Scones the Australian Way for Daring Bakers

Daring Bakers  January 2012 - Scones: back to basics

Post in inglese e in italiano  - Comfort food

scone with butter and  raspberry jam
scones con burro e marmellata di lamponi

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

plain scones - close up

scone- primo piano

Wow!!! I said when I read that for the January challange we were going to make scones. Scones in  Australia and Britain are the same thing, as Audax well explained. And in Australia they are a national specialty and for me a comfort food. Apart from plain scones, the pumpkin scone variant is typically Australian. But I'll dedicate another post to this. I also really appreciated all the experiments that Audax Artifex made and the variations he suggested, but I agree with his sister. I like my scones plain. That does not mean I won't experiment in the future.

Best known as traditional afternoon tea treats in the Uk they are served with cream, they are very easy and quick to make, so I recommend them to anyone wanting to serve breakfast in bed on a Sunday to their loved one. Ten minutes to make and ten minutes to bake. Here are my comments and pictures, while further down the page you will find all the instructions meticulously prepared for you by Audax.

1950s scone exagonal cutter - Museum Victoria AUS  - 

taglia scone esagonale circa 1950 - Museo Victoria AUS

The secret to make perfect scones is to be careful not to flatten the dough too low before cutting. If the dough is too low they will not rise enough and you will get what Audax reported being nicknamed "hockey pucks" and/or "door-stops" so when levelling the dough if in doubt ...abound and never ever go under 2  cm.

flour and butter mixed together by hand
farina e burro amalgamati a mano

With regards to mixing together the flour and butter, I find that nowadays we should use what technology has to offers to our advantage, so do use a mixer, that way the butter will not melt due to the heat of your hands and will be perfectly mixed to the flour.  As you know, like for  pâte brisée or shortcrust pastry the reason  flour and butter are mixed together first is that  the fat molecules will surround the starch molecules coating them and will slow down their hydration when the liquid (milk in this case) will be added.   Furthermore, the fat will coats the gluten proteins avoiding the  formation of gluten strands. All this, plus the addition of yeast, will give us the a soft an yet flaky texture. Did you notice that scones tend to split almost in the middle dividing into two pieces when you slightly pull them open?  So there they are, ready for butter and jam.    
If before serving the scones are cold,  I suggest heating them for just under 1 minute in the microwave oven on defrost mode, they come out perfect.

The recipe I had stashed away from my "Sydney days" is almost identical to the one given for this month's contest. It is just double the amount (with one cup of flour you don't get many scones) and has slightly less milk compared to Aud's. I read that some challengers had problems folding the dough because it was too sticky. Maybe there is a a drop of milk in excess. Of course not all flour absorbs in the same way, so maybe the trick there is to measure the milk and add as needed.

As a variation
I suggest adding 1 or 2 tablespoos of chive of dry chives to the  mixture and to serve these scones with butter and smokes salmon. I'll try to publish a picture tomorrow (this batch of scones is ready)  but here it's just past midnight between the 26th and the 27th. In the land of OZ it's already the morning of the 27th :)) Hi there!

As  promised here is the savoury variation.

chives scones with butter and smoked salmon
 scones con erba cipollina serviti con burro e salmone

If you want to compare here is the recipe I brought back with me from Sydney 

SCONES

Ingredients (makes 18 scones)
2 cups  (280 g/10 US oz) of self raising flour or add 2 tsps of baking powder to plain flour,

1/4 level teaspoon (1 g.) of salt,

1/4 cup (60 g./2 US oz. ) of  cold butter,

3/4 cup (180ml./78g./6 US fl. oz.) of milk.
milk for glazing

Using a mixer or food processor, mix together the cold butter cut into small pieces and the flour and salt. Add the milk, knead lightly using the kneading hook or by hand - your choice. Press out delicately by hand to not less than 2 cm. thickness and cut into rounds approximately 4.5 cm in diameter using a scone cutter, a biscuit cutter or a small glass. Glace with milk using a brush and only afterwards place on a baking pan lined with greaseproof paper. This way the excess milk will not fall onto the baking pan and will not burn during baking.   Bake at 220°C - 230°C (425ºF- 350°F- Gas 6 )  in an electric oven for 9-10 minutes, than move to the top level so scones will become golden on top. Take out after a maximum of 12 minutes.

