http://www.joyofbaking.com/SconesIntroduction.html
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Dry ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
combine in a large mixing bowl
With a large pastry blending fork or a pastry cutter (don’t use the stupid wire kind, please) cut in 1/2 cup of slightly warm, but not room temperature unsalted butter until the mixture resembles gravelly sand (finding the right texture is the “hard part” that requires a little practice)
Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup HEAVY whipping cream ....mmmmmmm
1 large egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
Combine the wet ingredients and beat until the egg is completely mixed into the cream. Fold into the dry mixture with a fork, just until all of the liquid is absorbed. Do not over stir. When you can get your hand under the mix, you’re done mixing. Knead the mixture 3 or 4 times until formed into a ball. On a ungreased cookie sheet, form the ball into a circle approximately 8” in diameter. Cut the circle into 8 equal triangles, but do not separate the pieces, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden.
Nifty variations are easy, you just add in some extra ingredients.
Sweet scone variations:
-add 1/4 cup dried currants or cranberries as you are kneading the dough
-add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 2 extra tablespoons of sugar to the dry ingredients for chocolate scones
-add 1/4 tsp of lemon extract to the wet ingredients, and 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots as you are kneading the dough (I highly recommend this)
-add 1/2 tsp ginger to the dry ingredients, and 1/4 cup molasses to the wet ingredients. Add a little extra flour as you knead, because this can get a little stickier.
- sprinkle the top of the scones with cinnamon and sugar before baking
Savory Scone Variations:
For savory scones, reduce the amount of sugar in the dry ingredients to 2 tablespoons and omit the vanilla from the wet ingredients.
-add 1/4 cup shredded parma ham and 1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese as you knead the dough
-add 1/4 cup crumbled feta and 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley as you knead the dough
- add 1/4 teaspoon fresh chopped sage, 1/4 cup crumbled bacon and 1/4 cup shredded cheddar as you knead the dough
synaesthesia: cold damp limewashed plaster walls and hot steamy assam tea with loads of milk, rough wrinkled hands wiped on a heavily laundered apron.