Fluffy scones fresh from the oven are hard to resist, not least because of their delicious aroma, but also because of their unbeatable taste.
Baked with jam and cream, these treats are perfect for a cup of tea and couldn’t be easier to make from scratch.
Cooking icon Nigella Lawson has revealed her unique take on a classic recipe that features two lesser-known ingredients.
Sharing the recipe from her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella claimed: “These are the best scones I’ve ever eaten, and as they should be, they come from one of those old-fashioned cooks who starts a batch as soon as the doorbell rings at teatime.”
According to the British chef, the perfectly fluffy finish is down to one ingredient, cream of tartar, which is responsible for their “sleepy lightness”.
Nigella’s scones recipe
Ingredients
500 grams of plain flour
One teaspoon of salt
Two teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
Four and a half teaspoons of tartar
50 g cold unsalted butter (cubed)
25g of Trex vegetable shortening in teaspoon chunks (or use another 25g/two tablespoons of butter)
300 ml of milk
One large egg (beaten, for egg wash)
Method
For perfectly rounded scones, you need a 6.5 cm round cutter with a wrinkled edge and a lightly greased baking sheet.
First preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/gas mark and then take a large bowl and Sift in the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and tartar.
Add the butter and Trex (if using) and rub between your fingers into the dry ingredients.
Continue to rub the mixture until it resembles wet sand, then add the milk all at once. Mix everything together for a while and pour the dough onto a clean, floured surface.
Knead the dough lightly before rolling it into a disc about 3 cm thick. Now dip the cutter in the flour and cut off about 10 scoes.
You can get 12 of the dough, but it may need to be re-rolled for the last two. Once rewrapped and cut out, place the pie circles on the baking sheet “very close together,” Nigella advised.
He said: “The idea is for them to puff up and stick together as they cook – then brush with egg. Put in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or until risen and golden.”
Nigella says scones should “always” be eaten freshly baked, preferably still warm from the oven, with cream and jam. Alternatively, you can try his “favorite additions”; black syrup and clotted cream – a combination known as “thunder and lightning”.
