Very special scones
My mum has always been a big scone baker, when we were kids she would often produce them at a moments notice on a rainy Sunday afternoon (which is, incidentally, precisely when scones should be eaten). I don’t want to knock her impeccably timed baked goods, they were always lovely straight from the oven… but they did tend to wind up as small lumps of concerete an hour or so later. Recently, however, my mum has had a scone revelation. I’m not exactly sure where she acquired this very unusual scone recipe (although I’m sure she’ll post it in the comments, along with some scone-related indignation), but it truly is a scone epiphany (a scpiphany!). They are the lightest, fluffiest little scone-like morsels you’ve ever had. So, what’s the secret? …. lemonade.
You’ll need
- 1 cup light cream
- 1 cup lemonade
- 3 cups SR flour.
- a pinch of salt
To cook
Mix the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. You should end up with a very light dough that you can gently press out flat on the bench (make sure it isn’t too sticky). Using a cookie cutter, press out the scones until all the dough is used, placing them snuggly up against each other on the baking tray. Bake for 12 minutes or until brown. You can brush some milk on the top to make them go brown, if you like them that way.
Bake at 220 degrees
After having a chat with a friend who took a crack at these scones I realised I should have emphasised that they really have to be placed up against each other (sort of snuggly mooshed into one another), this is because they help each other rise.
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Ouch. Such straight talking. Good thing we mums are made of tough stuff. But one thing remains the same . They must be put into a 220C oven. I had been hearing of this for years from country relatives so I suspect it has CWA origins. I had used soda water in the usual recipe but it wasn’t the same. Foolishly I gave the lemonade thing no credence till Maggie Beer used it. More fool me.
Oh, this is basically the same one I use, only I use 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup milk, and extra-fizzy german soda water instead of lemonade (Australian soda water is usually more insipid, which is probably why it doesn’t work so well).
or if you want to make them really rich and buttery, use 1/2 cup butter rubbed into the dry ingredients + 1/2 cup cream, + as much milk as you need to make the dough come together (usually not much). In this version I throw in a teaspoon of baking powder as well, just to make sure of the rise.
That sounds insanely rich Nic
yep, those ones are so rich you can eat them plain. Also, I get a stomach ache if I have more than two.
(Wait, maybe it’s only 2tbs cream with the butter ones. Yeah, half a cup sounds like too much. Still pretty decadent, though).
Important – bake for 12 minutes.
oops – it is there. Obviously too early for me to see things clearly.
Scones with a difference.
The Yanks call them biscuits and serve them with gravy at dinner, the English surround them with ritual, the CWA added lemonade, but it took those Canadians to give scones a new spin altogether. Give this a try – it works well with this light fluffy recipes.
Pat the dough out flat, sprinkle with lots of lemon zest and then blueberries (or raspberries, frozen or fresh) and a little sugar. Fold over then cut and bake as usual – perhaps a few minutes longer if the berries are frozen. No need for butter, jam or cream with these. I am told banana works well too.