By Request - The Scone

The Scone

Unusually for me, I'm going to begin with the basic recipe.

3 cups flour + 3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk

This is THE classic scone recipe converted to EWAM, and it works perfectly.

You blend/sift the flour and BP. (Or swish it around with a fork). Add salt.
Rub in the butter to a fine crumb.
Stir in the milk.

This will give you a perfect plain scone. There are uses for plain scones, as is*.

However, the two typical, traditional versions are:

FRUIT

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar before the milk, and a generous handful of raisins.

CHEESE

Add grated cheddar* before the milk.

Roll this dough gently out to 3/4 inch, and cut into rounds. Bake at 220C for about 11-12 minutes.

These days, there are about 40,000 other things you can do with a scone, and please do so with my blessing, but first let's look at the cousins of the scone.

1. The "Biscuit". Famous in much of the US, this is a slightly different recipe, but the end products are pretty much interchangeable, just used, commonly, in different ways. Mostly savoury.

2. The "Tea Biscuit". A runny batter version, looking like it's been dropped from a great height, popular in parts of Canada. Occasionally looks like the dog had an accident. Mostly sweet.

3. "Soda Bread", a large Irish version of the plain scone. Rather boring as is, but once sliced, can be used in many ways. Always savoury.

4. "Pogácsa", the Polish version. They have some really creative and very good ways to use this simple comestible. Mostly savoury, but not always.

5. "Los Scones". South American version. I only recently discovered these, and it helped me get my head out of my arse regarding how they are used/what they are used with. Can be savoury or sweet. 


It has become my #1 mission in life to understand this food item. We eat A LOT of scones here, mostly cheese, and I'm sort of passionate about them.


*Regarding cheese, cheddar is your best bet for everyday cooking. It's relatively inexpensive, with a good flavour, so long as it is "old" (don't waste your money on anything mild or medium, those words mean "NO TASTE").

* Cobbler. Take any gravy-based dish, and use a scone topping instead of a pastry crust, or accompanying carb. Bake.