Scroll down for the pictures

Ed ora un intermezzo in italiano

GLI SCONE

Comfort food?
Si preparano in pochi minuti, e si possono fare quindi anche la mattina della domenica, un po' come il cornetto per gli italiani, diciamo, spalmati con burro o panna e poi con marmellata , possono essere una bella sorpresa per la famiglia che si sveglia e sente che qualcuno dalla cucina sta innondando la casa con il profumo degli scone che assomiglia a quello del pane fatto in casa.
Fatti al pomeriggio, all'ora del te o del caffè, se preferite, in una fredda giornata d'inverno, che sia "sunny" serena e soleggiata o no, un bel piattino con gli scone caldi e varie diverse marmellatine, una bella teiera piena di tè bollente sono un bel modo per farsi le coccole, no? Ecco, il profumo degli scone evoca, per me queste immagini, richiama alla mia memoria la mia casa australiana, la vista dell'estuario - the harbour - dalle sue finestre, il giardino fiorito fuori, mentre dentro si sta al caldo, coccolandosi, appunto, con un buon tè o caffè e questi semplici, semplicissimi, deliziosi panini che sanno di casa, di tradizione, quella tradizione che vuol dire radici e perciò ci dona solidità e forza d'animo.



Un po' di storia
Si hanno già notizie degli scone all'inizio del XVI secolo e forse prima, quando non esite ancora il lievito chimico e le forme variano. In Scozia si preparavano scones larghi quanto un piatto con farina di avena usando una piastra per la cottura. Venivano poi tagliati a fette triangolari come per una torta.

E' interessante osservare che venivano anche tagliati, oltre che in forma rotonda come si vedono nelle foto, in forma esagonale, utilizzando un taglia scone come quello nella foto sopra di un reperto conservato al Museo Victoria di Melbourne che evita spreco di impasto durante il taglio rispetto a quello tondo.

Nel Regno Unito son famosi gli scone serviti con la panna chiamata "clotted cream" è una panna ottenuta con la lavorazione a bagnomaria e un successivo raffreddamento. Si ottiene un composto denso e un po' grumoso. Il té servito con gli scone farciti con questa panna si chiama cream tea ed è tipico del Devon, e della  Cornovaglia. A seconda che la panna venga messa sotto o sopra la marmellata, che di solito è si fragole o di lamponi, ci si riferisce rispettivamente ad un Devonshire tea o Cornish tea. In assenza, ci si "accontenta" della panna montata.

Gli scone in  Australia e Regno Unito sono la stessa cosa. E la parola è prevalentemente pronunciata con la o aperta. Introdotti in Australia dagli immigranti di origine Britannica sono divenuti una specialità nazionale  e per me  un "comfort food".

Non mancano poi le sopravvenute versioni salate. Ci si può sbizzarrire usando formaggio, pancetta, salmone ed erba cipollina, come sopra, le varianti sono davvero infinite.

In Australia una variante nazionale sono gli scones alla zucca. Ma questa sarà in un'altra puntata...

Ricetta degli Scone

Ingredienti (per 18 scone)

2 tazze (280 g/10 once US) di farina con lievito oppure aggiungere 2 cucchiaini di lievito chimico,
1/4 cucchiaino (1 g.) di sale,

1/4 tazza (60 g./2  once US ) of  burro freddo,

3/4  tazza  (180ml./78g./6 once liquide) di latte.
latte per spennellare

Con le fruste o con la planetaria, unire il burro freddo a pezzetti con la farina ed il sale. Questa operazione, come nella pasta brisè e frolla va fatta prima delle altre. Così le particelle di grasso ingloberanno quelle di amido con il risultato di rallentare l'assorbimento dei liquidi.  Il grasso nel rivestire le proteine del glutine eviterà la formazione di una forte maglia glutinica, lasciando l'impasto morbido e sfogliato.  Una particolarità degli scone è proprio la loro sfogliatura che durante la cottura in forno fa sì che si aprano leggermente nel senso orizzontale quasi a metà, è il segno che i vostri scone sono riusciti. Aggiungere il latte, lavorare con l'accessorio a gancio o a mano - come preferite. Lasciar riposare una mezz'ora. Stendere a mano senza premere molto, facendo attenzione che l'altezza dell'impasto non sia meno di 2 cm e tagliare con un taglia biscotti tondo del diametro di  circa 4,5.  Lasciar riposare una decina di minuti ancora. Spennellare con un po' di latte e dopo mettere su una teglia rivestita di carta forno, così il latte in eccesso non si brucerà. Cuocere in forno elettrico preriscaldato a 220°C - 230°C (425ºF- 350°F- Gas 6 ) per 9-10 minuti. Spostare la teglia nella parte alta del forno per far dorare gli scones. Toglierli dopo due minuti circa. Vanno serviti caldi. Se preparati prima dell'uso, possono essere scaldato al microonde per non più di un minuto in modalità defrost.

varianti:  suggerisco di aggiungere all'impasto 1 o 2 cucchiai di erba cipollina e servire gli scones con burro e pezzetti di salmone affumicato. (vedi foto sopra)

Here are my pictures!!!!!!!

