Cultured Buttermilk Scones

Traditional buttermilk is the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. Cultured buttermilk is a fermented dairy product produced from cow's milk with a characteristically sour taste and tartness caused by lactic acid bacteria. Traditional buttermilk is likely to be thinner than cultured buttermilk.

Buttermilk can be substituted in recipes by adding 1 Tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice to 1 cup of dairy milk and allowing it to stand for five minutes.

This is my all time favourite scones that don’t need butter or cream and can be eaten as is. I have made an astounding quantity of these scones since I started to make them back in the 80’s.

Ingredients make 15

3 cups self raising flour (470g)
5 tbls caster sugar (70g)
1 tsp salt (6g)
150 g unsalted butter
300 ml cultured buttermilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs. Add buttermilk and combined to dough. Don’t over mix, which can develop the gluten. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into a 3 cm thickness. Cut out the scones with a 5cm scone cutter and transfer to a lightly floured tray. Space approx. a centimeter apart and bake for approx 12 min. until golden brown on top and cooked through.
Serve warm with jam and whipped cream.

Notes: Substitute self raising flour with 450 g plain flour and 20 g baking powder if self raising flour is unavailable. A good scone is best made with light mixing and a hot oven to make them crisp on the outside and with a soft crumbly texture.