8 Days - November 02, 2017

60

8 DAYS

Double Cream Scones

Makes 10 - 12 pcs

Ingredients:

1 egg (65g with shell on)

50ml double cream (try Gippsland, from Cold Storage)

180ml milk

½ tsp pure vanilla paste or extract

450g self-raising  our, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp baking powder

a large pinch of salt

50g caster sugar

110g unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and

chilled

For the glaze:

1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for brushing

Equipment: 2¼ inch-wide (5.7cm) round pastry cutter

Method:

(^1) Preheat oven to 180°C.
2 In a jug, beat the egg, double cream, milk and
vanilla with a fork till well mixed. Set aside.
(^3) Sift the  our, baking powder and salt into a
mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar.
4 Add cold butter cubes to  our mixture, using
 ngers to toss the cubes in the  our to coat.
Quickly rub in butter lightly with  ngertips
from a height (to aerate  our) until they
resemble rough, dry breadcrumbs. A few
pea-sized pieces are  ne. Create a well in the
middle of the  our mixture.
5 Pour egg and double cream mixture into the
well. Stir gently with a fork till everything just
comes together to form a soft, shaggy dough.
(^6) Using hands or a bench scraper, gather dough
together and turn it out onto a  oured surface.
7 Using as little pressure as possible, gently fold
dough in overlapping directions about 4 – 6
times, till the surface looks less craggy. Lightly
pat dough into a circle.
(^8) Sprinkle a little more  our on dough if it’s too
sticky, then use  ngers to pat or lightly roll it
with a rolling pin to about 2.5cm thick.
9 Dip a round pastry cutter thoroughly in  our,
then  rmly stamp out 6 scones. Press the
cutter straight down, then lift it straight up.
Do not twist the cutter — doing so ‘seals’ the
sides and prevent the scones from rising up
tall and straight.
10 Gently gather remaining dough together,
lightly re-roll and cut out discs once more.
(^11) Transfer scones to a lined baking tray, leaving
two inches of space between each piece.
Brush the tops lightly with the egg and milk
glaze.
12 Bake scones for 17 – 19 minutes in the centre
of the oven, or until well risen and golden-
brown — the bottoms should be lightly golden
too. A skewer inserted into the middle of a
scone should emerge clean (or knock scones,
they should sound light and hollow).
13 Transfer scones to
a wire rack to cool
brie y till warm. Serve
immediately, with jam
and double cream
(stirred lightly, not
whipped — its high
fat content makes it
curdle quickly).
Make ahead: If you can’t
eat all your scones on the
day they’re baked, freeze
them after you’ve cut out the raw dough discs.
Place them on a baking tray and freeze. Once frozen,
transfer scones to an airtight bag and return to the
freezer. Store for up to a week. When ready to eat, place
frozen scones on a lined baking tray, brush the tops with
egg and milk, then bake for 24 - 25 minutes at 180°C.
EAT
Visit http://www.8days.sg to view a video of this recipe.