Momto4: Thanks so much. I appreciate the comforting words.
As I mentioned in my last post, I have only used the food processor to mix the dry ingredients any only because it was sitting in front of me.

I have printed out the RLB recipe and will try it when I can next think about making scones without swearing, LOL.

I mentioned I had seen a recipe with an egg in it, but got no response to my question about that addition. I thought it might be sacriligious to even mention it.

Seems like basically my dough has not been moist enough.

Thanks again Momto4.

Momto4: Thanks so much. I appreciate the comforting words.
As I mentioned in my last post, I have only used the food processor to mix the dry ingredients any only because it was sitting in front of me.

I have printed out the RLB recipe and will try it when I can next think about making scones without swearing, LOL.

I mentioned I had seen a recipe with an egg in it, but got no response to my question about that addition. I thought it might be sacriligious to even mention it.

Seems like basically my dough has not been moist enough.

Thanks again Momto4.

Sorry for the duplicate pot. Computer is doing funny things.

Maxmom, I know a lot of scone recipes call for eggs. I just never found them necessary. But, you should give it a try and see for yourself which you prefer. The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) adds eggs to her scone recipes.

~Ann

I just talked this morning about scones with my friend who is on a three month round the world, or a good portion of it, right now. She left Australia a few days ago where her friend gave her this recipe: 4 c sifted self rising flour, 1c 7up, 100 ml heavy cream. She said they were delicious.

Eileen

Eillen, that's similar to my recipe but I can't help but feel the cream measurement is off. That's not really enough liquid for that amount of flour IMO. (My recipe originally is 4 1/2 c SR flour, 300ml 7-Up and 300ml cream.) The liquid would be a total of 350ml, which is a _lot_ less.

Colleen, I will give my friend the correction. She is on the move and not a cook and I can't make any sense of metric on the fly, nor can she! Thanks!

Eileen

A cup is 250 ml, to give an idea, so 100ml is 2/5 cup. Cream is sold in 300ml cartons (a leftover from the days of the pint and half-pint (which is 20fl oz here) which is equal to about 600ml and 300ml). Standard practice for that particular scone recipe is to pour the cream onto the flour, then fill the now empty cream carton with 7-Up (or soda water or plain water) and pour that in as well.

Are scones supposed to taste like baking powder or is it just my boyfriend's recipe? It seems to me that I had some others with a noticeable taste of baking powder also.

Two possible causes of that taste are:

1. The type of baking powder which contains an aluminum compound. Are you using Calumet or Clabber Girl? If so, try Rumford.

2. Too much baking powder. How much is used in BF's recipe? More than 1 or 2 teaspoons per cup of flour can give a noticeable taste.

Jim

Deleting duplicate post.

This post was edited by jimster on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 22:06

I use Ann T's recipe also, and I use King Arthur all purpose flour and my scones turn out well. Most times.

Occasionally they just seem to "melt" onto the pan and become flat instead of rising up tall and flaky. We eat them and the next batch is usually fine, so I don't know what I do to that occasional batch.

I cannot manage to make any dough successfully with the food processor. The pie crust gets tough and too warm and then I have to freeze it to chill it enough to work with it. Biscuits and scones become tough. I think I do not hve a light enough touch with that pulse function....

Anyway, 've gone back to making pastry and biscuits by hand, they turn out so much better.

Hey, but you have some delicious "mistakes" to eat up!

Annie

"Occasionally they just seem to "melt" onto the pan and become flat instead of rising up tall and flaky."

There are three types of baking powder. One is activated by moisture. One is activated by heat. The other, called double acting, is a mixture of the two. When using the moisture activated type, if not put in the oven right away its gas making power can be expended too soon.

I'm probably wrong in thinking that is your problem because I can't imagine that you delay putting it in the oven for very long and I am certainly no baking expert. Far from it. But it seems that it must have something to do with the leavening.

Jim

Well if it makes anyone feel better, I can't make scones worth a darn either. Me and dough are mortal enemies. Mine are tolerable though, with enough butter and jam!

Wow! True confessions. It sure does make me feel better to know that some of you will confess to having a hard time making scones and working with dough. Thanks for 'fessing up. I've always been fearful of admitting that I have trouble with some baking/cooking issues, but occasionally will have to resort to asking for help from some of you and I've been grateful for the patience you've shown and the expertise shared.

I did buy some White Lily flour yesterday, by the way, and will try the scorned scones again! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge Grainlady.

Oh, Maxmom, you are not alone. I can't bake worth a damn, so I rarely will do it. Why set myself up for aggrevation? I would rather make dinner for 40 than bake.

Jim, I use the same baking powder and the same recipe and do not dely in putting them in the oven. Sometimes they turn out great, sometimes not. Go figure.

They always taste good, though.

Annie

And that is what matters Annie.

~Ann

Annie,

What you said is just what I expected. It only makes sense. There must be an explanation though. I wonder why none of the bakers on this forum have one. This is puzzling.

