Cream scones (recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen and technique from Fine Cooking)
Ingredients:
2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar (more for sprinkling)
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp (abt 70gm) cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup currants
1 cup heavy cream (more for brushing)
Preheat oven to 425F (220C).
Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix.
Cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal. You can freeze mixture at this point until you want to use. Add currants. Mix.
Stir in heavy cream until it comes together in a shaggy ball. You may not need the whole cup of cream. You will find lots of loose, sandy pieces still. But if you think it's too loose and sandy, you can add a little bit more cream to bind it a bit more--shouldn't affect the outcome if a bit more is added.
Place batter on a floured surface and roughly work it into a ball.
Press down into a rectangular shape. Fold like you're folding a business envelope (thirds, first right fold to center, then left fold to center). Notice that it is still quite shaggy and loose. That's ok.
Press down again (you will have rectangular shape in a vertical position now)
Fold like business envelope again. Even here, it is still a little sandy and loose--still ok...the less you work it, the flakier it will be.
Press down into a circle. Cut into 8 large or 16 small triangles.
You can also use cutter to cut into individual shape.
Separate individual scones and place on baking tray that is covered with parchment paper. Brush with cream on top and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown on top.
16 comments:
thanks for sharing, lee lee. got a question, so how many one recipe yields for the size you made? sorry if it's too troublesome a question for you, i would like to know coz it's just 2 of us at home, would have a problem finishing if i make too much. wiith your answer, i can see if i should go for half recipe or just go ahead, thanks heaps ya. :)
hi choo, for the size that I make, I can get abt 11-12 pieces.
hi lee lee. maybe i know any common brands for cream? also, how do i store leftover cream? how long do they keep?
-sandie
thanks alot leelee for your reply. :)
Hi Sandie, you can pour and whip, President's Brand of thickening cream, PH's Millac cream, Nestle cream, etc. For diary cream you need to use it up asap. The most you can keep is probably a week.
Hi, Lee!
I tried your cream scones, it's really YUMMY! The only problem I had was, though my I made it thick and high but the pastry spread side way after baking.
Any advice/solution for me?
TIA
Hi Amy, I think you may have too much liquid in the dough. The dough is supposed to be flaky and dry. I suspect if it is too wet, the scones will spread during baking.
Hi, Lee!
Thanks for making time to reply, I used 250ml of Millac cream from Phoon Huat. Should I cut down?
Thanks again!
Amy, I know your problem now. You have used too much cream. Even though the recipe calls for 1 cup of cream, I usually don't use up all, in fact you can try with half a cup first. If it is not enough, you add little by little. The end product should be something that holds together crumbly and not a wet dough.
Thanks, dear!
You're right in your assessment, my dough was wet. I shall cut down the usage of cream next round.
Appreciate your advice.
Hi bear bear,
may i know where can I get the "currants"? From Phoon Huat?
Is there any chance i can get it from Carrefour?
It's a powder-form? Sorry that if i ask weird question as I'm newbie in baking, never use this before.
Hi Lee Lee
My sis loves scones and has been asking me to bake some. One question, can i replace currents with cheese ? If yes, what is the quantity ?
Love
Angela
Dear Lee Lee
I have question on the rolling part. I understand the first part about folding the dough like a business letter than subsequently I will have a rectangular shaped that is in vertical position but we are required to fold again like a business envelope. So do I need to turn the dough from vertical position to horizontal position?
Greatly appreciate your help.
Love
Angela
Hi Angela, if you want to use cheese you can just sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top after brushing the scones with the cream and omit the sugar and the raisins.
Also the folding part, if it suits you better to turn the dough to horizontal position you just go ahead and do it. The reason why it was folded as instructed in the recipe is to avoid overmixing of the dough. In fact I don't follow exactly on the folding part. I just gather it into a dough after adding the cream without mixing it too much and roll it out with rolling pin. It is perfectly ok if some parts are very crumbly or flaky. I just use my palm and pat it back into the dough. As long as I can roll it out and cut, I am ok.
I will try to do a video on how I do it to show you if I can.
Hi Lee Lee, I've read your blog for some time and managed to try the scones recipe last weekend !
The scones turn out great except that when it cools, it turns hard. Err...Is it supposed to be like that ? Ended up we felt like we are eating cookies !
But taste-wise it was superb ! Thanks for the recipe !
Hi Charlene, the scones are not supposed to turn hard when cooled. It will remain flaky and crumbly. If it becomes hard, that means you have handled the dough too much.
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