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Dessert

Syrup Scones

Syrup scones are quick, soft scones made with flour, lard, sultanas, baking soda, cream of tartar, buttermilk, and golden syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Buttermilk and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Syrup Scones

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Mix flour, lard or margarine, sultanas, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a large bowl until well combined.

  2. Mix Lyle's Golden Syrup with buttermilk or sweet milk in a separate bowl.

  3. Pour the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until a smooth, soft dough forms.

  4. Knead the dough gently and quickly, then roll it out to a thickness of ½ inch.

Cook

  1. Cook on a moderately hot griddle or bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

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. Buttermilk + syruptop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together124 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Cream + buttermilktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together674 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + syruptop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,540 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the scones together as they set.
Lard or margarine
Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and keeps the scones short.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in the buttermilk or cream of tartar to make the scones rise.
Cream of tartar
Acts as an acid that works with the baking soda to lift the dough.
Buttermilk or sweet milk
Supplies moisture that hydrates the flour and helps form the dough.
Lyle's golden syrup
Adds sweetness, moisture and golden colour to the scones.

The step that matters

Knead the dough gently and quickly. Overworking wheat flour develops gluten, which makes scones tough and dense. A light, quick handling keeps them tender and lets them rise well.

“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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