What went wrong - Scones - FAB (2024)

FAQs

What went wrong - Scones - FAB? ›

The proportions of bicarbonate of soda and acid (either sour milk or cream of tartar) may be incorrect or the flour and raising agents may have been insufficiently sieved. Speckling can also occur if granulated sugar, or too much sugar is used.

Why Are My Scones Flat? Expired leavening agents. Your baking powder and/or baking soda could be expired. Most scone and biscuit recipes call for quite a large amount of leavening, and if either are expired, your scones simply won't rise to beautiful heights.

Try to leave your scones alone until the end of the cooking process and then quickly check them before removing. A sudden loss of heat from the oven when the scones aren't ready can also make them collapse.

Overworking the dough: when you overwork your dough, your scones can come out tough and chewy, rather than that desired light, crumbly texture. The trick is to use light pressure and only the work the dough until it just comes together.

We are all a little tempted to add that extra splash of sweetness into our scones, but make sure you don't use too much sugar as it will flatten them! We recommend using a maximum of 100g of sugar per 250g of flour.

While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper third. Bake the scones in the upper part of your oven for 18 to 23 minutes, or until they're a light golden brown.

How to make scones rise high? Once you've cut out your scone shapes, flip them over and place upside down on the baking tray. This will help them rise evenly and counteract any 'squashing' that happened when you cut out the dough. Perfect scones should rise to about 2 inches high.

The explanation is simple: As with other doughs, including pizza dough, resting lets scone dough's gluten relax completely, so that it doesn't snap back during shaping or baking.

Arrange scones side by side on the baking tray, so that they are just touching each other. This will help keep the sides straight and even as the scones cook. They will also rise higher than scones that are baked spaced apart.

The less you knead the mix, the less the gluten will tighten up – which means your scones will stay loose and crumbly, rather than tight and springy. Make sure you sieve the flour and baking powder into your bowl. This means that the two will be well mixed together, which gives you a better chance of an even rise.

Why are my scones heavy and dense? ›

My scones have a dense, heavy texture and poor volume

You may have used too little raising agent or over handled the dough before it was baked. The oven may have been too cool.

Mix in something acidic

It is important to balance its overtly bitter taste lest it overpowers your dish. Use a small amount of an acidic condiment such as lemon juice or vinegar to neutralise the soda. If the recipe has chocolate, simply add half a teaspoon of cocoa powder to it.

If you add too much liquid, it will come out wet and not hold its shape. Skimp out on the liquid, and you risk dry, crumbly scones that taste like biting into a ball of flour. One simple step that will help avoid tough scones is to incorporate the milk gradually rather than pour it all at once.

Scone mix is far wetter than a dough – it's somewhere between a batter and a dough. Only lightly flour your work surface to avoid incorporating extra flour into the dough. Just a reminder: Don't overwork the dough or the scones will turn out rubbery – or worse, bullety and hard.

First, make sure you're using fresh baking powder, one that has been opened less than 6 months ago. Also, if you knead the dough too much, the scones won't rise as tall. Knead gently, and just enough to bring the dough together. Adding more flour also prevents the dough from rising as high, so only dust lightly.