What has been your experience of scones? Do you like them? Is your favourite thing in the world a muffin the size and height of your side plate that needs a double serving of strawberry jam and whipped cream? Have you ever had a scone where you could taste the baking powder because the baker was eager to get that satifying height? I’ve always had mixed feelings about scones. When it is good it is very, very good but when it is bad it is horrid.

I received a packet of Sasko quick mix scone mixture in my goodie bag after Baking Bootcamp and after a lovely day out with the family at the Junior Argus I was too tired to make something from scratch and the family were very hungry so I had to find a way to fill the empty tummies. I mixed up a batch of Berry Scones, curious to see if Sasko had fine tuned the mixture so that you had scones with impressive height but no lingering after taste of baking powder and I am happy to say that they did a great job. I rehydrated 125ml dried mixed berries in hot water and after I had drained it, added the now puffed up berries to the scone mix before I started mixing. They turned out great . Apparently, there are a few rules to obey when making scones:

• treat the mixture like pastry and work with light hands – that lightness will transfer to the scones once baked
• don’t handle the dough too much
• leave the rolling pin in the draw and simple flatten with your hands until about 2cm thick
• they are baked quite hot (200 degrees) for a short amount of time (12 -15 minutes)

Once upon a time there was nothing in the house for the children to eat and I only had one egg. This is the recipe I used.

Basic Scone recipe (makes about 12)

240g cake flour

15ml baking powder

2ml salt

25ml sugar

50g butter

1 large egg

125ml milk (or buttermilk or even plain yogurt)

Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Rub butter in until it starts to look like breadcrumbs. Beat egg into milk and add to the dry ingredients. Blend ingredients together using a knife until everything starts to look moist and briefly pull the mixture together with your hands until it starts to look like a dough. Dust a surface with flour and pat dough into a big, flat rectangle. Pat until dough is about 2cm thick. Use a glass or cookie cutter dusted in flour to cut out circles. Use one swift movement to avoid dragging the dough which might influence how well it rises. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool briefly before serving warm. Feel free to add raisins, cranberries and white chocolate, lemon/orange zest or even some grated cheese before baking.