Scones Save The Day

The day has flown by and my two hungry fellas would be home in less than two hours. I haven't been to the shops and I'm now panicking about their afternoon tea. The macadamia bikkies are all gone and I really feel like I need to have something homely and cosy for them when they come home today. I get like that sometimes. The weather is starting to turn cooler, they have been working very hard, physically that is, and I want something home made to greet their faces when they walk in.

Scouring through my cookbook library I stumble upon "scones". Goodness, I haven't made those for yonks.One thing is for sure they are quick. No time to delay, I whack the oven on. I dive into the fridge and look for any leftover jars of home made preserves. The strawberry jam is gone, the cumquat marmalade is gone, the lemon curd is gone but wait. There is a couple of little orange jars looking rather neglected. On closer inspection I see that my mandarin jelly marmalade has been doing a good job hiding. Out she comes.

I literally throw the dough together, shape it roughly, twist out the rounds and toss them into a floured and buttered cake tin. I am feeling really proud of myself with the speed at which I churn out these scones. It's not until later; a good deal later actually; like right now infact; that I realised I forgot to rub in the butter. Oops.

But guess what, they were just fine. Infact everyone really enjoyed them and my daughter even went so far as to say "gee these are so luxurious mum". So funny. I would however recommend adding the butter because their keeping time was definitely reduced. Or am I just being paranoid?

Scones
adapted from Family Circle

280gm self raising flour
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
20gm salted butter, grated & cold
1 egg
185mls full cream milk at room temperature
a little extra milk for glazing


Preheat oven to hot 220deg Celcius. Sift the flour, salt & sugar into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until well incorporated & crumbly.

Mix the beaten egg with the milk; pour almost all of the liquid into the dry ingredients; add the rest if needed. Bring the dough together without being heavy handed. Place dough onto a floured bench; pat gently into a round, about 1 inch thick.

Dip your cutter into flour each time you press out a round. Put the rounds into a buttered, floured baking tin, with a little space between each one. Brush each round with extra milk. Bake for approx 15 to 20 minutes. You may need to turn down the oven half way through baking.



Take the cooked scones out of the oven; place onto a wire rack for only a minute.



Remove from baking tin; place onto wire rack covered with a teatowel.



Wrap teatowel loosely over scones to help them stay warm and moist.



Serve with freshly whipped cream and preserve of your choice. Ohhh my goodness, so simple yet so delish.



I could just admire this for ages.




Enough admiration; it's time to enjoy!