Nan's Sugar Scones

Nan's Sugar Scones.  I think this has to be one of the best, if not the best scone recipe! I adapted this delicious recipe from one in the April issue of Delicious magazine.  

From the moment I saw it, I knew it was something I wanted to bake.   A fairly ordinary buttermilk English scones recipe which have lemon soaked sugar cubes pushed into their centers!

The scone dough is fairly simple.  It was quite damp, so if you want scones that look more like baking powder biscuits, don't add all of the liquid.  I found it very tacky. 

 I did not want to add too much extra flour to them, so I just patted them out on a well floured surface and used a well floured cutter to cut them out.

 

Because the dough was kind of tacky they spread a bit . . .  the ones in the magazine were straight up and down. 

 

I actually  liked them spread out a bit, and soft sided . . .

The lemon soaked sugar cubes melt and end up tasting sort of like lemon curd.  It's like magic really!

I love magic in cooking, don't you?

In the magazine they recommended serving them with cream and jam, but I can tell you, they were positively delicious all on their own. 

 

Even the day after.   In fact we found them quite, quite moreish!

 

*Nan's Sugar Scones*

Makes 15 medium scones

Printable Recipe 

These are delicious!  For soft sided scones, place them close together on the pan, for crisp crusted ones place them on the baking sheet with some space in between.  Adapted from a recipe found in Delicious magazine. 

400g self raising flour, plus extra for dusting (3 1/2 cups)

50g caster sugar (1/4 cup)

1 tsp salt

60g cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)

310ml buttermilk (1 1/3 cup)

the finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

the juice of one lemon

15 sugar cubes

buttermilk to glaze 

Preheat the oven to 230*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Line a baking sheet with baking paper.  Set aside.

Measure the flour into a bowl.  Whisk in the sugar and salt.  Drop in the butter.  Rub the butter in with your fingertip until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Stir in the lemon zest.  Add most of the buttermilk, stirring it in with a round bladed knife.  Only add the remaining buttermilk to give you a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times.  Pat or roll out to 1 inch thickness. 

 

Cut into 2 1/2 inch rounds using a sharp round cutter and using a sharp tapping up and down motion.  Do not twist the cutter and flour the cutter in between cuts.  

Place the scones onto the baking sheet as desired.  Gather the trimmings and re-pat and cut until you have used up all the dough, and placing them on the baking sheet.

Place the lemon juice into a bowl.  Working with one sugar cube at a time dip them into the lemon juice, turning to coat,  and then push them down into the centre of each scone.  

Once you have finished this, brush the scones with a bit more buttermilk.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until they are risen and golden brown.   Serve warm or cold, on the day, with some cream and jam.   Delicious!

Hope you will give them a go and let me know what you think!

Bon Appetit! 

 

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