How to bake the PERFECT scone | Paul Hollywood's Easy Bakes

The Nugget

Making scones is straightforward: mix flour, unsalted butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, and milk before baking at a high temperature to achieve a golden brown, fluffy texture. Proper mixing and handling techniques are crucial for the perfect scone.

Key quotes

"Lumps are bad in a scone because you don't want a big lump of butter in there."
"If it's solid, put more liquid in there; if it's pouring out like water, you've got too much liquid."
"You don't want to do it too much because it [the dough] is strong flour, it will bind together and become too gelatinous."
"Baking powder basically produces carbon dioxide...you've got a window of about probably an hour or two to actually use it before it starts losing its power."
"Look at the color of these, that's the color you look for, that golden brown, that rich golden brown."

For scone ingredients: Flour, unsalted butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, and milk are fundamental.
Mixing technique involves rubbing butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb texture, crucial for light and fluffy scones.

Additions to the mixture in sequence: caster sugar, baking powder, eggs, and milk, with the latter added cautiously to achieve the desired dough consistency.
The dough must be soft yet tacky; overworking it leads to a gummy texture when baked.

Rolling out the dough requires a balance of firmness and gentleness, avoiding overworking.
Scone cutters are used to shape the dough, which is then baked at a high temperature (200°C fan-assisted or 220°C regular) for approximately 15 minutes to achieve a golden brown color.

The final egg wash applied to the scone tops enhances browning, avoiding the sides to prevent inhibited rise.
Serving suggestion includes strawberry jam, clotted cream, and the importance of consuming freshly baked for optimal taste.

🎓 Rubbing in butter: Transform flour and butter into breadcrumbs for the lightest scone texture.
🥛 Milk moderation: Add milk gradually to avoid overly wet or dry dough.
🔄 Gentle folding, not kneading: Preserve the dough's lightness with minimal handling.
⏰ 15 Minutes Magic: Bake scones for a "golden 15" to ensure they come out perfectly every time.

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