THE QUINTESSENTIAL ENGLISH SCONE, with variations incl cheese

UNFORGETTABLE BUTTER BISCUITS/SCONES

first posted 2015

'The flakiest, butteriest, tenderest scones in the world!' Blogger 

photo 29/5/15

These scones are the best 67 has ever had and they've been in the family cookbook in various delicious permutations for years.  They are the flakiest, most tender biscuits in the world. And they have no added sugar.

The recipe is taken straight from Robert Carrier, one of the first celebrity chefs, and 67 makes no apologies. Best known for classical French (!) cooking in his heyday, Carrier in his later years produced a wonderful cookbook for the home chef (sadly out of print.)   

The biscuits do have a high fat content; anyone with health issues should proceed with caution. 

In an attempt to make them healthier, 67 experimented with 100% wholemeal flour. They were still light and delicious but a two parts white flour, one part wholemeal is probably a better mix if you're after lightness with added fibre. 

Portion control is always a good bet for good health: use a smaller scone cutter!

The scones are best on the day but reheat and/or freeze well.

Cost: £3.00 (Feb '23)
Makes: 12-14

Ingred:
12 oz/350gm plain flour (organic gives fantastic flavour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

5 oz/150 gm cold, cubed butter

2 eggs, well beaten
7 tbsp very cold milk.

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to very hot -- 220c; 425f; Gas Mark 7
2.  Sift dry ingred. into a bowl; rub or process in butter until mixture resembles peas - don't overdo it!
3. (If using cheese, add it here, stirring it into the flour mix until the cheese strands are coated)
4.  Beat eggs and milk.   Make a well in the centre of the flour; pour in eggs & milk; stir lightly with a fork until mixture just holds together.
5.  Turn out onto a lightly floured board and press lightly and quickly into a rectangle about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.  Mentally divide the rectangle into three, lengthwise.  Fold the left hand side onto the middle; and the right hand side onto the middle & left sides.   (This method introduces layers into the dough, like puff pastry.  I promise you, it is worth it!) Repeat twice, rolling lightly with a rolling pin between each folding,  handling dough as little as possible
6.  Roll it out to just over 1inch (2 cm) thick.  Cut, without twisting, into 2 1/2 inch/6cm (or smaller rounds) with a floured biscuit cutter, reforming leftover dough.  Or, cut into  12-14 smaller rectangles.
7.  Bake in the centre of the oven on an ungreased baking sheet 12-15 min until richly golden.
8.  Cream tea scones for a crowd: allow scones to cool completely; halve and spread with clotted cream and jam or fresh sliced strawberries on each half; the portion is one half per person 


Flaky cheese biscuits, add 3 oz/75 gr strong grated cheddar (cheddar with chives & onion is a favourite)

Other Variations

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Scones 
(plus Blueberry Scones)

    


                                  Chocolate Nut Twists
                                  no added sugar, budget friendly



Tips:

• re-heat in an 180c/350f/Gas Mark 3 oven for 5-10 mins. 
• another variation adds a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped mixed herbs

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