Ok, so I’ve blogged about my love/hate relationship with scones before. Although the scones I made on that day were a success they were no where near CWA perfection.  Plus I still felt like making scones was a little out of my league.

While here for Christmas my (Masterchef) Dad and I were talking about baking and I mentioned how scones alluded me still and while we were out shopping one day he surprised me with a copy of Mastering the Art of Baking. 

I didn’t get a chance to do any baking while he was here but on Wednesday I woke up with a craving for sultana scones, and who am I to deny my cravings?

I wasn’t too sure they’d work out but I did it anyways (besides it was a great way to use up some of the baking supplies I seem to be hording and work towards our No Spend January goals!).

…ready for baking…

I made the dough up exactly as the recipe said, with two little exceptions. I forgot to add the sultanas, so I had to try to sneak them in when I rolled the dough out for cutting. The other thing, and this could just be a reflection of my measuring skills, but I added an extra dash of milk because the dough wasn’t coming together quite well enough when I was mixing with a knife.

I put them in our oven to bake and crossed my fingers…

…golden might be a stretch…

It was my first time using our oven and it’s become a little obvious that there’s a hot spot in our oven. One side of the tray browned quicker than the other.  Just means I’m going to have to remember to rotate anything that I’m baking.

 I cracked the first one open and it was awesome! It crumbled the way it should, it was soft on the inside but firm on the outside.  I was so happy.

I served them up with butter and jam.  HUBBY was certainly happy to help model the destruction…

…back off ladies, he’s mine…

I’m totally going to bake some more. I’m wanting to try some pumpkin scones (just like Flo!) and will be seeing if I can work pumpkin into our shopping list!

Let me know if you give this recipe a crack – would love to hear how you go!

Plain Scones

375g (13oz/2½ cups) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting (optional)

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

60g (2¼oz) chilled butter, chopped

250ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) milk, plus extra to glaze

Butter and jam, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). Lightly grease a baking tray or line with non-stick baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium mixing bowl. With your palms facing upwards, use your fingertips to rub in the butter♠ until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center.

3. Add almost all of the milk and mix with a flat-bladed knife, using a cutting action, until the dough comes together in clumps.  Mix to a soft dough, add the remaining milk if necessary.♣

4. Use lightly floured hands to gently gather the dough, lift it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead very lightly and briefly to bring it together into a smooth ball. Pat the dough out to 2.5cm (1 inch) thick. Use a floured round 6-7cm cutter to cut out scones, pressing straight down on the cutter and not twisting it. (If you twist the cutter when cutting out the scones, the scones will rise unevenly.) Gather the dough trimmings together, and without handling too much, press out again to a 2.5cm (1 inch) thickness and cut out more rounds. Place the scones close together on the prepared tray. Brush lightly with the extra milk and dust lightly with the extra flour, if desired.

5. Bake the scones for 10-12 minutes, or until they are well risen, golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Serve warm or at room temperature, with butter and jam.

Sultana scones: Stir 85g sultanas (golden raisins) until the flour mixture before adding the milk.

Makes: about 9

Source: Mastering the Art of Baking, Anneka Manning

♠ A confusing way of saying just use your fingertips not your whole hand!

♣ I added the remaining milk and then added a splash more because it wasn’t mixing all of the flour together. Not sure whether I just got lucky that they worked or if the recipe really needs a splash more milk…

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