Scones are delicious, simple to make and can be made both sweet and savoury. You can add cheese to them, or keep them plain and top them with jam and clotted cream. As a baker, I’ve made hundreds over the years, trialling the best recipes to get the best results.
Whilst they aren’t hard to make, getting the perfect rise can require lots of patience and figuring out what works for you. Luckily, I found my go-to recipe a few years ago and it’s the only one I’ve used since. It involves the addition of one ingredient which makes the scones much tastier.
Scone recipe for the perfect rise
Ingredients:
For the scones:
350g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
90g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
Three tablespoons of caster sugar
175ml semi-skimmed milk
A handful of sultanas, optional
One teaspoon of lemon juice
Beaten egg, to glaze
To serve:
Clotted cream
Raspberry or strawberry jam
Method:
I start by preheating the oven to 200C Fan and then I mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl.
Then, the cold butter is added before rubbing it into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. This can take a little time but it’s an important stage so be patient.
Once mixed, add the sugar before setting the bowl aside. Warm the milk and then add in the lemon juice, as well as a little vanilla if you fancy.
Pour this into the breadcrumb mixture and quickly combine until it forms a dough.
The lemon juice adds a slight acidity to the mixture, helping it to rise in the oven. The combination of baking powder and lemon juice helps to give the scone a little boost to achieve the perfect rise.
Then, scatter some flour onto the work surface and tip the dough out, gently kneading it until smooth.
I love sultanas in my scones, so this is the stage I’ll gently press them into the dough. But if you want a plain scone, skip this stage.
Take a 5cm cutter and then cut as many rounds as possible, re-rolling the dough until it’s all used up.
Place the scones on a lined baking sheet, brush with the beaten egg and then bake for just 10 minutes.
I like to enjoy my scones warm out of the oven, so break one open within 10 minutes, place the jam and then top with the cream and enjoy.
