Mrs Hartney's Scones by Mandy Wrangles

I come from a long line of home cooks. My Nanna ran a private girl’s school canteen and then a regional Cole’s cafeteria. Her daughter (my Mum) was a Home Economics teacher in a special needs school for almost thirty years. I thought this week, I’d share some of their favourite recipes with you. We’ll start with Mum’s seriously simple scones.

What you need:

2 ½ cups of Self-raising flour

1tsp of baking powder

2 tbs of butter

1 egg (whipped slightly with a fork)

Milk

Jam and whipped cream to serve

How it’s done:

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Mum would tell you to add the butter, flour and baking powder to a large bowl and rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it resembled breadcrumbs. I’m lazier than her (and have this icky thing about food under my fingernails…) so I just throw it in the food processor and blitz for a few seconds. Same result. Then add the egg  to the mixture, still blitzing for a few seconds at a time, then add just enough milk to form a dough – usually around half a cup.

On a floured surface, roll your dough out until it’s about 1cm thick, and using a round cutter (an upturned glass works well, too) cut your scones out. Place them fairly close together on a greased or lined baking tray. Placing them closely helps them to rise apparently, but that could be an old wive’s tale!

Brush the tops with a little milk, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes – until the tops have turned a light golden brown.

Serve warm with whipped cream and raspberry or strawberry jam.