Jim

Yes, Jim, I agree, there must be a reason. But I use the same pan and the same oven, the same brand of butter and flour, the same baking powder. Maybe my kitchen is a little warmer sometimes, but I don't think so, my house is pretty constant at 55F all winter. Perhaps the flour, although the same brand it can differ due to age and humidity and the soil conditions when the wheat is grown, how it was stored before I bought it, you know the drill.

As far as I can see, though, everything is the same. I even use the same measuring utensils and the same bowl to mix the dough. Usually they are nice and light and flaky, but sometimes they just "melt" and end up a puddle about 1/2 inch thick with crunchy edges...

Annie

Jim, I am a science teacher and we have a saying when we teach, "it's ALWAYS like this . . . except when it's not." Explains a lot of scientific laws. Nature is so darn variable!

Nature is so darn variable!

I only minimally recall a story about a sausage factory that made a popular distinctly red variety that was so successful that they built a new addition for its production. Unfortunately, they couldn't reproduce the red color and it took them a year to find the problem.

Unfortunately, I have completely forgotten the details but it had something to do with the assistant who originally needed to cart the sausage to or from a storage room to allow other production that may have been down a hall or outside into another building and perhaps passed by a source of carbon dioxide or something. Of course this transport or temporary storage was not needed in the upgraded modern facility.

I have the day off so decided spur of the moment to make scones using Colleen's recipe. I had self rising flour that I needed to use up. As per usual, I monkeyed with the recipe, subbing 1/2 cup oat bran for some of the flour since my Pillsbury self rising flour was whiter than white, which I am not crazy about. I used 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt and 1/2 cup of coconut milk that was past its prime for the sour milk, and ginger ale instead of 7-up because that's what I had. I was going to use dried currants but some apricots were in front of them in the pantry so I use them. Ginger apricot sounded good. All my baking trays are gone, either at work or wrecked so I had to use the bottom of my roasting pan covered with waxed paper for the baking. Forgot to paint them with milk so they came out a little crusty on top.

The results weren't very good, but I think that is because the flour was old and not very good. The dough was overly sticky so I had to knead some extra flour into it, maybe 2 TBLSP so they were also a little over kneaded. You should kneed maybe 8 times and I did these for about 16. They have a bitter taste which I think comes from the marginal flour. Also not very flaky, which comes from the over kneading. And my kitchen is covered with flour and dough and I'm in a crabby mood. Me and dough, my nemesis!! :(

To be fair, my kitchen work space is about 3 square feet so it doesn't take much for the whole "kitchen" to get messy!

Here's the photos!

This post was edited by lpinkmountain on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 12:37

I'm sorry you were disappointed with your scones, Pink. They look very nice to me.

I like the roughness because it makes all those tasty brown nubs.

Jim

I agree Jim. The scones look good. Too bad you didn't like the flavour Lpink. If you don't bake a lot, maybe you should keep your flour in the freezer.

We had homemade biscuits with sausage gravy for breakfast. Moe had his with scrambled eggs. I like just the biscuits and gravy.

I sure wish I could make home made sausage gravy! I can make a regular gravy almost anytime, with a rue or slurry, but darned if I can get sausage gravy to taste right. And with all this talk about making scones, you know what I 'm gonna end up doing. On top of having made chocolate chip cookies last night.......

Tami

Tami, Sausage gravy isn't much different than making regular gravy. I brown the sausage in butter, season with garlic, salt and pepper. Once the sausage is brown, I add flour and cook (like a roux). I use chicken broth and cream in my sausage gravy and season with more black pepper and sage. Probably not traditional, but then again, Biscuits and sausage gravy are not traditional in Canada.

~Ann

Your scones looks good to me Pink!
I make biscuits, I should try scones.

Maxmom - not much of a scone baker - which is why I could not offer advice.

One thing I do love to make for any meal is a good bisquit though. Jasdip - your bisquits make me want to run home and make a batch!

Those biscuit pictures have me making biscuits to go with dinner tonight. I plan to add cheddar cheese and some roasted garlic. Yum! Love biscuits.

lpink--I think your scones look great!

I made the usual chocolate chip scones yesterday...but I wasn't paying attention to the amount I was making. Usually I make a double batch. Yesterday I made a single batch, but added chips for a double batch! Yikes! No one has complained yet! I also made pumpkin scones, using canned pumpkin puree. I had leftover puree since I only made one batch, so I made pumpkin soup to go with dinner. It was actually pretty good!

There really isn't a difference between "scones" and Biscuits. At least not in the US or Canada. Biscuits tend to be something else in England.

But the basics are the same - flour, salt, baking powder (and baking soda if using buttermilk or sour milk) and some fat (Butter, Lard, Shortening) are what both are made from. Scones tend to be "sweet" with sugar added, and cut in wedges and biscuits tend to be savory and cut into rounds or squares. If you can make one you can make the other. Same technique.

For variation, add fruits (blueberries, raspberries, raisins, cranberries, chocolate, nuts, poppyseeds, etc.. to scones and add savory ingredients to biscuits - ham, chives, roasted garlic, cheese (cheddar, blue, etc..). It is all good regardless of what they are called.

