Lovely flavour and quite rich, as intended: a great combination of taste and decadence. Perfect for a posh tea – well, fairly posh.
Time: 30 minutes hands on; 15 minutes baking
Equipment: Just a couple of baking trays unless you want to use a food processor
Level: Dead easy
Calories: around 4,000 in total so 400 per scone, based on ten medium scones
Ingredients
- 100 – 120ml cream (single or double)
- 2 oranges
- 500g self-raising flour
- pinch of salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 140g butter, cubed
- 90g caster sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
Method
1. Measure out the cream in a jug. Stir in the zest of one orange and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 210C/Fan190C/Gas 6. Line two baking trays with parchment and dust lightly with flour.
3. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl or a food processor. Add in the salt, baking powder and butter. Either rub in using finger tips or pulse briefly in the processor to create a breadcrumb texture.
4. Stir in the sugar, plus the juice and half the zest of the second orange. Reserve the rest of the zest to decorate later.
5. Add ¾ of the beaten eggs and then gradually add the cream. Mix to create a soft dough. You may not need all the cream. (Take care not to over mix)
6. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, then roll out to about 3cm – 4cm thickness. Stamp out using a 6cm round cutter. Place on the baking trays and brush the tops with remaining egg.
7. Bake for 10 – 13 minutes or until well risen and golden brown. Place on a wire rack and sprinkle with the reserved zest.
Lessons learnt
- As the photos show, I made the mistake of adding the zest before baking, so on some scones it’s a bit dark.
- I tried using Elmlea, which I like very much especially as the calories are fewer than in cream. However, the reduced fat may cause the scones to be a little drier than with cream. So, it’s worth sticking with lovely calorie rich “proper” cream.
Retired Bloke on Food n stuff 