Lisa's Square Scones

I'm just sliding in another interesting scone recipe for International Scone Week!  This one is like a scone-cum-shortbread; it is flat and square and buttery, with a sugar coating.  I always like to find a recipe that is new to me, and has an interesting ingredient or method.  Regular readers may remember the scones I made one year, where you beat the heck out of the dough with a rolling pin!  

This recipe is from Now & Then by Tessa Kiros.  For some reason, I always mix her up with Tess Mallos the Australian cookbook writer, sadly no longer with us.  But Tessa is alive and kicking!  And writing cookbooks, happily.  For us, I mean :=)

feeling hungry, my friends? :=)

These are very easy to make, though I was a tiny bit doubtful when I made them, as the dough seemed very dry but it all comes together beautifully when you pour on all that luscious cream!  Kinda reminded me of a recipe we made in a cooking class with Belinda Jeffery, where you add a whole bottle of cream to a bread dough!

Makes 9:

ingredients:

280g./10 oz plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs caster sugar/white sugar

2 pinches of salt (about 1/8 tsp)

75g./2.75 oz cold butter, diced

1/2 tsp vanilla extract  (go crazy and use a whole tsp if you fancy)

200mL/7 oz pure cream

1 Tbs caster sugar (yes, another Tbs)

jam and whipped cream, to serve - Tessa suggests whipping 250mL/9 oz of cream - or you can use dollop cream, like I did!

Method:

Turn on your oven to 200C/400F to heat up

Flour, baking powder, sugar and salt go into a large mixing bowl

Whisk these ingredients together, and then work the butter into the dry mix with your fingers or a butter knife till it looks like breadcrumbs

Stir the vanilla into the milk, and pour it over the flour mixture - yep, really, don't freak out :=)

Now you gently incorporate the milk into the flour with your knife or hands - yes, it will come together!  

Keep gathering up the flour and milk till you have a lovely, roughly round dough

Now that you have a nice, round-ish ball of dough, lift it out of the bowl, and give it a final pat-down or pat-around

Shape it into a 18cm/7 inch square on your baking-paper-lined tray, squaring off the edges with a knife (says Tessa), sprinkle with the extra sugar and cut into 9 equal pieces

Separate them slightly, so they don't touch 

And bake for about 12-14 minutes till pale golden  - make sure you turn the tray around towards the end of the cooking time so they get an even bake

Take out the tray and let 'em cool for a few minutes

Then eat with jam and cream!  You know you want to!

You can keep the leftovers (?) in an airtight container for a couple of days, or freeze 'em

Notes:

I think for once I have no notes to add!  I just followed Tessa's recipe to a T!  Which makes me think of afternoon tea, when you must eat scones with jam and cream.  Which makes me think of staying in Philadelphia with our Quaker friend who sang in a choir, and moi making, baking and taking (scone-like) Chelsea Buns to one of her concerts.  They went down a treat!  All that dried fruit deliciousness ...

gather your ingredients

cut the butter into the flour

cream in, and pat into a rough dough

onto your baking tray, and shaped into an 18cm square

sprinkle on the caster sugar

and bake for 12-14 minutes at 200C/400F

oh yes please!

#ISW2024

c. Sherry M.