In praise of scones

Ah yes, another food-related post. Note to self: stop writing these when you're hungry!

Yesterday I made some scones. [Somewhere between biscuits and individual shortcakes for my North American readers.] The scone is one of those humble foodstuffs that can be underrated. The availability of mass-produced, over-sweet, inferior scones is threatening the Real Thing, which is now an endangered species. Which is a pity.

Scones are the perfect life-support system for good jam and cream. Or good cheese (especially if you're short of good bread). I like mine with 'just butter' too. Cheese and herb scones are good for those who don't have a sweet tooth, or for dunking in soups and stews. I have a soft spot for scones with dried fruit as my Aunties made them when I was a child, I just never seem to make them for myself. Probably because I can't do it as well.

A guest always feels welcomed - even fussed over - if you make scones, yet with the foolproof technique it takes less than 10 minutes to make up a batch (this includes finding the kitchen notebook which lists the quantities you can never remember, and changing your mind about which size oven tray to use), and 10-15 minutes to cook, even in my unreliable oven.  That's just time to dig out your favourite jams, and put the kettle on. Its quicker than going to the shops for a pack of biscuits, cheaper and nicer too.

2 cups of self-raising flour
50 gms butter
150 mls milk
extra milk to glaze   [Some people prefer egg or egg and milk. It takes all sorts, I suppose.]

To serve: good jam, cream (runny or whipped as you prefer, clotted if you're feeling indulgent), also great with lemon curd, another old fashioned delicacy.

Foolproof scone technique:

Preheat your oven to 200'C. Yes, you really have to for scones.

Scone dough wants as little handling as possible. I used to cut the butter in using a food-processor, then add the milk and quickly combine with my (scrupulously clean) hands. That works fairly well but you have to clean the food-processor afterward, which is a bore and a deterrent.

A friend, who makes great scones, uses melted butter, because that's-the-way-Mum-always-did-it. So throw the melted butter in, mix it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or you can't be bothered messing anymore) and then add the milk.

The dough should be, if anything, damp rather than dry. Throw it onto a floured surface and pat it into a squarish round about 1.5cms thick. Or 2cms if you prefer really high scones.

Cut the scones clean through without dragging the knife back-and-forth. If you use a glass or a cookie cutter, press down and pull straight up, never twist as the dough will be caught  and your scones won't rise. Glaze the top with a bit of milk.

Stick them on a baking tray. I use either a baking sheet or baking parchment so I don't have to grease.  Spread them a little apart or they'll join up in the cooking.

Bake at 200'C for 12-15 minutes. In a good fan-forced oven, I'd check after 10 minutes. It can take as long as 20 minutes if your oven is very geriatric.

What NOT to do with a scone:

1. Microwave it. Just. Don't. It will be soggy and rubbery with an ice cold bit in the middle and the edges so hot your whipped cream melts and goes oily.
2. Refrigerate it. Scones are quick breads, so you eat the them same day and that's all there is to it. In my house there are seldom any leftovers, and so no moral dilemma of 'to fridge or not to fridge'. But if there were, I wouldn't.  In desperate cases I have found a couple of rock-hard, day-old scones are excellent for sopping up casserole or stew gravy.

This is post 18 of 43 posts.