Ingredient

Scones

A scone is a chemically leavened dough that has about ten minutes of working life, and almost every disappointing scone is a scone that was handled too much or cut with a blunt edge. The recipe is trivial; the technique is all of it.

Why handling decides everything

Scone dough contains baking powder, which starts producing gas the moment it meets liquid. Working the dough develops gluten, and a developed gluten network makes a scone tough and chewy rather than short and crumbly. So you have two clocks running: gas escaping, and gluten building. Both reward speed.

Cold butter rubbed into flour leaves flakes of solid fat through the dough. In the oven those flakes melt and steam, pushing the layers apart. Warm butter smears instead of flaking, which is why the same recipe made on a hot afternoon comes out denser.

Handle it as little as will bring it together. A slightly shaggy dough gives a better scone than a smooth one.

The method

1. Rub cold, cubed butter into the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Lift high and let it fall to keep it cool.
2. Add the liquid — milk, buttermilk, or milk with a squeeze of lemon — all at once and cut it through with a knife rather than stirring.
3. Bring it together with your hands in as few movements as possible. Stop while it still looks rough.
4. Pat it out, do not roll it. Aim for a genuinely thick slab — at least 2.5cm, and more if you want tall scones. Thin dough cannot rise into tall scones.
5. Cut straight down with a sharp, floured cutter. Do not twist. Twisting pinches the edge closed and the scone rises lopsided or not at all.
6. Put them close together on the tray so they support each other as they rise, and brush only the tops with egg or milk. Glaze running down the sides glues them shut.
7. Bake hot, around 210°C, for a short time. A hot oven gives the fast burst of gas that lifts them.

Why scones come out flat

• Twisted cutter. The single commonest cause and the easiest to fix.
• Rolled too thin. A scone roughly doubles; 1cm of dough gives a 2cm scone, which reads as flat.
• Over-worked dough. Gluten developed, gas knocked out.
• Stale baking powder. It loses strength on the shelf. Test it in a little hot water — it should fizz vigorously.
• Oven not hot enough. The gas escapes before the structure sets.
• Dough left standing. Get them into the oven within a few minutes of mixing.

Variations

Fruit

Add dried fruit after the butter, before the liquid. Soaking it in tea first stops it drawing moisture from the dough.

Cheese

Reduce the sugar to almost nothing, use a strong hard cheese, and hold some back for the top. Mustard powder helps.

Buttermilk

Gives a better rise and a slight tang, because the acid reacts with the raising agent immediately.

Wholemeal

Denser and drier. Use half white flour and a little extra liquid.

Cream scones

Double cream in place of butter and milk — no rubbing in, and remarkably tender.

Common questions