Tea Party!

[feisty1]

 My daughter's birthday is fast approaching. She's invited two friends to join her at a local spa/salon where they will each get mini manicures, light application make-up, and party hair-do's. Afterwards I really won't be able to afford to take them anywhere else, but I'd like to have something fun for them to do

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Easy peasy scone recipe

[evil_erato]

A friend of mine recently made these for a tea party we had, and they were AMAZING with some clotted cream and jam. Super easy recipe, too! (recipe from danijo1)

1 cup self-raising flour
3 tbsp butter at room temperature
1/4 pint of milk
1 1/2 tbsp caster (very-fine) sugar
pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425F

Sift flour into a bowl and rub the butter in rapidly, using fingertips. Stir in sugar and salt and, using a knife, add milk in slowly. (I found that for the amount of milk you need a little more than 1 cup of flour.) Flour hands and knead the mixture into a soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a floured pastry board (I used a large cutting board) and roll it out to a thickness of not less than 3/4 inch using a lightly floured rolling pin. Use a 1-2 inch pastry or cookie cutter and place it on the dough and tap it down sharply so it goes straight through the dough (twisting it apparently gives it an odd shape). Cut out as many scones as possible, reusing the trimmings until you have used it all (you should get about 12 scones).

Place the scones on a lightly greased baking sheet, dust each one with a little extra flour and bake near the top of the oven for 12-15 minutes. When cooked, the top of the scones will be a light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and eat them slightly warm, still crisp on the outside and soft and light inside.

Re: Easy peasy scone recipe

[feisty1]

Hmmm...I never knew scones were so easy to make. And I imagine I could improvise and add different spices, fruit, or savory ingredients.

Question: Is caster sugar the same as powdered sugar? I don't recall ever seeing caster sugar in the grocery stores in this area - could I use powdered sugar instead or should I look for caster sugar in a specialty/baking supplies shop?

Thank you!

Re: Easy peasy scone recipe

[evil_erato]

Caster sugar is sort of halfway between our regular white sugar and powdered sugar in texture. Look for super fine sugar in the grocery - it comes in a box where I am (Virginia). People usually use it for iced tea or other drinks, as it melts better in cold drinks than white table sugar. If you don't find it, make it by running regular table sugar in the food processor for a few pulses. Good luck!

Re: Easy peasy scone recipe

[keishiko]

sorry, i couldn't resist butting in. may i ask if you've ever made this with all-purpose flour? i know it's fairly common to just substitute flours, but i've never done it before, so i was hoping maybe someone else has. this DOES sound like such a lovely recipe! thank you for sharing! :D

Re: Easy peasy scone recipe

[evil_erato]

You can, you just need to make sure to add baking powder and a bit of salt. If you don't have self rising flour at home, for each cup of AP flour add 1.5 tsp. of baking powder and .5 tsp. of salt. Mix it up and you're ready to go! :)

Re: Easy peasy scone recipe

[keishiko]

thank you so much! :D