Scones

people with a good sense of taste

Simple Scones INGREDIENTS * 2 cups all-purpose flour * 1/3 cup sugar * 1 teaspoon baking powder * 1/4 teaspoon baking soda * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen * 1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants) * 1/2 cup sour cream * 1 large egg

DIRECTIONS # Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. # In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins. # In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. # Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.) # Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Cranberry-Orange Scones Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated orange rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried cranberries for the raisins. Lemon-Blueberry Scones Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried blueberries for the raisins. Cherry-Almond Scones Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding 1/2 tsp. almond extract to the sour cream mixture and substituting dried cherries for the raisins.

The butter in a scone dough is what makes the final scone light, airy and crumbly. Without butter the mixture would be flour, milk and salt, which would create a brick-like scone (more like a slightly risen cracker/water biscuit, really).

Scones are definitely British though which part of Britain we are not entirely sure though the very first mention of scones in print was by a Scottish poet in 1513 when you click the link provided for you beneath this answer you will be directed to a webpage all about scones and the history of the scone.

In very general terms they are European in origin. Originally it is thought that scones were cooked on a griddle or a girdlestone (a bake stone ) heated over an open fire. Such a cooking method was common throughout Europe. In Ireland, Wales and Scotland griddle bread and scones are still cooked in this way from time to time. The Ancient Romans cooked bread in this way on the "focus" their name for the hearth and this gives the origin of focaccia the flat bread many of us enjoy today.

So that the product (Scones) appearance is improved so that they appeal more to the public.

Yes, Scones were eaten in the 1600s. In fact, they were invented in the early 1600s.

I'm sure lemonade scones get about the same pay rate as original scone. But original scones are sometimes lazy!

Scon is normal SCONE IS JUST POSH :P

yes you should use baking powder in scones because that makes the scones rise when they bake.

10

It is a lot of flours to keep on hand. I stertad collecting them when the kids were going through a phase where all they wanted were pancakes and since flour seemed to be their primary source of nutrition, I figured I would pack in what I could. I was making pancakes with two cups total flour and using a quarter of a cup of each kind. They had no idea they were eating quinoa, teff, oat, corn, spelt, ect. There are coupons taped to several of the Arrowhead Mills 30 ounce flour bags at both Publix and Whole Foods (in Jacksonville) for $3.oo off if you buy three Arrowhead Mills products. I stertad with spelt, oat, and rye, and have branched out from there. Bob's Red Mill also has great flours in small bags. I only use a small amount at a time so the little bags are just right. You can also purchase small amounts if you buy from the bulk bins at Native Sun and Whole Foods. I keep the almond meal in the freezer but have stored the other flours at room temp over the winter. If you were only going to purchase one kind of extra flour, I would reccomend spelt. It is very easy to use, tastes great, and much easier to digest than wheat.

You could use all spelt flour. I have used and . Both are whole grain. I have found scones to be very foriivgng to the baker and they taste great with only spelt flour.

Helps them rise

Self raising flour is plain flour with a little baking soda in!

Flour provides the structure and bulk once the scone is baked.

Usually if the baked goods don't rise there's something wrong with the baked goods, not the oven. All the oven does is provide extreme heat. It's not like a microwave, which has its own little chemistry.

Yes but you'll need to add baking powder at the rate of 1 teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of flour. Sift it together. For especially light scones you may increase the baking powder to 1.5 teaspoons per cup of flour.

The first mention of the word was by a Scottish poet in 1513.

I'm speculating here but as I made some scones last night I couldn't 't help but wonder if there is an economic component to the importance of these scones to the Irish.

When you look at the simple and inexpensive ingredients, might the buttermilk scones have come to be a staple in the diet during the famine?

My great-grandmother, Kitty Boyd, made the best buttermilk scones the world has ever seen and I suspect her family was among those who were affected by the potato shortages.

They are rather dry as it is, so it only takes a day to loose any moisture that they may have.

It doesn't have to be added gradually. The recipe I use (a Nigella Lawson) involves adding it all at once.

While scones or schoonbrood is of Dutch origin, the likely vehicle for it in New Zealand would have been the English.

They can but it might make them sick. Might not want to try it.

yes