Phrase Writers Group

Scone recipes

My scone recipes have evolved. Initially I used Stork margarine. Now it’s butter, slightly salted where possible.

The normal ratio is 1:4. That is 1 ounce of butter or margarine to 4 ounces of self-raising flour.

I go for a 1:3 ratio, using butter. The added ingredients are about 1:2 ratio. Used to add limited amount of fruit sugar, but cannot find it at present. Spices are added in quite large amounts. And I always add ground almonds in sweet scones, and often parmesan in savoury scones.

You’ll note a mix of ounces, grams and handfuls. Comes from my “Looks about right” school of cooking. And I don't measure out the ingredients any more, just do it by sight. So no two scone mixtures are the same! There are some interesting flavours and textures.

Cheese & Olive scones

INGREDIENTS
1 Bell Pepper, red or yellow or orange, your choice

12 pitted black olives

Rapeseed or nut oil

• Ground black pepper, be sparing
• Salt, I use Smoked Sea Salt flakes
• Turmeric
• Dried mint
• Paprika
• Dried oregano

Tomato paste / concentrate

100g of grated mature Cheddar

6 ounces wholemeal self-raising flour

2 ounces butter, preferably soft

Milk

PREPARATION
Finely chop a bell pepper

Drain a dozen pitted black olives & finely chop, removing any stones

Add some rapeseed oil to a pan.

Add ground black pepper, plus about one level teaspoon each of turmeric, paprika, dried mint

Turn on heat, till herbs & spices are releasing their goodness

Turn heat low

Add chopped bell pepper & chopped olives

Gently sauté for a few minutes

Add 2 heaped teaspoons of tomato puree, and pinch of salt

Gently sauté for a few minutes

Transfer to a bowl & let cool for an hour

PREPARE SCONE MIXTURE
Rub 2 knobs of butter into 6 ounces of wholemeal self-raising flour

Add generous amount of dried oregano

Stir in (cool) pepper/olive mixture

Add generous amount of grated mature Cheddar

Add some milk to bind

COOKING
Heat oven to gas mark 4. A moderate oven, 180 Centigrade or 350 Fahrenheit

Line metal tray with greaseproof paper

Coat your palms with self-raising flour

Make small balls of scone mixture, golf ball size, coat with same flour, and put on tray

Put in oven for about 20 minutes

Take out & put scones on cooling rack

BEWARE: Cheese will be molten, VERY HOT!
I use a Spatula to transfer the scones to the cooling rack, one or two at a time

Enjoy!

Happy cooking