Ecco le mie foto

flour - farina

flour and butter pieces  
farina e burro a pezzetti

mixing butter and flour by hand 
 la farina unita al burro

adding milk -
l'aggiunta del latte



the dough is ready 
l'impasto è pronto





my dinkum Aussie scone cutter at work
il mio taglia scones acquistato in Australia


cutting is almost over
quasi finiti di tagliare



all the scones are cut
gli scones sono tutti tagliati



scones ready for baking
scones pronti per essere infornati

just baked scones on baking pan
appena sfornati 

And here are all  the instruction that Audax Artifex gave us for the January 2012 Daring Bakers Challange:

Challenge Notes:

The Ingredients – since scones contain only a small number of ingredients each should be of the highest quality

Flour – lower gluten (i.e. soft) flours (about 9% or less protein) produce taller and lighter scones than normal plain (all-purpose) flour (about 10%+ protein). But to be honest it wasn't that great a difference so long you sifted the dry ingredients thoroughly at least three times. That is always triple sift the dry ingredients this will ensure that the flour is well aerated and the raising agents are evenly distributed so resulting in light scones. I found that finely milled soft “OO” flour gave the best results but don't worry you can get excellent results with sifted plain (all-purpose) flour. You can use self-raising flour if you wish (remember to leave out the raising agents and salt) in the recipe below it is important to triple sift the self-raising flour as well I like to add about ½ teaspoon of extra fresh baking powder per cup of self-raising flour to ensure a good lift in my scones.

Fat – unsalted butter gives the best flavour while lard gives the flakiest texture since it has a much higher melting point than butter so promoting a flaky texture in the final scones. The best compromise is to use a combination of the two in equal measure. I usually use all (unsalted) butter for flavour and health reasons. In most recipes the fat is rubbed into the flour using fingers or a pastry cutter (don't use two knives or forks since it takes too long to cut in the fat using this method). It is best to grate the butter using the coarse side of a box-grater and then freeze it until you need it. Freezing the butter prevents the fat from melting into the flour. The idea is to coat the fat particles with the flour. You are looking for a fat/flour combination that looks like very coarse bread crumbs with a few pieces of butter about the size of peas, the finer you make your fat pieces the more tender the crumb of your final scones. If you want very flaky scones then make the fat pieces large like Lima beans and only lightly coat them in the flour. If your kitchen is very hot you can refrigerate your flour so helping to keep the fat from melting. Don't freeze your flour as this will make it too difficult to rub the fat into the flour. (Typical usage about 1 to 8 tablespoons of fat per cup of flour).

Chemical raising agents – always use fresh raising agents, baking powder deteriorates within two months once the jar is opened, the recommended dose is about 2 teaspoons per cup of flour. Baking powder nowadays is double action – there is an initial release of gas once the dry and wet ingredients are combined and there is another release of gas from the high heat of the oven. If you are using acidic ingredients (such as buttermilk, soured milk, cream, honey, cheese, tomato sauce etc) then use an additional ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of liquid to help neutralise the acid and make the final baked product raise correctly. Baking soda is four times stronger in raising power than baking powder. You can make you own single action baking powder by triple sifting together one part baking soda and two parts cream of tartar store in an airtight container.

Liquid – you can use milk, buttermilk, soured milk, half-and-half, cream, soda water, even lemon-flavoured soda pop (soft drink) or a combination of these as the liquid in your scones. You can sour regular milk with a tablespoon of cider vinegar or lemon juice for every cup. Just stir it in and let it sit for 10 minutes or so to curdle. Use about ½ cup of liquid per cup of flour.

Salt – a small amount of salt (about ¼ teaspoon per cup of flour) helps improve the action of the raising agents and enhances the flavour of the scones.

The Equipment

Baking pans – use dark coloured heavy weight baking pans as these have the best heat distribution and really give a great raise to your baked goods. Many people like to use cast iron skillets for best results.

Measuring cups and spoons – try to accurately measure all ingredients especially if this is your first attempt at making scones (biscuits) remember to scoop the ingredient into the measure and level with a knife. If you can weigh the flour using scales even better.

