The perfect fruit scones. Well risen, rich in flavour and full of sultanas. Smother with some butter and top with jam, then enjoy!
I’ve been a not-so-secret mission for a while now. One that has involved some pretty rubbish bakes, and some which are good but not quite good enough. Recipes tweaked and altered to within an inch of their lives… This mission I speak of? The perfect Fruit Scones!
Scones are something which appear simple on the surface but getting them perfect is a bit of a science. It’s something that Granny seems to have down but when you ask her for the elusive perfect Scone recipe, the answer is usually, “I don’t really have just one recipe.” Oh, no! Granny just bungs it all together in a bowl and lets her magical baking hands do all the work.
It became clear fairly early on in my mission to perfect the humble Fruit Scones, that I have not inherited the magical baking hands and if I too was going to succeed at scones, I’d need a recipe that really does work. I tried it all; self-raising flour, plain flour, egg, no egg, butter, margarine…
In the end I found the best combination of dry ingredients included the use of plain flour with the raising agents added separately. This was something we had witnessed Charlotte (from Restoration Cake) do with her scones at The Foodies Festival and it was a move that I seen Granny nodding with agreement to, due to the ratio of raising agents in Self-raising Flour not being equal. Told you it involved some science!
Another ingredient I found to be fantastic in scones is Sour Cream. If you like a rich scone, you need a good dod of sour cream in there. This was something I always recalled Granny adding to her Fruit Scones so it just feels right to have it in this recipe too.
Granny's Top Tips
• For great scones you want cold ingredients and a hot oven. Use butter that is a little cold and ensure you fully pre-heat your oven.
• Try to get as much air into your dough by sifting the dry ingredients from a bit of height and raising your fingers as you mix the butter.
• Scones require a soft touch so don’t be too rough with your mixing and kneading.
• Put down the rolling pin! Simply stretch out your dough with your hands. And always leave it a little thicker than you think you should.
• When you cut your scones from the dough DO NOT twist your cookie cutter. This will twist the edges of the dough and prevent them from rising as well. And by doing so, you will make Granny want to cry.
• Always leave your scones to rest before baking. This lets the gluten in the flour rest. 10 minutes is ideal but if you can do longer, even better.
• A beaten egg gives the best colour to scones when brushed on top but milk is also fine, if you’re out of eggs. Just be careful that you don’t let it run down the sides of your scones or it could effect the rise.
Love this? Try this:
Fruit Scones
PRINT RECIPEIngredients
- 450 g Plain Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 50 g Caster Sugar
- 50 g Butter or Margarine
- 100 g Sultanas
- 200 ml Whole Milk
- 100 ml Sour Cream
- 1 Egg (beaten)
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 220°c (200°c for fan assisted oven or Gas Mark 7). Grease two baking sheets with a little excess butter/margarine and set aside.
- Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar into a large bowl, holding the sift up to allow some air into them.
- Gently stir in the sugar.
- Using the tips of your fingers, rub in the butter/margarine to the dry ingredients, again lifting as you do to allow air in. Continue until you have a sandy consistency.
- Stir in the sultanas and create a well in the middle.
- Whisk the milk and sour cream together before pouring into the well. Using your hands, gently bring the ingredients together to form a soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Turn out onto a floured work surface and gently knead together, before stretching the dough to about 2cm thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter
of your choice, cut your scones out and place them onto your pre-greased baking sheets. The smaller your cutter the more scones you will get. Reform and stretch the dough as required to use all of the dough.
- Leave your scones to rest on the tray for about 10 minutes before brushing the tops with some beaten egg.
- Bake in your pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. If you are making smaller scones, keep a close eye on them as you may need to reduce the baking time to suit.
- Once cool enough to touch, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely or enjoy whilst still warm.
of your choice, cut your scones out and place them onto your pre-greased baking sheets. The smaller your cutter the more scones you will get. Reform and stretch the dough as required to use all of the dough.Notes
10 Responses
Great and look lovely to taste brilliant
These are amazing
Best scones I’ve ever made.
These are the best scones I’ve made – will definitely look to more of your recipes. Great tip on leavening to rest .
Why is it so hard to find the list of ingredients on recipes on
Line!!! So annoying!!!!!
Why is it so hard to find the list of ingredients on recipes So annoying!!!!!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet. I realised that living in Scotland meant that I should have a good scone recipe and so I started with three recipes taken from the internet. The first one was Delia’s and it turned out so well that I didn’t even try the others! I use her cheese scone recipe too. The photo of your fruit scones look wonderful and I am inspired to try them. But, and it’s a crucial but, I’m wondering about your measurements. When you say ” 2 teaspoons” of baking soda and cream of tartar, do you mean a “proper” or “official” measurement of five millilitres, as per the American baking measurements that have been widely used in the UK now? My sister and I were taught to measure using a normal stirring your tea teaspoon, with the same amount above the rim of the spoon as was below the rim. This would be about two 5 ml teaspoons! I just need to know how you measure yours!
My scones are usually like rocks…..I tried this recipe as had sour cream in and used baking powder…. approx 2 standard teaspoons….they turned out to be amazing, light , fluffy and really yummy definitely my go to scone recipe , Thankyou
Best ever
Honestly, the best I’ve ever made. Thank you, I will use your recipe all the time from now on. I won’t even be afraid of putting them before the W.I .
Please forgive me. I have a sad life to be posting about scones but my therapist says you will understand.
Your photos look like the sultanas have burnt a bit. I soak the dried fruit before use. It stops the sultanas burning. If you fold the dough to trap air the fruit can be added as if the filling in a sandwich which prevents it from appearing at the outsides of the dough and burning.
A scone has 3 raising agents: 1 trapped air, 2 steam from the fluids, 3 the chemical agents. Add a well beaten egg to the mix and you ensure raising agents 1 and 2 are plentiful even if you are heavy handed with the dough. The glaze on top is to trap the steam and promote rising.
Now I need to lie down and speed dial my therapist.