The Easiest Scones in the World !

I didn't make an obvious correction in the beginning, and once the first step is taken in the wrong direction, well...

Sensitive dependence. And you a physicist!

Adept = practice. Within physical constraints, I think people can learn to be adept at most things. Having said that, I have sadly resigned myself to the fact that, at 42, I will never be adept at parkour...



You should make 2008 your year to learn to bake, Stuart ! Set a weekly/monthly baking project and take it from there !

Cheers, Celia

at 42, I will never be adept at parkour...

I have confidence in you, girlfriend. In fact, I have as much confidence about that as I do that Stuart can learn to bake!

I have as much confidence about that as I do that Stuart can learn to bake!

Celia, you're doomed.

Celia, not to steal any thunder from you, nor to spark a pavlova-like debate... but this recipe was a HUGE fad in NZ years back. Another name is "Never Fail Scones".

I've made it with left over bubbly instead of left over lemonade and call them my "Bubbly Scones"
Link is here - recipe is at bottom of page.
I make mine into savoury scones for brunch / lunch, with fresh herbs (coriander, basil, fennel fern or chives), tomatoes and red capiscums - really nice at this time of year for us down under.

Just might go make some now as have some left over prosecco from last night and there's some cream in the fridge that is on its use by date and was going to be chucked.

Cheers,
Sue

Celia, not to steal any thunder from you, nor to spark a pavlova-like debate... but this recipe was a HUGE fad in NZ years back. Another name is "Never Fail Scones".

I've made it with left over bubbly instead of left over lemonade and call them my "Bubbly Scones"
Link is here - recipe is at bottom of page.
I make mine into savoury scones for brunch / lunch, with fresh herbs (coriander, basil, fennel fern or chives), tomatoes and red capiscums - really nice at this time of year for us down under.

Just might go make some now as have some left over prosecco from last night and there's some cream in the fridge that is on its use by date and was going to be chucked.

Cheers,
Sue

Hehehe...aren't we clever downunder, Sue ? I don't know where the recipe came from either, but I did see something similar on an Australian food programme several years ago, so I know it's been around for a while.

One question, Sue, at what oven temp do you bake yours ? After reading your post, I googled the recipe, and found it in a few places, with some recipes saying 220 deg C (for 10 - 15mins - see here) and others saying 180 deg C (fan forced) for 15-20mins (I need about 23mins in my oven).

Thank you for chipping in - after Stuart's failed attempt, I was starting to get worried - good to know someone else has made it work too !

Cheers, Celia

PS. I've made it with leftover French champagne as well - and felt very extravagant !

at 42, I will never be adept at parkour...

I have confidence in you, girlfriend. In fact, I have as much confidence about that as I do that Stuart can learn to bake!

Ouch ! I'm not sure how to take that....

Actually, Stuart, I'm fairly confident you could be a superb baker. I'm also fairly confident that my first attempt to leap to the ground from a first floor balcony would result in broken ankles...

Hmm...what's the new avatar mean, Stuart ? The key to success hangs on the seasoning ?

I had the opposite of Stuart's problem the one and only time I ever tried making Chinese wonton skins from scratch. I had to knead the dough with a ball-peen hammer, and I broke the rolling pin trying to roll it out.

-Paul W.

Why Stuart Should Not Be Allowed to Bake, Part XXXVII:

Sorry to hear that, Stuart!

Laugh My Ass Off.gif

This recipe from my friend Joyce !

3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup lemonade (sprite, 7up etc)
1 cup pouring cream

Hi Celia

Well, I made them yesterday lunchtime (we have scones Sunday lunch, with a roast dinner in the evening). I think this is the first recipe here that I have (almost) immediately gone out, bought ingredients and made the recipe. So many thanks to you and Joyce.

I was concerned to follow the recipe exactly......

But what is a 'cup' and what is 'pouring' cream? The web didn't help much; seems an Australian cup is not the same as a US cup and different conversion websites translated both into different metric capacities, mostly between 240 - 250ml. Another challenge is that we don't actually have any cups - we use tall bone china mugs for tea and ordinary mugs for coffee, but I found a lone surviving dark blue sugar container from our very first coffee set that held exactly 250ml of water. So I used that for measuring. 3 cups came to a ounce or two under a pound of flour

For cream I used single cream.


