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Scone Recipes
This small cake is a quick bread, similar to an American biscuit, made of wheat or white flour, sugar, baking powder/baking soda, butter, milk (whole, half and half, light cream, heavy cream, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.), and sometimes eggs. This produces a soft, sticky dough that has the ratio of one part liquid to three parts wheat flour. It needs to be baked in a moderate to hot oven, so the dough sets quickly. This produces a light scone with a flaky golden brown appearance. The texture of the interior of the scone should be light and soft, and white in color. Note: Light creams, half-and-half, or milk can be used as substitutes in all scone recipes. Note: Using buttermilk, instead of heavy cream, makes a lighter, more bread-like scone. Another element that makes scone recipes different then cookies, is that they are baked at a higher than normal oven temperature which gives them a darker, crispier crust. Buttermilk has a nice thick creamy texture with a rich tangy buttery taste that makes baked goods tender. It is now commercially made by adding a bacteria to whole, skim, or low fat milk. However, in the past it was the liquid left over after churning butter. You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, cider vinegar, or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before using. Fun Fact: There are two basic types of scones, drop scones (a.k.a. griddle scones) and cream tea scones. Griddle scones were originally made without baking powder, which did not come into common usage until approximately 1850. For this reason, griddle scones do not rise much. Cream tea scones grew in popularity with the advent of baking powder. The addition of baking powder resulted in scones with a lighter density and more cake-like texture than the griddle scones. This type of scone was often served warm, under a blanket of Devonshire cream and strawberry jam, complimented by a fine tea.
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