Scone

Pear and Ginger Scones

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For my fellow scone lovers, these are super easy to make and a good way to use up any pears that refuse to ripen.  

I got the inspiration for these from one  I had in the Avoca cafe a couple of years ago.  Their versions are cut into individual scones, but I like making  these big break apart versions, and honestly just wasn’t a*sed faffing about with a cutter. I didn’t have any but next time I’m going to try a white chocolate drizzle, as I think it would be yummy.

Makes 8

Ingredients

350 Grams Self Raising Flour

100 Grams Butter (chilled and cut into small squares)

50 Grams Sugar

150 Grams Firm Pear (peel, core and cut the pear into 1.5cm chunks)

1 Tsp Baking powder

2 Tsp Ground Ginger

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

Method

  • Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees (Celsius), line a large baking tray with baking parchment (I had a solid sheet which also works well)
  • Combine your flour and butter, if you have a food processor pulse until the mix looks like bread crumbs.  If you don’t, you can use the rubbing in method.
  • Add the baking powder and ginger and mix through, before adding the diced pear, gently mix into the flour mix to coat the chunks (it will stop them clumping)
  • Combine the milk and vanilla and gradually add to the flour mix stirring gently (I think you’re better using your hand for this, but this gives some people the ick, so use a spatula if you don’t like using your hands).  The mix should be fairly moist and bring it together  into a ball.
  • The secret of good scones is to handle the mix as little as possible.  When you have formed the mix into a ball turn onto the baking parchment, and with a floured rolling pin, roll into a circle that is about 5cm thick.
  • With a sharp knife score the top of the scone marking it in half, then a quarter then into 8ths.  Place in the oven and bake for 15-20mins.  Allow to on a wire wrack
  • Best served whilst still warm, but they’ll keep fresh if stored an airtight box for 2-3 days

Cherry Scones

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One of my favourite treats while I’m at work is a mid morning cherry scone.

Ingredients

450 Grams Self raising flour (hold back 1 tablespoon of flour to use to coat the fruit)

2 Tsps Baking powder

50 Grams Butter (chilled and cut into small cubes)

50 Grams Sugar

300 Mil Milk

100 Grams Glace Cherries (you can swap this for dried fruit if you prefer)

2 Eggs (beaten)

Method

Sift the flour and baking powder together, and add the butter. If you have a food processor whiz the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use the rubbing in method if you don’t want to use a food processor.

Toss the cherries in 1 tablespoon of flour as this will help prevent them from clumping together. Add the cherries and sugar to the flour mix and stir to combine.

Add the eggs to the milk and stir before adding the dry mix and stir well until fully combined.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees (Celsius), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the scone mix onto a well floured surface and gently form into a ball (try not to handle the mix too much or you will end up with tougher scones, they’ll still taste good so you don’t need to be too precious about it).

Rub flour onto a rolling pin (or use a wine bottle if you don;t have one) and roll out the scone dough until it is about 2-3 cm thickness. Use a cookie cutter or glass to cut out the scones (how big you want to make them is up to you, I like a fairly substantial scone and this recipe made 8 scones, you can use a smaller cutter to make more dainty scones if you prefer).

Place the scones on the baking sheet and you can brush with a little milk if you want them to have a glaze (I don’t bother with this step, but you can do it if you a fancier scone). Bake for 15 minutes and then allow to cool on a wire rack.

Blueberry and Lemon Scones

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I haven’t had the best luck with scones, usually they ended up like hockey pucks.

A friend who makes great ones advised me that secret is to handle scone dough as little as possible.  I decided to try this and instead of Irish version I was always taught to make using a cutter, I tried the American method when the dough baked in piece with sections marked out.

This did the job and these had a nice crust on the outside but stayed fluffy inside (yay, I have broken the scone curse placed on me by Sr Claire in 3rd year home economics for throwing dough).  I also gave these a cheeky wee lemon drizzle when the come out of the oven, that brings them to another level.

Serve these with lemon curd and whipped cream if you want to be posh (it’s sooo good), but these are also good with just butter.

You can use defrosted frozen blueberries which are cheaper, but remember to drain them well before adding to the mix so it doesn’t get too messy.  These also freeze well, but don’t use the lemon drizzle if you know you are going to freeze them.

Makes 8

Ingredients

150 Grams Blueberries

1 Lemon (juice and zest)

100 Grams Chilled butter (cut into small cubes)

1 Tsp Baking powder

350 Grams Self raising flours

200mil Milk

2-3 Tbsp. Icing sugar

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 220 degrees (Celsius), and line a baking sheet with parchment (or else grease the baking sheet well if you don’t have parchment)
  • Add the flour, baking powder and butter to a food processer and pulse until the mixture looks like bread crumbs.  If you don’t have a food processer, use the rubbing in method,  rubbing the flour and butter between your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs
  • Grate the lemon zest wth a fine grater and add to the flour mix along with sugar and mix well.  Add the milk and stir the dough until it is just starting to come together, then gently mix in the blueberries so that they stay whole, but try to make sure they are evenly spread within the dough
  • Gather the dough in a ball, (it should be fairly soft dough).  So that I handled the dough as little as possible, I dusted a little flour onto the baking parchment and sat ball of dough in the centre.  Dust a rolling pin ( or wine bottle or what ever you have) with a little flour, and gently roll the dough out in a circle about 4 cm deep
  • With a sharp knife, score a deep cross into the dough, and then cut these quarters again until you end up with  8 evenly sizes segments (don’t cut the dough right through)
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes, and allow to cool slightly.  In a small bowl add the juice from the lemon you zested and add to the icing sugar and mix well before drizzle over the scones
  • Once cool break the scones into individual sections a serve with butter or lemon curd and cream