~Ann

Colleen, was your recipe supposed to have some fat in it? That may be one reason my scones are so hard. I just used self rising flour (which in the US does not have hydrogenated fat in it), sour milk and ginger ale. Today they are akin to some of the salt clay animals I have been making for a class I am teaching.

Lpink, Sol, also makes a cream scone that does not contain additional fat.

She posted a link to her blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sol's Scones

Well, my recipe calls for sour _cream_, which is mostly fat. Using sour _milk_ may be part of your problem.

Thanks Ann. I may give it another try this weekend.

Hi Folks
A long time since I posted here, probably under a different user name.
Agree with Colleen of Oz. Scones are simple using her method.
We call it 'three, one and one'. That is:
Three cups of self raising flour, (must be fresh)
One cup of single cream.
One cup of lemonade.
Pinch of salt.
Mix them up in a bowl using a spatula but stop as soon as mixed.
Scrape out on to a floured board and gently bring it together; don't knead it, doesn't need it!
Roll out carefully to about 1.5 cms or a bit thicker. Cut out scones, bring rest together, re-roll and cut more. I get about twelve.
Put on buttered tray or baking paper and brush tops with milk.
In the meantime get oven up to 220°C, about 430°F. Whack them in for about 12 to 15 minutes, time will depend on your oven.
Eat with a dollop of jam and some spare cream whipped up.
Do's
Use fresh flour.
Use light hands.
Don'ts
Over-work or knead the mix.
Let the kids have more than their fair share!

The method works for me every time and is quick and easy. I'm told beer can be used instead of lemonade, also soda water. Perhaps you guys in the States could experiment with Coca cola!
Happy cooking.

Note: By "lemonade" Ruimi means a 7-Up type carbonated drink, as opposed to the US lemonade of lemon juice, sugar and water.

What is single cream, please?

Tami

Light cream as opposed to heavy cream. Cream suitable for whipping.

Then I suppose it would be what we call Half and Half. Our Whipping Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream would be too heavy. Darn, I have Whipping Cream in the fridge! Though I would have to "make" self rising flour......

Thanks

Tami, the recipe I linked uses 2 cups of heavy cream. I usually use heavy whipping cream, but have used half & half or milk when i forgot to get cream!

Hello again.
Just for interest here is a photo of a batch of 3,1 and 1's made on my Webber Q. Not the best I've made but OK.
BTW What do you mean by "blow out"?

No, half and half is not light cream. Whipping cream is fine (as in "Cream suitable for whipping").
For self-rising flour simply add 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.
Ruimi, I think they mean their scones spread out instead of up.

Just thought I'd revisit...I just finished making chocolate chip scones for the kids' breakfast tomorrow. Had my camera in the kitchen and just thought I'd take a couple pix. These are:

1. The way I roll them out in a long rectangle and cut them into triangles. I made smaller ones, they're about an inch high, the usual thickness I roll to.

2. A close-up of the layers you can see from my 4 times roll, fold, repeat.

3. Final product. It's a good 1 3/4 inches high or so. Golden brown edges, nice layered look, moist inside. I underbake them because we don't like them so dry.

Ruimi Love the high 'rise'! Very tasty looking!

momto4kids, those are some gorgeous looking scones! I love the rectangle idea!

Momto4kids - those are the best looking scones I've ever seen!!!! I'm not a scone person because pastries/sweets don't appeal to me in general. Scones usually look dry and unappealing to me.

Your scones look absolutely delightful, moist and flaky. YUM!!!! Great photos!

I agree entirely with Teresamn. But, with pictures like that, I could be a convert.

Thanks for sharing.

Deb, you really have mastered the perfect scone. Just Beautiful.

~Ann

Momto4. Lovely! Did you use the R.L. Beranbaum recipe for those? I haven't tried it yet, but do intend to. I too have always used the rectangle shape for mine. I can get any size that way.

Your dough looks a lot more workable, i.e. moist, than mine ever did. Mine don't brown on top like yours, even though I use the same temp, 400, for the same length of time. I brush them with cream before baking. I haven't noticed my oven temp is off, but there's always that possibility.

Thank you! Thank you!!

ssomerville...I roll one long rectangle, use my bench scraper to cut in half lengthwise, then bang out the triangles. Super fast and easy and consistent!

teresa_mn and mustangs...I think the secret is to underbake, which is probably not very scone-like, but I only bake them about 10 minutes...12 max. They are waaaaay too dry if baked the length of time the recipe states.

ann_t...they still don't rise like yours! But I'm getting there!! :)

maxmom...yes, I use the RLB recipe. I don't use a food processor, just my hands! I use heavy whipping cream. The one thing I started doing after mixing in the cream and chips, dried fruit, whatever...is use my hands to form all the dough and dry bits into a ball (somewhat kneading it and continuing to push it all together) before I put it on the mat to roll. The 4 times roll, fold, repeat builds the layers in the dough. I'm not all that gentle with it, as opposed to biscuits...that I only roll once (no folding, etc) and use TLC! Lastly, I do not brush the tops of the scones (or biscuits).

Thank you again all!! :)