a floured baking tray and brush the tops with milk mixed with the remaining egg.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes.Cool on a wire tray.
Variations:-
Fruit scones – Add 2oz sultanas.
Cherry Scones – Add 2ozs cherries, halved
Cheese Scones – Add 2ozs cheese, grated
For a special treat try Raspberries and White Chocolate.
Oh I luvs me my scones – best kind I ever had were here, GM, cranberries throughout and then the best thing, orange zest all over the tops. I couldn’t stop. Really. I was a disgrace to my mother.
XO
WWW
plain scones straight from the oven….no need for butter or (yeuk) clotted cream and jam…the only thing better in the world of scones is cheese scones straight from the oven!
Now about cheese scones…try different cheeses and grate some over the top as well. Oh yes, and add a little mustard powder to the mix….
@WWW – Cranberries & orange, nom nom as the young folk say!
@Magpie – I never thought of adding mustard powder, I must give it a go!
Oh I love scones and must try your recipe.
It’s so hard to get real scones at my store because they add sugar and they taste just like a Danish. I see the video also adds sugar, but I know I will like your version better. (Fewer calories – not that I need to lose weight, ;-). )
I am not a purist, though. I love clotted cream on them.
Yum! Have you ever heard of “Singing Hinnies”? I read about them in a Mary Steward novel years and years ago and then actually found a recipe. These are the real scones, what scones were before Starbucks changed the definition.
Yours don’t have sugar! Wow! I have to try them.
Thanks!
Um, that would be Mary StewarT (ending with a t, not a d – sorry about that)
Hey! Don’t fall for that Scots propaganda>.Scone (pronounced SKoon) is where the stone comes from….scones (pronounced scoans or sconns) are english! 😉
As for clotted cream…that’s a Devonian tradition (okay we’ll let the Cornish have it too)
The essential of scones is that they are the “background” to a taste picture painted by the cook….that and the fact that they should be eaten as fresh as possible. Even an hour can make a difference.
When we were in the States we had something very like a scone for breakfast….. can’t remember what it was called tho’.
Okay…maybe hutch originally…but here’s how to make clotted cream!
In winter, let fresh, unpasteurized cream stand 12 hours, (in summer, about 6 hours) in a heat-proof dish. Then put the cream on to heat – the lower the heat the better. It must never boil, as this will coagulate the albumen and ruin everything. When small rings or undulations form on the surface, the cream is sufficiently scalded. Remove at once from heat and store in a cold place at least 12 hours. Then skim the thick, clotted cream and serve it very cold as a garnish for berries, or spread on scones and top with jam.
The dish needs to be a wide one and heating can be over a pan of hot water to avoid boiling…
Dutch! …not hutch..
@Darlene – I don’t add sugar to my scones or wheaten bread.
@Verna – Welcome and enjoy the scone party.
@Magpie – are you trying to start a scone war????? I’ll leave you to enjoy the clotted cream, I’m staying out of that kitchen.
By the way can I book you for Food Mondays when I take holidays? 😉
The first words ever written by my youngest sister were ” I like Food.” It was a sort of affirmation of family values…one thing our mother gave us all was experience of cooking….
I remember curried bananas with………………………………..spaghetti one Maundy Thursday….I know it was Maundy Thursday because we were cooking Hot Cross buns…which I hate!
Magpie, now that is one I never tried.
Don’t bother……. BTW I heard Marguerite Patten on Woman’s Hour yesterday!
Wisewebwoman sent me here, and am I ever glad she did. I haven’t had scones in donkey’s years. My mother used to make them every Sunday and we would scoff the lot for Sunday tea, warm from the oven, with butter and home-made strawberry jam. Yum.
Btw, I think the scone Magpie11 had in the US were probably what they call a biscuit. (What we call biscuits they know as cookies. Divided by a single language, indeed!)
Magpie11 may, or may not, have had biscuits. American biscuits are a bread cut in rounds (similar to the video) and are not sweet. Scones here are often shaped like a triangle and are sweet (found in grocery stores and not authentic at all). Magpie may have had a breakfast pastry that is similar to a sweet scone, only sweeter and iced.
Good bakeries here make scones that are similar to your recipe Grannymar and usually have cranberries, blueberries, or other small fruit in them. I think I even saw a chocolate scone in a bakery here. (Not for me – too sweet)
Yes, we do call your biscuits cookies. Go figure.
@Magpie – I didn’t hear that, perhaps she will make the Saturday afternoon spot.
@Tessa – Welcome on board. I am pleased that WWW built a bridge for us.
@Tessa & @Darlene = I am sure Magpie will return again for your info on American scones.