First picture is the flour in a mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

I added a cup of the cream and then a cup of the lemonade; it all fizzed up and there was so much foam in the cup I didn't know whether I added enough but I thought I'd add an extra splosh if the dough was too dry.

Using a table knife I stirred the ingredients




and was very pleased as it quickly came away from the sides to form a dough ball.

I rolled it out on a floured board



and used my pastry cutter to cut out 7 scones. (did you make all your scones with just 3 cups of flour??). And into the oven on a greased baking tray.

The temperature you gave was lower than I use for my scones, and it seemed to take a long time for them to cook so the top was firm, 25 - 30 minutes.

They rose high, but also bulging outwards. My ones keep the corrugated cutter lines.



So a few minutes after they came out the oven we'd buttered (=Flora'd) them and covered them in home made jam.

It was then I realised I had forgotten to add sultanas, so they seemed a little plain.

Joan said they were good but she preferred the normal ones, but I said sometimes my usual ones were better than other times.

I want to make them again, but next time I will
- add sultanas
- add a pinch of salt
- cook at a higher temperature
- roll the pastry thinner as they did rise more

And if they meet approval, I'll experiment with using water instead of buying fizzy lemonade -- I was surprised just how mauch they charge for what is basically carbonated water with sugar and flavouring.

A very interesting recipe -- many thanks.

It really is a very easy recipe to make by avoiding the 'rubbing in' stage that many people find difficult. It is hard to think of anyone that couldn'y have success with this recipe -- although I understand that 'self-raising' flour isn't common (doesn't exist?) in the USA.

Bu, to be honest, it didn't save that much time since most of the time spent in making scones is the cleaning and clearing up. And I rather like rubbing in. But great fun

This will convert cups (and other measurements) to metric: http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml

Odd that it would cost so much for 7-Up type soft drink. It's as low as 79 cents for a 2-liter bottle here.

See, now you've confused me, Peter, because I assumed Australia and the UK used the same metric system. Lemonade here is sparkling, sweet, and clear - Schweppes, 7Up, Sprite - comes in a can like Coca Cola. Costs about $1/L if you buy it in plastic bottles at the supermarket. If you want to avoid the sugar, try the scones with soda water (works fine), or leftover bubbly (very gourmet ). Cream was standard pouring single cream (the thin stuff), 35% fat. I think the bubbles are important, although I'd be happy for you to prove me wrong !

Yes, I got all my scones from the dough, but my cutter is only little. And I agree with you - after reading some things on the net, I tried the scones on a slightly higher heat (200 deg C) for less time (15 - 20mins) and they were better (browned better and rose a bit more).

If anyone needs to substitute plain flour for SR flour - I've used 1 cup plain flour + 2tsp baking powder (sifted or whisked together) in place of 1 cup SR flour. So the scone recipe would use 3 cups plain flour + 6 tsp baking powder.

Thanks for trying this out, and for the feedback !

Celia

PS. And don't worry too much about the cup measure. I've made this recipe with half quantities, and it's worked. I think it's just the proportions that are important - you need 1 unit each of lemonade and cream, and 3 of SR flour. It's a pretty forgiving recipe !

[Robin Garr]

I understand that 'self-raising' flour isn't common (doesn't exist?) in the USA.

As "self-rising" flour, it's commonplace, available in every grocery store.

A US cup is 8 fluid ounces, about 240 ml. Bear in mind that this is liquid measure. Most bakers prefer to weigh flour rather than measuring it out by the cup. since translating ml directly into grams works only with substances with the same specific gravity as water.

This will convert cups (and other measurements) to metric: http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml

That site shows a cup as being 240ml, butthat is just one site. There is no end of conversion sites, but they do not agree on what the measures mean. Other conversion sites that show different amounts. And the US cup is apparently a different size to the Australian cup -- and this is an Oz recipe

A US cup is 8 fluid ounces, about 240 ml. Bear in mind that this is liquid measure. Most bakers prefer to weigh flour rather than measuring it out by the cup. since translating ml directly into grams works only with substances with the same specific gravity as water.

