Light Fluffy Scones – Made by Linda

I Made This

Linda – I Made This

I Made This is a new Fresh Cooking Project feature each month. This month’s I Made This is with another of my lovely readers, Linda and it is a tricky one – we made Scones.

I Made This is a session where I help a reader to make something that they would normally buy at a store. It is a recipe chosen by the reader.

• Do you have a hankering for a food from your childhood?
• Is there a dish you have always wanted to make but do not know how?
• Is there something you regularly buy and wish you could make it?
• Would you like to try a new recipe made with produce you have grown in your garden?

You can tell your friends “I Made This”.

Why Scones?

Freshly made scones

Linda had surveyed her friends and it was unanimous that most people didn’t make scones as they did not know how to, were unsure how or had made flat hard-as-a-rock versions.  Linda wanted to master them. This was a perfect selection for me as scones were at the top of my “I must cook & master” list after I participated in a tour of the South Melbourne Market called Secret Women’s Business as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2012. The tour visited 3 main stalls whose women were experts in their specialty. One  of the stops we made was at Store 6 , owner Sandy and her team make hundreds of scones per day. She did nothing by measure it was all by vision and feel and her scones were amazing! This is the advice she gave for making perfect scones:

Top Tips for making perfect scones:

1. Use a cutter that has a deep edge – I now use a small baked bean tin
2. Handle the dough as little as possible
3. Don’t use the left over bits of dough for a last scone

Store 6 Scones

Scone Recipe

This recipe is adapted from my old Home Economics text book Cookery The Australian Way, Cameron et al.(3rd Edition, Trustees of the Home Economics Teachers Group, 1980)

• Serves: Makes 6-7 scones
• Preparation time:5-10 minutes
• Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of self raising flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter (cold)
• 3/4 cup of milk

Steps:

1. Turn the oven on to reach 160 degrees
2. Add the flour and butter to a food processor and pulse until combined
3. Remove from the processor and put into a bowl
4. Add the milk and stir to combine – the mix will seem sticky
5. Remove half of the mix and gently pat the mix together on a bench or mat dusted lightly with flour
6. Pat the mixture down to a height of approximately 2 cm high
7. Cut with you chosen scone cutter and place onto a baking tray dusted with flour postioned close together
8. Add the remaining mix from the bowl to the remnants of the first amount of dough used and repeat steps 5 and 6
9. Place in the oven at one level above the centre and cook until golden on top and the base sounds hollow when it is tapped

I asked Linda these questions after we ate her scones with her dad’s delicious home made Strawberry Jam, chatting and watching the kids devour their scones:

1. What was the one thing you learned today?

“Not to press the dough too flat before cutting it out”

2. What was the one thing that surprised you?

“That I can make a decent scone!”

3. Will you make them again?

“Definitely! I will keep practicing until I get it right on my own”

Thanks for letting me visit your home Linda and cook with you. I am pleased to add scones to my cooking repertoire now. They are tricky, it took 5 test runs and multiple recipe adaptions before I got close to a correct recipe. On the final batch, after I was starting to get a little sick of taste testing them, Mr Fresh gave his stamp of approval “You have nailed scones!” I called up Linda to organise our cooking session. A rave from Mr Fresh is pretty special!!

Use the Comments form below to tell me what you would like to try to make instead of buy at the store.