Scone (biscuit) cutters – use a cutter that is made of sharp thin metal with straight sides and is open at both ends this ensures that the scone will raise straight and evenly and ensures the cut scone is easy to remove from the cutter without compressing the dough. Try to avoid using cutters with wavy sides, thick walled cups, glasses, metal lids, small jars or any cutter with only one opening since it is difficult to remove the cut scones from these without compressing the dough therefore leading to 'tougher' scones. If you cannot get a good cutter you can cut out squares or wedges etc using a sharp knife if you wish.

Rolling pins – most scone doughs are very soft (and wet) so can be easily patted out using your fingers. For a large amount of dough you can use a rolling pin remember to use light pressure from the centre outwards to form an even thickness of dough ready to be cut into scones. Avoid rolling back and forth over the same area as this can overwork the dough.

The Techniques

Triple sift the dry ingredients – sift your dry ingredients from a height this permits plenty of air to be incorporated into the mixture which allows for maximum lightness in your scones and ensures even distribution of all the raising agents and other ingredients.

Rubbing in the fat – this is the stage where you can control how tender or flaky your final scone crumb will be. The more you coat your fat with flour and the smaller the particles of the final mixture, the more tender the end product because you’re retarding gluten formation in the flour (unfortunately the price you pay for this tenderness is that the final dough will be soft and might not raise very well since the gluten isn't developed enough to form a stable structure to trap the gases that are released when the dough is baked). Conversely the larger you leave the pieces of fat (the infamous "pea-sized" direction you always see in scone/biscuit recipes), the flakier the final scones will be (that is the gluten in this case is more developed but you might find that the final baked product is dry and the mouth feel of crumb could be too firm i.e. tough). So summarising the tenderness/flakiness of your scone is achieved in this stage by manipulating the size of the fat particles and how much of the flour is used to coat the fat (the more flour used to coat the fat promotes more tenderness while larger fat pieces promote more flakiness). Either way quickly rub in the grated frozen fat into the dry ingredients using

1)your finger tips – as you lightly rub and pinch the fat into the flour, lift it up high and let it fall back down into the bowl, this means that air is being incorporated all the time, and air is what makes scones light, continue this until you have the desired sized flour/fat particles in the mixture, or

2)a cold pastry cutter – begin by rocking the pastry cutter into the fat and flour mixture continue rocking until all the fat is coated in flour and the desired sized flour/fat particles are obtained.

Moistening and bringing the dough together - add nearly all of the liquid at once to the rubbed-in dry ingredients. When mixing the dough (I use a soft plastic spatula), stir with some vigour from the bottom to the top and mix just until the dough is well-moistened and begins to just come together it will be wet (and sticky). And remember the old saying – the wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits)! Then turn the dough onto a lightly floured board.

Handling the dough – as most people know it is important not to overwork the dough but what isn't appreciated is that under-working is almost as common a mistake as overworking. Look at my first attempt (the first photo in this article) at making the challenge recipe it is crumbly and a bit leaden and the crumb isn't flaky at all this is due to under-working the dough and making the flour/fat particles too small, it took me about six batches to understand this and not be afraid to handle the dough so the scone (biscuit) would raise correctly. Under-working causes as many problems as overworking. Overworking leads to tough, dry and heavy scones while under-working leads to crumbly leaden ones. If you are not happy with your baked goods look carefully at your final scones (biscuits) and decide if you have under- or over-worked your dough.

Kneading or folding/turning the dough – this is the stage where you can control whether or not your scone has distinct layers by 1) only kneading the dough (for no layering effect) or 2) only turning and folding the dough (for a layering effect). As mentioned above given the same amounts of flour and fat, leaving larger pieces of fat equals more gluten formation and, therefore, flakiness. Leaving smaller pieces of fat equals less gluten formation and, therefore, tenderness. Your dough at this stage of the recipe will be a mixture of different gluten strengths since it is almost impossible to make a totally homogeneous dough at home. The major idea at this stage of the process is to exploit these gluten differences to achieve a desired degree of lamination (layering) in the final baked good. That is at this stage your dough (after you have added the liquid and mixed it until it just holds together), will have different layers of relatively gluten-rich (tougher) dough (the more floury parts of the dough), and layers of relatively gluten-free (tender-er) dough with small pieces of fat (the more fatty parts of the dough). So at this point if we only lightly knead the dough these layers will become less distinct which means the dough will become more homogeneous so producing a more even and more tender crumb when baked. But if at this stage you only fold and turn the dough (as shown below in pictures) over itself, these different layers will remain intact but will get thinner and thinner with each fold and turn, so when the fat melts and the liquid turns to steam in the oven, this steam pushes the tougher layers apart, leading to an overall flakiness and a layering effect in the scone crumb (see picture of the buttermilk biscuit above). So if you want an even more tender crumb just lightly knead (much like you would knead bread but with a very very light touch) the turned-out dough a few times until it looks smooth. If you want to form layers (laminations) in your final baked goods do a few folds and turns until it looks smooth. Always do at least one light knead to make the final dough structurally strong enough to raise and hold its shape whether you are aiming for a smooth tender crumb or a flaky layered crumb.

