The Easiest Scones in the World !

This recipe from my friend Joyce !

3 cups self-raising flour (or 3 cups all purpose flour, plus 6 tsp baking powder)
1 cup lemonade (Sprite, 7up etc)
1 cup cream (35% fat)

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Bake in 180degC (360 deg F) oven for 20 - 25mins until brown.

Edit : after some feedback and experimenting, the scones seem to bake better at a higher temp for less time - I got an improved result using 200 deg C (fanforced) and 15-20mins.

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Makes the lightest, fluffiest scones, which are surprisingly not overly sweet. I've made them with savoury fillings (ham and cheese, smoked salmon and dill), and they've been delicious.

Cheers, Celia

YUMM!! Looks like a good base for a heaping spoonful of good honey, or berry jam.

Breakfast tomorrow. With some apricot confit from Belgium and a mug of Earl Grey.

Celia, you're a goddess!

Great essay, Celia. Many thanks.

Thanks Bob ! I wanted to try out uploading multiple images - the new system only lets you put two images per message, which is probably very sensible.

The scones are fun - and so easy - and as I was making them this morning, I was thinking.."Oooh, I bet Stuart would like these.."

Thanks Bob ! I wanted to try out uploading multiple images - the new system only lets you put two images per message, which is probably very sensible.

The scones are fun - and so easy - and as I was making them this morning, I was thinking.."Oooh, I bet Stuart would like these.."

I've got Fresca and 2% milk, reckon that would work? LOL

Robert, I had to google Fresca ! I think it's the same as what we call Fanta..

Doubt the 2% milk will help you, but for what it's worth, I have made this with soda water and tinned reduced fat cream. And UHT thickened cream too, from memory. It's reasonably flexible..

Robert, I had to google Fresca ! I think it's the same as what we call Fanta..

Doubt the 2% milk will help you, but for what it's worth, I have made this with soda water and tinned reduced fat cream. And UHT thickened cream too, from memory. It's reasonably flexible..

Fresca is a grapefruit drink, one that I have loved since my childhood.

Celia, you're a goddess!

Stuart, are you just discovering this? If so, I am surprised at your lack of alertness.

Bob, you're too sweet...

This recipe from my friend Joyce !

3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup lemonade (sprite, 7up etc)
1 cup pouring cream

Very interesting. I guess the fat in the cream takes the place of the butter you'd rub in the flour in the traditional recipe, but I don't know what purpose the lemonade plays.

I make sultana scones most weekends (see below), so I must give Joyce's recipe a try.

The lemonade probably triggers the bicarbonate in the self-rising flour.

And, of course, provides sweetening and moisture. I would imagine it helps with browning as well, due to the sugar content.

Makes perfect sense.

I'm whipping some up in about an hour or so, just in case you're in the neighborhood.

And, of course, provides sweetening and moisture. I would imagine it helps with browning as well, due to the sugar content.

I don't add sugar or sweetening when making scones so the thought of the equivalent of six spoonsfulls per can doesn't appeal, and I don't bother glazing my scones anymore. Liquid I understand.

Self raising flour works fine, doesn't need triggering.

Oh well, I'll just have to try Joyces recipe and the same again with water instead of lemonade.

Not saying sugar is necessary for browning, only that it is one of the things it adds when present. Sugar brings many different functions to baked goods, besides sweetening. That's one of the reasons it's difficult to develop really good sugar free baking recipes for home use.

That's one of the reasons it's difficult to develop really good sugar free baking recipes for home use.

Sweetening in my scones come from the sultanas and the dollops of jam I put on them Currently alternating some wonderful homemade greengage jams and a stunning blackberry jam. It's the first time we've made wild blackberry jam and the colour and taste is incredible. Can't wait till next years blackberry season.

I have just returned from the shops with a carton of cream and a bottle of fizzy lemonade especially to make the scone recipe. I will report back.

Why Stuart Should Not Be Allowed to Bake, Part XXXVII:

First, there was no grocery in my town that actually had pure cream, only the whipping stuff with carrageenan. So, I bit the bullet and subbed it.

Second, I'm far too stupid to know what the moisture ought to be for a dough like this. Using these proportions with my ingredients gave me something insanely wet and sticky. A baker who wasn't stupid would think, "Aha, this appears more like oatmeal mixed with superglue, perhaps a bit of flour will calm things down."

I, however, am stupid.

Turned it out on a floured parchment paper and tried to pat it out. After discovering how the animal fossils found in the La Brea Tar Pits actually died, I only lost about a quarter of the dough when trying to get it off my fingers.

OK, with a modicum of flour on my fingers and sprinkled on the top, we can get the mess patted out. Fine. This baking stuff isn't so hard...

I floured the end of a cup to use as a cutter. The cuts were miraculous. Truly. I haven't seen wounds heal themselves any faster this side of Kathryn Kuhlman. And after the first cut, the dough stuck impressively to the cutter, partially lifting off and partially remaining behind both the cutter AND the parchment paper.

This actually stuck to the parchment paper.

I tried easing a lump off, which it more or less did by leaving half its mass stuck to the paper, half its mass stuck to my fingers. Trying to remove it from my fingers was Emmet Kelly and the tape redux, but not nearly as graceful. And the entire mass of dough had now stuck itself to the nonstick parchment paper.

Edwin Land once observed, "Insight is the sudden cessation of stupidity." So, my insight was, time to get this back into the bowl and add some more flour. So, with much use of the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television, I managed to get 60-70% of the remaining dough back into the mixing bowl, leaving a good portion permanently affixed to the Guaranteed Not to Stick! silicone spatula and the remainder molecularly adhered to the parchment paper.

Ripped a fresh piece of parchment, laid it out, and floured it. Folded another quarter cup of self-rising flour into The Incredible Shrinking Scone Dough. Patted it out, and it behaved much better.

Yield: 3 scones.

Why Stuart Should Not Be Allowed to Bake, Part XXXVII

Too bad I wasn't in the neighborhood, I would have loved to start the day with a good laugh at your expense. Er.... I mean.... I would have been able to help. Yeah, that's the ticket.

If these were The Easiest Scones in the World, I dread my attempts at the hardest ones.

Oh, I'm sooo sorry, Stuart ! All my other attempts at scones have ended up with lumps of rock, whereas these always worked - that's why I posted them. Do you think it's possible that our SR flours are different or something ? The mix is sticky, but definitely a dough - not gloopy glue...

Can I persuade you to try again, with normal cream ? When the mix gets to a dough like consistency, tip it out on a floured bench (try without parchment - I was just trying to save cleaning up), and sprinkle the top with flour, then try cutting. I hate seeing a recipe beat you..

Oh, no, not your fault at all. I'm just inept. If I had turned this out onto a floured counter, I'd have to take a wrecking ball to my kitchen.

I think flours do vary, especially in moisture. I know that when I make pizza or pasta, I usually adjust things each time to get the right consistency. In this case, being inexperienced and (honestly) not very adept at baking, I didn't make an obvious correction in the beginning, and once the first step is taken in the wrong direction, well...