Raisin Scones

One of the main reasons I like to make scones/biscuits is because they require minimal pre-prep. Unlike a cake where the eggs and butter has to be at a particular temperature as well as the other ingredients, with scones everything must be cold, very cold. Therefore, you can remove your ingredients from the refrigerator and immediately mix up a batch of scones. Cooked at a high temperature, they are out of the oven in just under 15 minutes or less.

Apart from having the ingredients cold, the only other requirement when making scones/biscuits is not to overwork dough, apply the same guidelines prescribed for working with pastry dough. Another plus for scones is that the dough can be cut, wrapped tightly in plastic and be refrigerated to be baked later in the later or the following day, or frozen for some other time when you feel like having scones.

Yield: 8 – 10

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup or 8 oz. cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• Heaped ¼ cup raisins
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup cold whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet (18 x 13) with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking power, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
4. Cut butter into the flour until it looks like tiny pebbles. Put the bowl in the refrigerator while you mix the egg and milk.
5. Break the egg into a measuring cup and whisk gently. Pour in milk to make 1 cup of liquid (you may need to add more milk if the egg was not large). Whisk in the essence. Remove 2 tablespoons of the milk mixture to brush on the scones.
6. Flour a work surface.
7. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and make a well in the center. Pour in the liquid and mix the wet and dry ingredients until they come together. Do not knead. Gather the dough into a ball and transfer to the floured work surface and pat into a ¾-inch thick disk. Using a knife cut the dough in half lengthways, then across and then cut each quarter into 2.
8. Transfer to lined baking sheet, brush with milk mixture, place in the oven and bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until golden or lightly brown around the edges.
9. Remove pan from the oven and then transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, as is, or with jam.

NOTES

• You can sprinkle the top with sugar after brushing with milk to form a sweet crust. Use plain or flavoured sugar.

• Ground cardamom, tea (chai) masala or aniseed can be used in place of cinnamon. Orange or lime zest can also replace the spices. If using the zest, you will need 1 teaspoon each.

• Instead of wedges, flour a 3-inch cookie cutter and cut the scones. Do not twist the cutter as it cuts or to lift it up; doing this will cause the dough to seal itself and not rise.