# making sense of scone recipe



## pastrycake (Sep 11, 2005)

Hi,

A friend gave me this scone recipe that was used at his bakery... unsure if measurements seem right

6# bread flour or all purpose

2# sugar

1.5 oz salt

3# butter, cold

5 oz baking powder

2 eggs

3# whipping cream

It seems a lot of flour for just two eggs. what ya think?  Looking for a a tender scone


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

possibly 2 dozen eggs


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## cakeface (Mar 20, 2010)

Hi

what is #? is it lb for dry weight and pints for liquid?  If it is, it seems to me there is double the butter than usual, and missing about 4 large eggs and about .75 pint  liquid.  or maybe  my calculations are off... or maybe its a different type of scone than I'm used to because it seems very rich being made with all that butter and cream, usually its made with milk and maybe a little cream or made with buttermilk.  THis would be one expensive scone recipe to make in a bakery.  

It seems more like a reallly rich pastry or  a biscuit recipe than a traditional scone recipe

Buttermilk produces the most tender scone.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

cakeface said:


> Hi
> 
> what is #? is it lb for dry weight and pints for liquid? ..


Hm, never used eggs in what I call scones, then again, maybe I didn't know what I was doing all these years /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

I think the # refers to pounds, most bakers I know use weights rather than volume for measurements, BTA, WTHDIK.


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## cakeface (Mar 20, 2010)

PeteMcCracken said:


> Hm, never used eggs in what I call scones, then again, maybe I didn't know what I was doing all these years /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif
> 
> I think the # refers to pounds, most bakers I know use weights rather than volume for measurements, BTA, WTHDIK.


Hi Pete,

We use weights here and never volume too, but we use metric measurements- kilograms and litres so was just double checking because am not 100% sure about measurements in US.

I have suspicion that maybe scones in Ireland are totally different to scones in the US. Over here in scones, eggs make up a large part of the recipe, yet they are not spongey like a cake, and they are not very sweet-looking at the recipe above, an Irish scone would not have that much sugar.either. So I'm gonna shut up now because I don't think my input is relevant to the conversation./img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif and /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gifbecause it is Saint Patrick's Day!


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## kelly moore (Feb 10, 2012)

Perhaps the eggs are for brushing the tops? ; )


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## luvpie (Jun 20, 2007)

boy I'm stumped. I didn't recognize what the # was for either but did wonder if it meant pounds.
weird way to write then read a recipe.
I've informed my husband we're going back to Edinburgh Scotland and redoing the tour on High street where the bus stopped in a small community for a break in the drive and scones. Ah the memories


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

It has me stumped, too - and I'm a Scot!

I wonder where you stopped for scones and a pot of tea, LuvPie?


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## cowtownbrewster (Mar 11, 2012)

One of the bakeries I worked for used to make up several hundred kilos of dry scone mix at a time - flour, sugar, salt, leavening agents, and fat (shortening).  Then we'd just take how much we'd need for the numbers for the day, eyeball eggs and buttermilk to add, and then throw in a handful or two of fruit or cheese.  If your friend works in a similar way, the '2 eggs' and cream might be an 'add as you go' part of the recipe, for small batched of the larger dry mix.  Alternatively, it could be 2# of eggs if they're using the massive pails of broken frozen eggs, which commercial kitchens often have.

Ask a silly question, but is your friend able to explain the discrepancy?


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## countrykook (Apr 8, 2012)

Here's an old scone recipe from Scotland - my father was from Kilmarnoch and I spent some time there - lived on a farm near Irvine, Ayrshire.

We had an Aga cooker (is always on) and we used a Girdle to cook scones, pancakes etc. This is cast iron - is round and has a huge handle that goes over top.

Here goes: as it is written

1 lb. flour (that is 1 pound)

2 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 oz. butter

1 small teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1/2 pint tepid milk

Sift flour & cream of tarter into bowl - then rub in butter

Dissolve soda in milk & then stir into dry ingredients. Knead to a stiff paste.

Roll on lightly floured surface into a round 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick.

Cut into rounds 2 - 21/2 inches across

Bake on lightly greased sheet a little apart from each other at 450 F for 10 - 15 min.

When done brush tops lightly with milk. Serve split and buttered hot. Makes about 2 dozen

I make a round or two - pick with a fork and bake whole in oven - also do this in cast iron pan over campfire


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

I also always use # to represent pounds - it's just quicker when writing out recipes.  I don't actually see anything wrong with the recipe as I have many scone recipes that don't use any eggs, so just having 2 doesn't mean it is wrong.  The amount of butter and flour are plenty to provide a good texture.


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