Yes, but this is an Australian recipe and it seems the Oz cup is a different size to the US cup.

As to weighing, we don't use cups in the UK so I am used to weighing flour, but I assume that with cup recipes one just puts the flour in the same cup as used for the liquid

An Oz cup is 250ml. Isn't that the same as a UK cup ? As I said before, I thought we were using the same measures as the UK.

I don't worry about the 10ml difference in cup sizes when using US recipes. The only thing that's significant for me when using US recipes is the tablespoon measure - a US Tbsp is 15ml (3 teaspoons), whereas ours are 20ml (4 tsps).

But as I said above, I think you could use any cup or mug at all, so long as you keep the 3 - 1 - 1 proportions.

Celia

See, now you've confused me, Peter, because I assumed Australia and the UK used the same metric system.

The metric system is the same world wide. That wasn't the problem. It was working out what the Australian cup size equated to.

I wanted to ensure I was as close to your instructions as possible after reading of the problems that Stuart had. However, the scone recipe as posted seemed fool-proof to me.

Lemonade here is sparkling, sweet, and clear - Schweppes, 7Up, Sprite - comes in a can like Coca Cola. Costs about $1/L if you buy it in plastic bottles at the supermarket.

Lemonade is same here. I do not drink carbonated drinks so I am not used to buying them (except for the younger son who consumes copious amounts of Pepsi Max).The supermarket sells cans of fizz in 6 packs but I wanted only one. I bought the supermarket own brand ibn a plastic bottle(as pictured) which cost 50p (=1 USD for 1 litre)

If you want to avoid the sugar, try the scones with soda water (works fine), or leftover bubbly (very gourmet ). Cream was standard pouring single cream (the thin stuff), 35% fat. I think the bubbles are important, although I'd be happy for you to prove me wrong !

The scones didn't taste sweet. I'm not sure what soda water is; is it just carbonated water? I don't usually buy cream and didn't see any thing labelled as pouring cream but bought single cream which had 18% fat content.

I do wonder how much difference the added sweetening and acids in the lemonade made to the rising, and whether the carbonation makes any difference -- as I suspect most or all of the bubbles were lost in the mix. But it'd be an interesting experiment. I was going to make another batch immediately using plain water but I'd run out of cream -- not checking the size of a 'cup' measurement before going shopping.

Thanks for trying this out, and for the feedback !

No, thanks for posting. I do hope you're updating Joyce that you've got people on at least 2 other continents following her recipe

An Oz cup is 250ml. Isn't that the same as a UK cup ? As I said before, I thought we were using the same measures as the UK.

We do not use 'cups' for measuring in the UK.

But Peter, I've got Nigella's baking cookbook in front of me, and ALL her recipes talk about 1 cup of flour, or 3/4 cup sugar etc. ? Though perhaps that's just so she can sell her lovely line of measuring cups and spoons...

Having said that, I prefer to weigh things too, particularly when baking bread. Robin's right - water is more accurately weighed than measured in a cup !

I think "fool-proof" is no longer an acceptable FLDG baking measure of difficulty. I propose from now on we use "Stuart-proof". Stuart's my mate, and definitely not a fool, but he's certainly baking-challenged...

What's Nigella's cup size? Maybe that was my issue.

Guess if you used that measure you'd get a lot of scones..

I, too made scones from this recipe today. Twice, in fact. I can't say either version was a success. I had to deviate from the exact recipe by making my own self-rising flour mixture, which I researched and found to consist of 1 cup of flour plus 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder plus 1/2 tsp. salt= 1 cup of self-rising flour. Making this mixture first, I followed Celia's recipe faithfully. Like Stuart, I found the proportions of flour to liquid yielded an extremely wet dough and I had to add about a half cup of flour to make it workable. Baked the 9 scones I got from this batch for 25 min at 360 degrees. In the end the first batch turned out beautifully golden brown and with the fluffiness of a hockey puck. They were dense and almost seemed underdone in the center. And to whom did I serve these golden hockey pucks? None other than our own beloved Jenise and Bob, who were visiting.
They tasted fine, but light and fluffy...most emphatically not.
Totally mystified by this disaster, Jenise and I put our heads together and concluded there wasn't enough leavening in the flour mixture, so we immediately made another batch, this time adding a heaping tsp. of baking soda to the self-rising flour mixture, then proceeding again with the other ingredients, just a little less of the sparkling lemonade (I used Hansens sparkling mandarin-lime) so the dough wasn't so wet. Again, minimally handled the dough, pressed out 9 scones, and this time baked them at 400 degrees for about 25 min. This time the scones were better--about 30 percent loftier than the previous batch, but again, far from light and fluffy. They also had what I call a salty/brown flavor from the addition of the baking soda.
So what went wrong? I'm wondering if the self-rising flour you can buy in Australia is different in composition than what I learned was typical American self-rising flour. Any ideas?
I'd LOVE for my scones to turn out like Celia's did!