Pat or roll out the dough – since most scone (biscuit) doughs are soft (and sticky) it is best to use your fingers to gently pat out the dough once it has been kneaded or folded and turned. Use a very light touch with little pressure while forming the dough rectangle to be cut into rounds for the scones. If you want tall scones then pat out the dough tall, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch (2 cm to 2½ cm) thick is about right.

Cutting out your scones – use a well-floured scone (biscuit) cutter for each round that you stamp out from the dough. That is dip your cleaned cutter into fresh plain flour before each separate cut. Do not twist the cutter while stamping out the scone, push down firmly until you can feel the board then lift the cutter the round should stay inside the cutter then gently remove it from the cutter and place the round onto the baking dish. You can use a sharp knife to cut out other shapes if you wish from the dough, also the knife should be floured before each cut as well.

Baking your scones – always preheat your oven when baking scones. Place each scone almost touching onto the baking dish this encourages the scones to raise and also keeps the sides soft and moist. If you want crisp sides widely space your scones on the baking dish.

Extra comments about resting the dough – I found in my researches that a number of respected sources mentioned resting the dough in various stages in the recipe. Surprisingly this advice is sound. I found that if you rested the just mixed dough (in the fridge) for 20 minutes there was a huge improvement in the dough's handling qualities and the final scones height, lightness and crumb were outstanding. Also I found that if you rest your patted out dough covered in plastic for 10 minutes in the fridge that the rounds are easier to stamp out and the final baked goods raise higher and have a better crumb. Also you can rest your stamped out rounds in the fridge for a couple of hours without harm so you can make your scones place them into the fridge and then at your leisure bake them later great for dinner parties etc. This is possible because modern baking powder is double action, i.e. there is another release of gas when you bake the rounds in the heat of the oven.

Mandatory Items: You must make one batch of basic scones (i.e. basic biscuits using the North American name). The challenge recipe has been designed to be fast, very cheap and easy to follow so allowing for multiple attempts to be made until you can achieve your desired result. I encourage you to make a couple of batches to see how small changes in technique can obtain vastly different final baked products. I estimate all of my 16 experimental batches cost less than $4 and took about four hours, so please do take this opportunity to explore the possibilities of the different techniques and advice that have been presented here in this challenge. I have included a number of links to the most popular scone (biscuit) recipes (and variations) in a number of countries feel free to use these if you can make a good basic scone (biscuit) already.

Variations allowed: A number of variations (cheese and chives, herb, etc) on the basic challenge recipe are included use them if you wish.

Preparation time: Scones: Preparation time less than 10 minutes. Baking time about 10 minutes.

Equipment required:

Large mixing bowl

Baking dish

Measuring cups and spoons (optional)

Flour Sifter (optional)

Board (optional)

Scone (biscuit) cutter (optional) or knife (optional)

Dough scraper (optional)

Spatula (optional)

Weighing scale (optional)

Cooling rack (optional)

Pastry brush (optional)

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)

Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones

Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:

1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (? oz) fresh baking powder

¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt

2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)

approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk

optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.

2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)

3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

Variations on the Basic recipe

Buttermilk – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with buttermilk, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, increase the fat to 4 tablespoons, in Step 3 aim of pea-sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 fold and turn the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with buttermilk.

Australian Scone Ring (Damper Ring) – follow the Basic recipe above but decrease the fat to 1 tablespoon, in Step 3 aim of fine beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, in Step 7 form seven rounds into a ring shape with the eighth round as the centre, glaze with milk.

Cream – follow the Basic recipe above but replace the milk with cream, add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are just touching in the baking dish, glaze with cream.

Cheese and Chive – follow the Basic recipe above but add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, after Step 2 add ½ teaspoon sifted mustard powder, ¼ teaspoon sifted cayenne pepper (optional), ½ cup (60 gm/2 oz) grated cheese and 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives into the sifted ingredients, in Step 3 aim of beach sand sized pieces of fat coated in flour, in Step 5 knead the dough, rounds are widely spaced in the baking dish, sprinkle the rounds with cracked pepper.

