Nan's Sugar Scones

Saturday 30 April 2016

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!




Nan's Sugar Scones




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.




 Nan's Sugar Scones




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 . . .



Nan's Sugar Scones




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?




Nan's Sugar Scones




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




*Nan's Sugar Scones*
Makes 15 medium scones

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 




Nan's Sugar Scones




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. 




 Nan's Sugar Scones





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.



Nan's Sugar Scones




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.



Nan's Sugar Scones




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!




Nan's Sugar Scones



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

Bon Appetit! 




Nan's Sugar Scones 




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12 comments

  1. How novel Marie!
    You have an eye to try nice things and then share:)

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  2. Great way to make scones! I'm going to try it. Thanks so much. Sister Kathie in Odessa, WA

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sister Kathie in Washington! I hope you enjoy them! One thing if you can't get the sugar cubes as some have said, try just punching a hole in the middle of the scone with your thumb and filling with a tsp of sugar and a few drops of lemon juice! I think that would also work very well! Enjoy! xo

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  3. Scones ~ Heaven on earth! xoxo

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  4. Would this work with the cream and lemonade scone recipe?

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    Replies
    1. Never having done so I cannot say with any assurity that it would. But I think that you could push a lemon soaked sugar cube into the center of any scone or biscuit and come up with something quite delicious!

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  5. Silly question but how do you eat them - on their own like a cake?

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    Replies
    1. You can eat them any way you want to eat them. They are beautiful split and buttered or with some cream and jam. Its up to you really!

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  6. Believe it or not I cannot find sugar cubes in any of our stores. I have ordered some from Amazon but wondered if I could put some Lemon Curd in the middle and get a similar result. I wont get my cubes for a week and I am so anxious to make these. I LOVE making scones and have just found your wonderful site. I love English cooking and your site is delightful. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Here is my suggestion which I think would work perfectly well. You could put some lemon curd in the middle, but it won't be the same. I would do this, make a bit of a divot in the center of the scone using the handle of a wooden spoon. Drop in 1 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of lemon juice. I think this would work perfectly fine! Let me know how you get on! Thank you so much for your kind comment, and welcome to the blog! xo

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