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Irish Scones

A quick, sweet biscuit made with flour, butter, sugar, milk, egg, and optional raisins or walnuts, baked or fried.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Irish Scones

Makes 6 scones
Oven350 to 375 degrees
Time15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Mix flour and baking powder.

  2. Add butter, blending until the mixture is butter-colored.

  3. Add sugar and continue to mix well.

  4. Add half the beaten egg and all the milk.

  5. Add raisins or some nuts, if desired, mixing well to make a sticky dough.

  6. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead for at least five minutes or longer.

Shape and bake

  1. Cut dough into rounds and place on a greased baking sheet or hot frying pan.

  2. Brush tops of scones with the remainder of the beaten egg.

  3. Place walnut halves on top, if desired.

  4. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until brown.

  5. If preparing over an open fire, heat the frying pan until very hot.

  6. Place scones in pan and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Turn and cook 7 to 8 minutes more. Makes 6 scones.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

921Calories
29 gProtein
29 gFat
137 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Raisin + walnuttop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together647 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White flour
Forms the main structure of the scone dough.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the dough so the scones rise and become light.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and helps browning.
Egg
Binds the dough and gives the tops a glossy, browned finish.
Milk
Adds moisture that hydrates the flour into a sticky dough.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and contributes to browning of the crust.

The step that matters

Knead for at least five minutes. Kneading develops gluten in the flour, giving the scones enough structure to hold their shape. Overworking a scone dough, however, can make it tough, so handle it briefly and gently.

Swap the raisin

The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk, walnut):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinthe original
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Coconutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk, walnut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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