Lemon & Sugar Scones

 Lemon & Sugar Scones. These delicious scones comr from a recipe I adapted from one I found in an old issue of Delicious magazine.  From the moment I saw it, I knew it was something I wanted to bake. 

What you have here is a fairly ordinary buttermilk scone recipe. The difference is they have lemon soaked sugar cubes pushed into their middles, like a sweet belly button. This creates a delicious lemon flavoured gooey centre!

 I have shared this recipe in the past.  My photos were so appalling I thought I would like to redo them and redo the photos. Especially now when I have such cute dishes to use.

I got these from Scandanavian Pantry. And no, I was not given them. I fell in love with them and have been collecting them one or two at a time! I only have one or two of each. It would be a dream come true to have a full collection, but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will my collection be!

 What you have here is a fairly simple scone recipe.  Scones are quite different than biscuits. We have had that discussion before. They use butter and North American Biscuits usually use shortening, lard or a combination of those and butter. 

In scones the fat is rubbed into the dough with your fingertips as opposed to being cut in with a pastry blender. You can also use a food processor to do this if you wish. The fat should be distributed through the flour in such a way as you have a fine sand texture as opposed to pebbles.

 The number one mistake that people make when they are making scones (or biscuits for that matter) is by handling the dough too much.  A light touch is the key to perfect results! 

Also people have a tendancy to twist cutters when they are cutting out scones/biscuits. You must never do that.  A sharp tap, straight up and down is what you need to do.

 When you twist a cutter, you seal the edges of the dough. This prevents them from rising as tall as they would have done had you not twisted.  Top tip here! 

So if you always measure precisely, always use a light hand, and cut without twisting you will always have beautiful results.  Also I try to get as many cuts as I can from the first patting/rolling out.

 Every time you have to gather in the scraps and repat, you increase the possibility of a tough scone. Also their appearance will not be as attractive as the first cuts.

They will still taste good however, so no worries on that score.  Just pat them out and then cut your rounds as closely together as possible. If you do that you should not have many repat and cuts to do.  Today I only had two.

 These scones have plenty of lemon flavour.  Part of that comes from the use of freshly grated lemon zest in the scone dough itself. 

I always use unwaxed lemons. I don't want to be eating wax and unwaxed lemons are readily available these days. If you don't have them you can use regular lemons. Just rinse them well under cold running water and dry them with a clean cloth.

The wax is only  very thin coating and will come off easily.  Citrus fruits produce their own wax naturally, but after picking and washing this usually disappears.  A thin coating of wax is usually applied to help keep them fresh and presentable.

I always wash my lemons anyways. You will often see tiny black specks all over them.  This is bug dirt.   I don't want to be eating that either!

 When you go to soak and push the sugar cube into the centre of these do not soak the cubes for very long.  Only a few seconds will do. Just a quick in and then out.  They will dissolve completely if you leave them in the lemon juice too long! 

These scones are delicious all on their own. I am not going to kid you. I could eat them happily just as is, but if you split them and then fill them with some cream and some jam, you tip them over the top into the area of being totally gorgeously, addictively moreish!

There is much debate in this country about what you put on a scone first.  The cream or the jam. It can be a somewhat regional thing.  I would no be surprised to find out that there had been fueds about this very matter of discussion in the past.

I am from the jam first group.  My reasoning is simple. It is much easier to dollop some cream on top of jam than it is to spread jam on top of cream.

For me it is as simple a decision as that and it makes perfect sense. You can do it however you wish. 

I like strawberry jam. Some people think it must be raspberry. Just use whatever jam is your favourite to use. Lemon or orange curd would also be very nice here.

 Ideally clotted cream would be my preference, but I did not have any of that today.  Clotted Cream is a vry British thing and it is said that the best clotted cream comes from Cornwall and Devon because of their cows and pastureland.  It is very hard to replicate at home.

It is created by heating full-fat unprocessed milk indirectly by using a steam or water-bath and then leaving it to cool in shallow pans slowly.  The cream rises to the top and forms "clots" or "clouts." Conditions, temperatures, milk etc. have to be just right.

 Today I made do with softly whipped double cream, and Bonne Maman Strawberry preserves. It was deliciously perfect.

I think you might agree. Or at least I hope you will. I am sure if you bake these you will love them as much as we do!

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Lemon & Sugar Scones

Yield: Makes 15

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 10 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 25 Min

These are delicious! For soft sided scones place them closer together on the baking sheet. For crisp sided ones place them on the baking sheet with some space in between each.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (400g) self raising flour
• 1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 1/3 cups (310ml) buttermilk
• the finely grated zest of two unwaxed lemons
• the juice of one lemon
• 15 sugar cubes
• buttermilk to glaze

To serve:

• Whipped or clotted cream
• fruit jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 230*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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!

notes:

Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.

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These are incredibly moreish and so simple to make. Every time I make them I find myself wondering why I don't make them more often and then I remember . . . its because I can't eat just one! I am so, so, so naughty!