Scones Alternative Glaze | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

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Scones Alternative Glaze | Ask Nigella.com? ›

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Baking powder

You can use 1.5 teaspoons (6 grams) of baking powder to replace 1 teaspoon (3.5 grams) of cream of tartar. This substitution is ideal because it can be used in any recipe without modifying the taste or texture of the final product.

When combined with baking soda, it becomes a leavening agent (the stuff that makes baked goods puff up in the oven) by producing carbon dioxide gas. If you ever run out of baking powder, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder.

As well as the raising agent in the flour, baking powder adds a bit of lift to scones. Baking powder is a convenient choice as it is a ready-mixed leavening agent, generally made of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar (usually some cornflour too).

Bicarbonate of soda (otherwise known as bicarb soda) is a pure leavening agent. It is alkaline and commonly used in recipes that mix moisture plus an acidic ingredient (such as lemon juice, chocolate, buttermilk or honey) together to make batter rise.

The Best Substitute for Cream of Tartar

For every 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar in the recipe, use 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar. As an example, if your cookie recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking soda, add 2 teaspoons lemon juice instead of the cream of tartar.

For Stabilizing Egg Whites, Use Vinegar or Lemon Juice

If your recipe calls for whipped egg whites and a little cream of tartar, try these substitutions: Vinegar: You'll sometimes find vinegar called for in meringue recipes (especially meringue cookies which have stronger flavorings) instead of cream of tartar.

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.

Many quick scone recipes recommend self-raising flour, which contains a leavening agent that helps achieve the desired rise. Without this leavening agent, scones can become dense and heavy. However, you can opt for plain flour and add the appropriate amount of baking powder to your mix.

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.

What is the secret of making good scones? ›

Recipes for scones sometimes provide a make-ahead option that involves refrigerating the dough overnight so it can simply be shaped and then popped into the oven the next day. But now we've found that resting the dough overnight has another benefit: It makes for more symmetrical and attractive pastries.

Don't forget to sift!

Be sure to double or even triple sift your flour, as it takes away the clumps in the flour allowing for more air pockets in the scone dough - the result being a fluffier and more crumbly scone.

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.

Too much baking powder can cause the batter to be bitter tasting. It can also cause the batter to rise rapidly and then collapse. (i.e. The air bubbles in the batter grow too large and break causing the batter to fall.) Cakes will have a coarse, fragile crumb with a fallen center.

You can also simply leave out the cream of tartar from a recipe, which may result in baked goods that are not as fluffy, but will still work out and taste good.

No. Although they are similar in appearance, cream of tartar and baking soda are completely different ingredients. Baking soda, which also goes by the name sodium bicarbonate, is a leavening agent that reacts with acids in a recipe.

You can make a similar heavy cream alternative using regular milk and butter. Whole milk has a fat percentage of around 3.5% and is preferable to lower-fat varieties, but you'll still want to use more melted butter than you would with half-and-half. For best results, try mixing ⅔ cup of whole milk with ⅓ cup butter.

Baking powder is a combination of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and cream of tartar. It should work as a substitute for cream of tartar, but you may need to play around with the amount to get the texture you want.