6 days Ago By Katherine McPhillips
Nothing is better than biting into a scone hot and fresh from the oven, and they are incredibly easy to make at home as long as you are using an essential ingredient. Kat Buckley, a baker and founder of The Baking Explorer , has suggested that lemon juice is the key to getting fluffier and tastier scones . She said: “I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice, don't worry the scones won't taste of lemon at all.
The lemon is used to turn the milk into buttermilk. This helps the scones rise and gives them a lovely texture.” When lemon juice and milk are mixed together, it will create buttermilk, an acidic, creamy substance that breaks down gluten to make the scones airy and light.
The acidity in lemon juice will also react with the baking powder in the recipe , which will help the scones rise in the oven to make them much fluffier. This is a simple recipe to try out yourself if you want to make your own afternoon tea as a treat, but it would be perfect to impress your mum for Mother’s Day this weekend. You will need: 400g of self-raising flour 45g of caster sugar 90g of unsalted butter 145ml of whole milk One large egg One medium egg (for glazing) One tablespoon of fresh lemon juice One teaspoon of vanilla extract One and a half teaspoons of baking powder A pinch of salt Intructions To begin, preheat the oven to 200C or Gas Mark 7.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside for now. Place the dry ingredients (self-raising flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar) into a large mixing bowl and then stir together. Cut the butter into cubes.
Add the butter to the mixing bowl and rub it into the mixture with your fingertips until fully combined. It should begin to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the milk and lemon juice into a jug.
Leave it alone for roughly five minutes until the milk begins to go lumpy. Then, add the large egg and vanilla extract to the jug. Pour the buttermilk mixture from the jug into the mixing bowl and stir everything together until you have a dough.
Tip the dough onto a clean, floured surface and begin to pat it as briefly as possible until it is two centimeters thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds of the dough. Reshape the dough as much as you need to until you have none left, but try to handle it as little as possible.
Place the cut dough rounds onto the prepared baking tray. Beat a egg in a small bowl and brush the top of each dough ball with the eggy mixture. Put in the oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the scones have risen and are golden brown on top.
Once ready, place on a rack to cool and your delicious homebaked scones are ready to eat with plenty of jam and cream. They are best eaten on the day they were made but will last two to three days..
