Okay, so for a first kitchen-fail post I'll start with a recipe I've made tons of times before (and failed with tons of times as well, ranging from undercooked to burned), the English scone.
The ones in the picture have dried cranberries in them, which is absolutely divine (unless you're a guy named arno who thinks it's the devil's fruit, too sour apparently). Dried cranberries are kinda pricey here in the NL, so I usually use raisins, but you can basically use any type of dried fruit. Never tried to make 'em with non-dried fruit, and I guess that would upset the entire liquid-dry ingredients balance. Definately worth a shot, though.
There are also savory options for scones; the best cheese scone I've had so far was at a greggs place i London, absolutely delish! Still not sure how they did it. The inside was gorgeously cheesy, seems logical, and the scone was topped with black pepper. Still haven't managed to reproduce it. Just think of all the possibilities, though, when it comes to savory scones: walnut gorgonzola scones (def. gotta make this), olive parmigiano (maybe add basil?), dried tomato with garlic and capers, hmmmmmm, I can almost taste them already :)
The Problems:
There are multiple problems with scones. Behind the drool-inducing facade lies a great secret, the texture, which is highly problematic. They're tricky bastards, but so rewarding when you get it right!
Problem #1: Getting the dough consistency right.
This one fooled me for quite a while, and I've seen many a batch of scones go all mushy in the oven because they contained too much liquid. Loads of recipes add too much water, and I have no idea why. It could be that the flour I use (a.k.a. Dutch flour) reacts differently to the liquid you add, and if that's the case then you could be experiencing the same problem.
I once tried the Chocchip scone recipe by Joy of Baking (http://www.joyofbaking.com/SconesChocChip.html), which didn't go too well.
As you can see, they want you to add 160 to 180 ml of buttermilk, which is a lot on 260 gr of flour. Again, maybe it's my Dutch flour, maybe not, but this is what happened: instead of being able to cut the dough into the desired shape, I had to shape balls of dough with two spoons, because there was no way in hell that stuff could be cut. Imagine a consistency somewhere between cookie-dough and cake-dough, definitely leaning towards cake.
So, what can I do to fix this batch?
Add more flour. It might be better to just add more of the flour-mixture (all the dry ingredients), but it's a bit hard to estimate how much you'd need, so adding more flour is always a good bet.
I would definitely do this. Better yet is to make a new batch, keeping the appropriate consistency in mind the entire time.
What does the consistency need to be?
Oh, tricky question. Really, it is. First off, I make my dough in a food processor. That way I can see how the dough responds to the mixing blades. There are two rules:
1: It should not be sticky/wet. Never. If the dough stick to your hands, you've added too much liquid. Add more dry stuff.
2: It shouldn't be too dry either. And this is what makes it so tricky.
Okay, imagine the dough (I'm all about visualisation). After you've mixed everything together, you've got to knead it and punch it with some cookie cutters, right? Okay, so you've got to have a firm dough (it needed to be sliced/cut whatever you wanna do with it), but you also need to knead it, and the cookie cutter needs to go through the dough easily. You want to get it right there at the edge of stickiness, so that the dough is somewhat supple when you knead it. That's the best I can do, I'm afraid. Try to play around with it a bit, see what happens if you put in just a bit more liquid.
Problem #2: the right time/temperature.
Scones are very quick to bake in the oven, which is nice. I can make a batch of 8 scones from scratch in about 40-45 minutes, of which 15-17 minutes is baking time. The difficulty is getting it just right, of course, as scones have a 2 to 3 minute period in which they are perfect, before which they are underdone, and after which they turn dry. This is heavily dependent on the size of your scone and the temperature of your oven.
How do you find that 2 to 4 minute slot?
1: Check the colour of your scones. Often, the scones receive a brushstroke of buttermilk as topping, so that they will colour nicely golden brown. If this has already happened to a satisfying degree, they're probably about right. If they're not, you might want to let them sit in there for a few more minutes. Aim for 2 minutes between check-ups, so that you don't run the risk of overdoing them.
2: Crack one open. If the inside is not entirely done, you'll know it immediately. If so, put it back, and depending on the degree of not-doneness, set the alarm for a few more minutes. if you want to check a few minutes later, just crack the one you already cracked again, and see if it's alright now. The other ones should be the same, if not, leave it in the comments!
Problem #3: buttermilk.
Most scone recipes need buttermilk, and that is for a good reason. Buttermilk is sour, and reacts with the bicarbonate of sodium (baking soda), which is an inherent part of scones. You could replace the baking soda with more baking powder, but it'll make your teeth feel funny and give the scone a wee bit of a strange taste. Best to stick with the baking soda and buttermilk.
Crap, I forgot to get buttermilk! or I have a milk allergy...
Okay, no problem. If you forgot, you can simply get some. If you don't normally drink the stuff and you're too lazy to get it (*ahem* speaking from experience) or if you're allergic to the stuff, it's supersimple to work around. Take a cup, pour in some lemon or lime juice, whichever you've got, add milk or water and use that instead. In my measure cup, I usually add about 2 or 3 mm of lemon juice, and fill it up with water or milk to about a 100 ml. If you use milk, you will see it curdle if you wait a few minutes; that's how you know it's sour enough.
My last tip: don't be afraid to fail. I do so on a daily basis and live to tell the tale. If you mess up your scones, just make another batch and try again. It just a bit of flour, sugar, salt, and a few raisins if you like those. Yes, throwing away a batch is a shame, even if necessary, but do you really wanna eat a scone that's dry enough to hit someone with? I think not.
Good luck and keep trying!
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