scone

... yes folks, it's that time of year again - next weekend it's the annual Aby Village Show when the good folk of Aby, Belleau and the surrounding villages get together to try their hand at our little version of the Great British Bake-Off. It's the time when years of close friendship flies straight out the window - if you don't believe me just read this recent litany of abuse from my 'friends' on facebook and old, deep-rooted rivalries creep out of the woodwork... it's the time when the little old ladies from the WI descend on their broomsticks with their measuring rods and tweezers and judge us all into oblivion. There are many categories in this years show, from the classic Victoria Sponge to the more avant-garde Celebration Cake and as you know i've had my hits and my misses in the past but there's one category that stands out amongst all others as the challenge to really separate the housewife from the food blogger and that, my good friends, is the humble scone...

L to R - Paul Hollywood, Delia Smith, Mary Berry
... now, as you know there are a billion scone recipes out there in the world and everyone has their own little secrets to achieving the best results... some use buttermilk, some insist on plain flour with added baking powder whilst some rely on self-raising... some add a grate of lemon rind and others add egg but no sugar although others insist on sugar but no egg... so this year i've decided to try out three scone recipes that i've heard whisper are fail-safe and achieve outstanding results. Im baking from the London flat as I have to stay down in the big city this weekend, so it's a very basic oven and also I have no scone cutter and am using the rim of a glass so in fairness I am baking all three recipes using the same equipment just to see how it all turns out... and yes Janice, i'll try not to twist...

scone one
my first recipe is from the current king of baking, Mr Paul Hollywood... to me it seems to be quite a complicated recipe including a process called scone dough 'chaffing' which if you ask me seems like quite a bit of old guff... you can read all about it here if you must but the basic recipe is as follows...

500g strong white flour plus extra for rolling
80g softened butter
80g caster sugar
2 free-range eggs (size not specified but I used large)
5 tsp baking powder
250ml milk
1 free-range egg - beaten with a little salt for glazing

pre-heat the oven to 200C (fan) and line a baking tray with parchment paper

place 450g of the flour into the bowl and rub in the butter until you have a breadcrumb-like mixture

add the sugar, eggs and baking powder and using a wooden spoon mix together, being careful the incorporate all the mixture... add half the mil and combine with the spoon, the add the remaining milk a little at a time and bring it all together to form a very soft and quite wet dough... you may not need all the milk.

sprinkle the remaining flour onto your work surface and tip the dough out onto the flour and work it quickly and lightly into the flour (this is the chaffing bit..) flatten out the dough a little (I think it should be quite thick)

using a pastry cutter, cut out as many scones, in which ever size you desire and re-shape the dough until you've used it all up... then brush just the top with beaten egg

bake for 15 mins until golden and risen

scone two
this second recipe is the classic Delia Smith recipe which is my 'go-to' scone recipe except I hae slightly adjusted it by using half milk, half buttermilk... I have also added some grated lemon rind to it too, which i think makes them lighter than the average scone... also, I have found that if you pop the raw, cut scones into the fridge and then turn on the oven, only once the oven is up to heat do you take the scones direct from the fridge to the oven, it does something to the butter and helps them rise higher...

450g self-raising flour (freshly opened)
50g soft butter
3 tablespoons golden caster sugar
the grated rind of one lemon
pinch of salt
110ml milk
110ml buttercream

preheat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with parchment paper


put the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the butter and rub-in to create breadcrumbs... stir in the sugar and salt
slowly stir the milk into the flour ... I use a knife to do this as it cuts through the dough... once the dough starts to form into a solid ball bring together with your hands
pop out onto a floured board and pat out to a thickness of about 2cm, using a pastry cutter, cut out as many scones, in which ever size you desire and re-shape the dough until you've used it all up... then dust the top with a little flour
bake for 15 mins until golden and risen

scone three
this final scone is by Mary Berry, the current grand dame of British baking... I actually find her style a little stuffy now but classics are classics and if you can't master these then you don't deserve to call yourself a baker... again, her tip is much like Delia's... make these quickly and handle them with the lightest of touches...

450g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
75g butter
50g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs
225ml milk

pre-heat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with parchment

put the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the butter and rub-in to create breadcrumbs... stir in the sugar

beat the eggs together and add these to the milk, stir together and then mix this into the flour (leaving just a small amount aside to glaze with later)... I use a knife to do this as it cuts through the dough... once the dough starts to form into a solid ball bring together with your hands

pop out onto a floured board and pat out to a thickness of about 2cm, using a pastry cutter, cut out as many scones, in which ever size you desire and re-shape the dough until you've used it all up... then brush just the top with the remaining beaten egg / milk mix

bake for 15 mins until golden and risen
so which scone was the winner..? Well if i'm entirely honest i don't think any of them are good enough for the WI and I can hear Janice now tutting and my lop-sided baking... plus (and this is a big PLUS...) when it comes to the show I will be making considerably smaller scones... the Paul Hollywood scones are the most classic scone-like in consistency and slightly heavier than the other two... the Delia ones are lighter and I think tastier and the Mary Berry ones, in my humble opinion, are perfectly fine but nothing special or wow...

... of course these scones are perfect to take on a picnic... imagine eating them spread out on a gorgeous grassy hillside or perhaps hidden in the sand-dunes of a windswept beach. A pot of cornish clotted cream and a jar of your favourite jam... which is why i'm entering them into this months picnic themed Tea Time Treats bloggers challenge hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers

ea and of course, enjoy!

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