Fresh Herb – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add 3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs (such as parsley, dill, chives etc).

Sweet Fruit – follow the Basic recipe above but after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries, cherries etc) and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Wholemeal – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour.

Wholemeal and date – follow the Basic recipe above but replace half of the plain flour with wholemeal flour and after Step 3 add ¼ cup (45 gm) chopped dates and 1 tablespoon (15 gm) sugar.

Pictorial guide to the challenge recipe

I was at my brother's house and we had a hankering for a baked treat so I decided to make the challenge recipe also I needed some photos of the challenge recipe being made for this posting. My brother isn't a cook, all he had to hand as equipment was concerned was a mixing bowl,a thin walled 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin and a knife, he didn't even have a cup measure only mugs so I improvised.

As you can see in the collage below I roughly chopped some butter (I eye-balled about 2 tablespoons) and froze it. Then I throw the frozen cubed butter onto one mug of cold self-raising flour I couldn't sift the flour since my brother doesn't own a sifter. Then I proceeded to rub in the butter with my fingers until I got pea-sized fat pieces coated in flour.

I added the liquid (½ mug of cold lite-milk) to the rubbed-in fat/flour mixture until I got a sticky dough I turned this out onto a floured board, I lightly floured the top of the sticky dough then I kneaded it once then I patted it out into a rectangular shape then I proceeded to fold and turn the dough. Notice that you fold 1/3 of the dough over itself then the other 1/3 over that and turn it 90° degrees. Notice the lines on the broad this will help you understand how to do the folding and the turning.

I did a couple more folds and turns and used a well-floured knife to cut out squares of prepared dough.

Here is a close-up of the finish patted-out dough notice how you can see the fat particles in the dough this is what causes flakiness in the final baked scone.

I used the inverted cake tin as my baking dish and baked the scones in a very hot oven for 10 minutes they worked out really well I thought. Notice the nice central lamination in the scone and the great crumb and how well they rose in height.

I placed two unbaked scones in the fridge to test whether resting them for 20 minutes helped improve the raise of the final baked product. As you can see the left scone and the middle scone are taller than the right scone which was baked immediately after it was cut out from the dough. So don't worry if you cannot bake the scones straight away they do better with a little resting time.

Videos of my sister making scones (baking powder biscuits) – using a very popular Australian recipe

(http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8163/basic+scones)

Part 1 – my sister making the scones (baking powder biscuits)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9YJiHZ1K0)

Part 2 – my sister showing off her scones (baking powder biscuits)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorStLKSoMo)

Pictures of my sister's scones

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:

Scones are best eaten warm. Scones (biscuits) are really easy to store – bag the cooked and cooled scones and freeze until needed then reheat in a moderate hot for a few minutes.

Additional Information:

Australia’s most popular scone recipe uses lemon-flavoured soda pop and cream as the liquid

(http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2010/08/08/lemonade-scones/)

A great English scone recipe this uses more sugar and fat and has an egg

(http://www.instructables.com/id/Perfect-English-Scones/)

Classic Southern Buttermilk Biscuits recipe by Alton Brown

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/southern-biscuits-recipe/...)

An index of North American recipes

(http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Bread/Biscuits-and-Scones/Biscuits/Top.asp...)

Another index of North American recipes

(http://www.breadexperience.com/biscuit-recipes.html)

Three great Australian recipes

(http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/homestyle/blogs/tried-and-tasted/how-to-...)

An index of Irish recipes

(http://www.littleshamrocks.com/Irish-Bread-Scone-Recipes.html)

An interesting discussion on “what makes a scone a scone”

(http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/810928)

Videos of Alton Brown making biscuits (scones) with his granny (super cute to watch)

Episode one ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3QuQSdjMVE)

Episode two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcz4JQUwY9Q)

Disclaimer:

The Daring Kitchen and its members in no way suggest we are medical professionals and therefore are NOT responsible for any error in reporting of “alternate baking/cooking”. If you have issues with digesting gluten, then it is YOUR responsibility to research the ingredient before using it. If you have

allergies, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are lactose intolerant, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. If you are vegetarian or vegan, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure any ingredient in a recipe will not adversely affect you. The responsibility is YOURS regardless of what health issue you’re dealing with. Please consult your physician with any questions before using an ingredient you are not familiar with. Thank you!