Tuesday, November 17, 2009

RAISIN SCONES


What can I say. These are scones. Just plain scones with raisins embedded. Made with flour, butter, heavy cream, ground almonds/pecans and an egg. Handled lightly with your fingers, patted down and stamped with a round fluted cutter and baked for a mere 10 minutes. Its done.

Scones are best eaten warm or hot out of the oven. Kept overnight it tends to be dry and crumbly.


These are not high and mighty scones but they are, however, very light, moist and tender.

Plain scones do need to be eaten with butter and jam and/or clotted cream. Otherwise it isn't such an exciting pastry. A little boring in fact.

So I'm not at all surprised that the original plain scone has given way to a wide variety of savoury flavours. It makes it more interesting, it gives it more character and it definitely has more appeal.


But this is a very good basic scone recipe though. And I do like the addition of ground nuts into it. I believe it adds to the moistness. And of course I added the raisins which gave it a sweeter edge. On the whole I would have much preferred a savoury scone.

The next time I make scones I would omit the sugar. I would add some cheese, some slices of hot chillie pepper and maybe even some sliced sauteed onions or chives. And dare I suggest some chopped dried shrimps or anchovies as well? That would definitely be more appealing to my tastebuds.

I do apologize for the photographs. It's been dark and gloomy by the time I take the pictures so I do tend to end up with dark gloomy looking pictures too. Please bear with me.

The recipe...........

250 gm plain flour
1/4 cup ground pecans or almonds
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
60 gm butter
Almost 1 cup of heavy cream
1 egg

a handful of raisins or currants if you like. Or other dried fruits of your choice.

Sift flour and the baking powder and soda. Add salt, ground almonds and the sugar. Mix to incorporate the ingredients.Add the raisins if using.

Lightly beat egg in a measuring cup and add the heavy cream until it makes 1 cup of liquid.

Make sure the butter is very cold and cut it into smallish pieces. Put the butter in to the flour mixture and rub it in with your fingers very lightly or use 2 knives or a pastry cutter until it resembles coarsemeal or rough breadcrumbs. Its important to ensure that the butter doesn't melt and remain in small solid pieces so that the scones will be lifted up when the butter melts and its steam released while baking in the oven.

You may at this point chill the flour mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes if the kitchen is warm. Make a well in the centre and pour in the cream egg mixture. Using a fork stir very quickly until the mixture comes together. then using you finger bring the dough together to form a ball without kneading. place on a floured surface and pat the dough down with your fingers to about 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut into rounds.

Bake at 200 C for 10 - 12 mins. Best eaten warm with butter and jam and/or clotted cream.


26 comments:

Faida said...

ah..! It came in a right time just as I was thinking about it and just before I shutdown ny PC for the day. You read my mind. Thank you my dear aunty. I will try to bake this one.

Anonymous said...

Yummy! And oh so English. Ok this calls for WinterWarmers... hehe

Ninette said...

Yum! I love scones. Btw, I knew my middle aged brain had holes in it ... I added you to my last post on my blog.

ganache-ganache said...

U know Zurin, I always prepare the dough for my scones, roll & cut it into rounds & keep in the refrigerator. The next day, I'll wake up 1.5 hours earlier - to let the scones return to near room temperature then bake them so hubby & the girls could have warm scones for their breakfast !

Unknown said...

Thank you for this recipe, we love scones so much, and I have never found one recipe really effective, I try yours very soon !

La Table De Nana said...

Love scones.. and your napkins are perfect for the scones.. the added touch:)

Quinn said...

Nice, very nice but I hate raisins Zu....

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Dark and gloomy gets perked up with nice, hot scones. With butter and strawberry jam for me, please. And a cuppa Earl Grey tea, with milk and 2 lumps of sugar :)

Zurin said...

Faida, I did !!:))

Percicilan, about time u told me ur name..I can't be calling u percicilan when we meet can I? :D

Ninette, awwwww..tq...don't worry mine has holes aplenty too!

Lorrine, really! wow..ur a good mom!

Chapot, oh so happy you will try :))

Monique, tq....heh yes the added touch..it was all I cld do to improve the picture :)

Quinn, Do you really? aww..I'll pluck them out for u then..:))

Ju, coming up...:))

Marysol said...

Zurin, I had to stop by when I noticed a delicious aroma emanating from your blog!

And I haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm ogling those lovely scones with anticipation.

fimere said...

un joli blog que je viens de découvrir, tes sconses sont magnifiques
à très bientôt

Federica Simoni said...

fantastici questi biscotti!! mmmm...

Astrid (Mrs.B) said...

Love scones. These will go wonderfully with a cup of tea!

Anonymous said...

Moist and tender scones? I am sold! It's not a bad idea to add anchovies and dried shrimps. I like the idea :)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

maybe due to not tall, look like a yummy biscuit, I have a English Cheese scone recipe, very yummy, maybe you like to have a try.

Zurin said...

Marysol. so happy you stopped by. If I knew u were coming I wld have saved some for you! :))Come by again :)

ADDG, Tq for the compliment:))

Federica, Tq :))))

Mrs B, yes they wld indeed.. with a cuppa tea! :)))

Ellie, yes ....anchovies n dried shrimps are heaven, no? :))

Sonia, yes they do look like biscuits! heh..but surprisingly after one day they were still moist! yippity doo daa

Nadji said...

Beau blog. J'y reviendrai.
Beautifull blog. I'll come back.

Barbara said...

Adore scones! And these look so flaky and tender!
I do some cranberry ones- and freeze them. We can zap them in the convection oven when we need them.
I'll try your raisin scones next- I know raisins are the classic fruit for scones.

Muneeba said...

I have a new-found appreciation for scones ... I never realized how well they pair with tea or coffee. A little schmear of butter or jam and you're golden!

Zurin said...

SeG, tq for the compliments :))Please do comeback :)

Barbara,yes these are flaky and light and tender. I hope u try them. In fact when I had some ht enext day they were still moist! :))

Muneeba, Yes theyre best with a cuppa tea..definitely..and with butter n jam of course! :))

Anonymous said...

Scones! I truly love these, but have never made them before. Might be because I just pop to Le Pain to get some everytime I have a craving. Lol. I agree with your comment about making it savoury, mmm.

I don't think your photos look gloomy by the way. :) You should see some of mine, lol. I try using mirrors but sometimes even that isn't enough.

Angie's Recipes said...

It's 7am here and time for a scone breakfast!!

Karine said...

Great scones! They look yummy.

Kate at Serendipity said...

Zurin, these look wonderful. I grew up in the SE part of the US, where we had the most wonderful biscuits. Scones always remind me of sweet biscuits. I love them. But I love biscuits even more!

Thank you for your message on my blog.

El said...

I love scones. Thank you for including the recipe. By the way, Your photos are beautiful!

Unknown said...

hi zurin its is funny as I did some salted scones with chees delicious !!
I have psted recently a mousse of quincces so you can come and visit!!see you soon Pierre

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