Mastering Cheese Scones

A truly great scone is light and fluffy on the inside, and crusty on the outside. It's the contrast of texture that makes it great. You cant achieve this with just a recipe, it's all about technique. Major thanks to Jamila at Funicular for providing 1 on 1 training. Chapters 00:00 Start 00:44 flour 01:23 butter 01:55 milk 02:59 placement 03:31 oven settings 03:54 don't microwave 04:20 start, adding 200g flour 04:34 adding baking powder 04:45 adding salt 05:19 sifting 05:51 herbs 06:13 adding butter 06:24 mixing butter 06:47 adding cheese 07:05 adding milk 08:35 weighing 110g balls 09:16 top with cheese 09:31 results 10:10 Lavender Scones 4 cheese scones 200 g standard grade plain flour 2.5 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp salt Pinch cayenne 40 g butter 60 g cheese (tasty) Small amount of finely chopped rocket or parsley, or garlic chives 180 ml milk 28 g cheese for top Make 110g balls Directions: Toss flour, salt, cayenne, herbs Grate butter Cut together using two knives Cut to coarse texture Add cheese, cut Toss Add milk, mix as lightly as possible until just no dry flour. Should be tacky. Do not over work. You want as much milk as you can get in and still form a tower. Cover tray with baking paper Weigh 110g spoonful's at a time Stack in a tall tower Place with 2 cm gap min Top with grated cheese Bake for 24 mins no higher than 180c. The temperature of Maillard reaction (browning) is 140-180c. Temperatures higher than 180C can cause acrid flavours. Best to test your oven with a thermometer. Avoid fan bake, or use lowest setting possible. Test for cooked by gently poking. If it bulges out the far side, it needs another 4 mins Rest 10 mins before eating 4 Lavender scones 230 g standard grade plain flour 4 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp salt 1 tbsp. sugar 1.5 tsp dried culinary lavender buds, or 3 tsp fresh flower buds 46 g butter 205 ml milk To serve: spread with Damson Plumb Jam (or raspberry etc) whip 125 ml pure cream with 0.5 tsp Organic Vanilla Bean Paste and dollop on top Date scones 8 10 medjool dates 200g, rough cut 1 Seville orange all the skin chunky zested Soak the dates and zest in the orange juice overnight in the fridge. 2 pinches cinnamon 1 Pinch cloves 1 pinch salt top with demerara sugar 6 cheese scones 300 g standard grade plain flour 3.75 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Pinch cayenne 60 g butter 90 g tasty cheese Small amount of finely chopped rocket or parsley, or garlic chives 270 ml milk 42 g cheese for top 8 cheese scones 400 g standard grade plain flour 5 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Pinch cayenne 80 g butter 120 g cheese (tasty) Small amount of finely chopped rocket or parsley, or garlic chives 360 ml milk 56 g cheese for top 15 cheese scones 750 g standard grade plain flour 9.375 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Pinch cayenne 150 g butter 225 g cheese (tasty) Small amount of finely chopped rocket or parsley, or garlic chives 675 ml milk 105 g cheese for top FAQ FLOUR High Grade Flour: does NOT mean higher quality, it’s actually to do with the amount of gluten in the flour. If you’re baking bread or dense cakes, gluten gives elasticity to dough and helps your bread to rise and be the right density. If you use High Grade flour with your scones, you will find it easier to to make a scone with height, but it will be at the cost of the texture. Standard Flour : has less gluten, is better for light pastries, cakes and SCONES, which call for a more delicate texture. Using the technique of stacking the scone in a narrow tower, you will achieve an acceptable height, and with less gluten you will have a much better all important texture. Another trick is once you've shaped your scones, chill them before baking. The final chill relaxes the gluten which yields a tender texture. It also cools the butter down again, which is how you'll get that flaky texture. Use Standard Grade Flour for your scones. Temperatures make a large difference in the reactions that take place and the resulting texture, flavour and colour. It’s important to ensure you’re baking your scones at the temperature most suitable to take advantage of caramelisation and the Maillard reaction to achieve optimal tastes, texture, and overall look from both. Fat rich scones are baked at a lower temperature than your regular run-of-the-mill yeast bread to ensure you get optimal results. If you use a thermometer – which you should, you should have an internal temperature range of 82 to 88 °C at the end of baking. It is best to use a conventional oven when you are baking scones. If using a fan-forced oven, as a general rule, drop the temperature by 20°C to imitate conventional. Turn the fan to the lowest setting.