Ultimate Scones. The Best Scone Recipe In The World
The humble scone. So easy to make, and so versatile. But such a source of division. First of all, lets just clear up how these are pronounced. In Scotland and the North of England these can only be Scones (rhyming with swan, prawn, gone etc). In the South of England Scones are pronounced to rhyme with phone and zone. Sorry South of England – wrong. Just wrong.
Ok so now we’ve cleared that up, I’ll continue with the recipe. This came from a friend, but I have since been told its a variation of the Nigella Lily’s scone recipe. I have no idea of its provenance, only that they are fool proof, light and delicious.
Ingredients
- 500g self raising flour
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- pinch of salt
- 80g butter – Unsalted, chilled and cubed
- 300ml milk
- 1 egg, beaten for egg wash
- decorating sugar (optional)
Method
Heat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade
Add the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar to a bowl, Add in the butter which should be chilled, and cubed. Work the flour and butter through your fingers to make a fine bread crumb consistency. A tip I got growing us was that scones are best made with cold hands, therefore before you start mixing in the butter, run your hands under the cold tap, and dry them.
Once the butter flour mix resembles wet sand, mix in the caster sugar.
Add all of the milk to the dry ingredients, and mix in with the end of a knife. Do not over work. Once the dough has been formed, turn out onto a floured surface and knead together (very briefly), making sure you don’t overwork. Roll out to at least 3cm thick, as they wont rise.
Use a cutter dipped in flour to cut out your scones. Try to push down directly (i.e. don’t twist – the twisting motion can make the scones rise unevenly). For some reason a fluted cutter has the same effect, so for perfectly formed scones use an unfluted cutter.
Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the decorating sugar if needed.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 200 C for around 10-12 mins, or until golden and brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Resist the temptation to eat one (or two) before anyone else notices.
