1 week Ago By [email protected] (Rebecca Koncienzcy)
Scones can be an easy treat to bake at home, but Paul said there are some simple rules to make them perfect Scones are a classic food to bake and easy for novice bakers to have a go at. But if you want to get them right first time or perhaps perfect the recipe you have been using, a Great British Bake Off judge has some tips. Paul Hollywood, born in Wallasey , Merseyside, started baking at a young age at his father's bakery, but it was the GBBO that made him a household name, and the 58-year-old continues to help home bakers with recipes, tips and advice via his official TikTok and YouTube channels.
Recently Paul shared his simple steps to achieve the perfect scone. These easy tips can help elevate your baking to Bake Off levels. Of Paul's three main tips, the first was about ensuring there are no big lumps in the mixture before bringing it together into a dough.
He said: "Lumps are bad in a scone because you don't want a big lump of butter in there, you will end up with butter just pouring all over your tray, which is what you don't want." Paul also cautioned on a mistake some might make when egg washing their scones. He said: "Now, egg wash the top, try not to egg wash the sides, if it goes down the sides too much it creates a glue and prevents it from rising up.
" He said there is one strict cooking rule for scones that works almost all the time: "Use the 15-minute scone in an oven as a good rule. And 15 minutes bang on is 99% of the time going to be spot on." For his scone recipe, Paul uses 500g of, strong white flour, 50g of unsalted butter, 80g of caster sugar, 5tsp of baking powder, two medium eggs and 250ml of whole milk.
Paul likes to have all his ingredients to hand and a preheated oven at 220°C or gas mark 7. He then adds the flour and butter together and rubs them into a breadcrumb consistency. Then add the sugar and baking powder and mix in.
Then add the two eggs and lightly mix then add the milk until it turns into a soft dough. On a floured surface, fold the dough together. Paul then pats out his dough and turns his dough cutter in the flour before cutting out scones.
He then adds the egg wash and cooks with the 15 minutes rule. Then you should have 12 perfect scones. For Paul's full recipe and step-by-step video, visit his YouTube tutorial.
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