Ines, I'm flummoxed. I know our SR flour is just flour and baking powder, no salt. Our cream is richer - 35% fat - although Peter made it work with 18% cream. I really don't know why it didn't work, I'm sorry...

Stuart's dough was wet, but he PM'd me to say he was pretty happy with the three scones he DID manage to make.

Maybe Sue Courtney can shed some light ? She's been making these longer than I have...

Celia

Ines, I'm flummoxed. I know our SR flour is just flour and baking powder, no salt. Our cream is richer - 35% fat - although Peter made it work with 18% cream. I really don't know why it didn't work, I'm sorry...

Stuart's dough was wet, but he PM'd me to say he was pretty happy with the three scones he DID manage to make.

Maybe Sue Courtney can shed some light ? She's been making these longer than I have...

Celia

Okay - let looks at the possible differences that may be causing the problems that you 'up-over' people seem to be having?

1. Flour
I don't use self raising flour. I use 'high grade' plain flour. To each cup of flour I use one heaped teaspoon of baking powder. We have a brand called 'Edmonds Baking Powder', developed here in the 1879 after women complained that the imported variety gave variable results. It is an institution in New Zealand. I don't know what is in it. Possibly a blend of baking soda and cream of tartar.

2. Cream
When a cow is milked, cream is the stuff that forms on the top of the milk - so it is high butter fat content milk that has risen to the top. The only ingredient in my bottle of cream is 'fresh pasteurised cream'. It is full cream. There are no additives. This is the cream I love in my coffee. This is what I use in my marsala cream sauce, for pouring over a pudding, or for whipping
When I see references to single cream, double cream and so forth, I am lost. So help me out google.... here's what I found
* Light cream won't whip.
* Half and half is half milk and half cream.
* Single cream in Britain is comparable to half and half.
* Double cream in Britain is 'a very rich cream', used for whipping. Is this the same as the US 'heavy cream'. Is this the same as the cream that Celia and I simply call 'cream'.
*Light Whipping cream and heavy whipping cream - one website I ended up on explained the difference ....
"Light whipping cream has a butterfat content of 30% to 36% and heavy whipping cream has a butterfat content of 36% to 40%. (Double cream tops out the scale in Britain, with a fat content of 48%.) ..... Without knowing what you are making, we suggest you go ahead and use light whipping cream if, after a thorough search, you cannot find heavy whipping cream. The difference in the fat content is not likely to cause your recipe to fail.

So you want 'whipping cream' for this recipe

3. Lemonade
A can of Sprite or Schweppes lemonade or whatever shouldn't make much difference. Champagne and other sparkling wines work. Lemonade would have more sugar content and be good for sweet scones with jam and cream. I like savoury scones, so that's why left over bubbles works well, because it is not as sweet.

4.The Measurements
A cup is a cup is a cup. Whatever you decided is your cup size, the ratio is 3 to 1 to 1. Measure out the flour first, then use the same cup for the lemonade and the cream. I have a favourite old tea cup that has lost its handle. But it you want to be pedantic about exact measurements, there is a Pyrex brand measuring cup.

Oh - and the mixture is not wet, wet, wet. It should not stick to your fingers.

5. Cooking.
I cook at 220 degrees Celsius (= 428 degrees F) for 15 to 20 minutes. Probably 20 minutes, although you can speed things up by using the fan. You open the oven door and you just kind of know when they look right.

After cooking I wrap the scones in a clean tea towel and place on a rack to cool.

Hope this helps. Celia - what do you think?