RAISIN SCONES

What can I say. These are scones. Just plain scones with raisins embedded. Made with flour, butter, heavy cream, ground almonds/pecans and an egg. Handled lightly with your fingers, patted down and stamped with a round fluted cutter and baked for a mere 10 minutes. Its done.

Scones are best eaten warm or hot out of the oven. Kept overnight it tends to be dry and crumbly.


These are not high and mighty scones but they are, however, very light, moist and tender.

Plain scones do need to be eaten with butter and jam and/or clotted cream. Otherwise it isn't such an exciting pastry. A little boring in fact.

So I'm not at all surprised that the original plain scone has given way to a wide variety of savoury flavours. It makes it more interesting, it gives it more character and it definitely has more appeal.


But this is a very good basic scone recipe though. And I do like the addition of ground nuts into it. I believe it adds to the moistness. And of course I added the raisins which gave it a sweeter edge. On the whole I would have much preferred a savoury scone.

The next time I make scones I would omit the sugar. I would add some cheese, some slices of hot chillie pepper and maybe even some sliced sauteed onions or chives. And dare I suggest some chopped dried shrimps or anchovies as well? That would definitely be more appealing to my tastebuds.

I do apologize for the photographs. It's been dark and gloomy by the time I take the pictures so I do tend to end up with dark gloomy looking pictures too. Please bear with me.

The recipe...........

250 gm plain flour
1/4 cup ground pecans or almonds
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
60 gm butter
Almost 1 cup of heavy cream
1 egg

a handful of raisins or currants if you like. Or other dried fruits of your choice.

Sift flour and the baking powder and soda. Add salt, ground almonds and the sugar. Mix to incorporate the ingredients.Add the raisins if using.

Lightly beat egg in a measuring cup and add the heavy cream until it makes 1 cup of liquid.

Make sure the butter is very cold and cut it into smallish pieces. Put the butter in to the flour mixture and rub it in with your fingers very lightly or use 2 knives or a pastry cutter until it resembles coarsemeal or rough breadcrumbs. Its important to ensure that the butter doesn't melt and remain in small solid pieces so that the scones will be lifted up when the butter melts and its steam released while baking in the oven.

You may at this point chill the flour mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes if the kitchen is warm. Make a well in the centre and pour in the cream egg mixture. Using a fork stir very quickly until the mixture comes together. then using you finger bring the dough together to form a ball without kneading. place on a floured surface and pat the dough down with your fingers to about 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut into rounds.

Bake at 200 C for 10 - 12 mins. Best eaten warm with butter and jam and/or clotted cream.