There's nothing more comforting
on a cold winters day
than a freshly brewed
steaming pot of tea
and a batch of freshly baked scones
So guess what I've been up to today?
I only had to spend less than an hour
in the kitchen to create this
comfort food, and it was comfort
food I craved today
being yet another cold rainy
winters Sunday in our part of the world
I do enjoy making scones
I guess I learned it from watching
my mother bake them when I was young
(not that long ago....really)
So I'm sharing her recipe with you
today and hope you might find
much comfort and pleasure
in baking them too
So here we go
This recipe makes quite
a large batch of scones
If you're lucky enough
to have any left over
they do freeze really well
Just wrap in foil, freeze and
reheat when required
You will need to sift
4 cups self raising flour
with 1 teaspoon baking powder
into a large bowl
To this you now need to add
4 dessert spoons butter
(or margarine) whatever you prefer
Now spend a little time
rubbing in the butter
with the flour
lifting the mixture up as you go
keep doing this until
the mix looks like soft breadcrumbs
Now add one third cup castor sugar
mix this in
Now add one cup dates finely chopped
You can snip them with your kitchen
scissors if you like
Now take a butter knife and make
a well in the centre of the mix
and pour in one and three quarter
cups milk (you may need a little
more if necessary but just start with
this amount first)
Mix quickly with your butter knife
to bring it all together
Make sure you mix in
all the flour that hides down
in the bottom of the bowl
Now tip the mixture out
onto a lightly floured surface
knead lightly to form a round shape
gently pat down to about
2.5 centimetres thickness
Now take your scone cutter
Mine is 5 centimetres
But you can use whatever
size you prefer
or you can just cut into
squares with your knife
So just cut out your scones
Place onto a large baking sheet
lined with glad bake
Brush the tops with a little milk
Place into a preheated very hot
oven mine is 210 degrees fan forced
Bake for around 12 minutes
Now while they're baking
You can put the kettle on
Get the butter ready
Jam and cream if you like
When you remove them
from the oven wrap them in
a clean tea towel and
leave to cool on a cooling rack
Bon Appetit!
Hope you had a wonderful Sunday
Happy baking!
