My husband Martin is a wonderful man. He works hard for all of us and genuinely cares about what I would consider the important things in life. One of those is the well being of anyone who reports to him at his company. I know better than anyone how much brain space he allocates to making sure everyone is supported and looked after. This is why I was not surprised when he wanted to be involved in the planning of a special team building fun event.
What surprised me was some of them asking for me to teach a little video class on cooking or baking! Flattered beyond words, I set out to make a happy little event teaching an old recipe for scones I learned when vacationing in Wales from a Welsh innkeeper for what I thought would be maaaaaybe 6 or so people. I really had no idea.
Anyone in my life knows I love to go a bit extra when it comes to presents and care packages. Martin told me a budget and with it in mind I started making the “Baking boxes”. First I knew they would need a very helpful little tool called a “pastry cutter” and along with it the dry ingredients. It occurred to me that just scones would be sad without tea. So for each person I included some loose leaf Assam I portioned out in little paper tea sachets. Then came the thought, “Tea and scones with no jam?”. It didn’t bear any further thought and so each box simply required a small jar of my homemade jam. At this point the package seemed in good stead but still missing something. It then made perfect sense to provide the soft caramels I often make for Byron and his friends. After all what was tea time without a little sweet to enhance the experience? See what happens when no one reigns me in?
Martin then drops the news that we needed 27 of those packages out in less than a week! Eeek!
After some significant hustle and some shared laughs with the mail carrier when she came to pick them up, the packages were out and on their merry way with a dear hope that they might bring a little joy.
Scones
Ingredients:
- 227g (1c + 1/4c + 3tbs) All Purpose Flour
- 1tsp Baking Soda
- 1tsp Cream of Tartar
- 28g (2tbs) Salted Butter
- 200g (3/4c) Buttermilk
Method:
- Heat oven to 425F (400F Convection setting)
- Mix together the flour with baking soda and cream of tartar
- Using your pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs
- Making a well in the center, pour in the buttermilk and combine just until a very shaggy looking dough comes together. Do not over mix!!! This is very important if you want your scones to be as light as feathers and not cannonballs!
- Tip the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. At this point you could make them into freestanding individual scones by dividing them evenly (I use a scale to make sure each portion is equal in size) or continue on with the next few steps.
- Wet your hands before smoothing and gently patting the dough into a circle roughly 6 inches in diameter. (Wetting your hands makes sure that the dough doesn’t stick to you)
- Next using a wet blade make 4 cuts so that the disk now looks like a wagon wheel. (If you rinse the blade after each cut it will make a nicer division)
- Bake the scones for 12-14 minutes, more or less depending on how hot your oven runs. They are done when they are puffed and have a lovely golden crust.
- Let cool for as long as you can stand it before consuming.
If you can wait long enough until the scones are completely cool (and I would salute your self restraint!), you could load it with a myriad of delicious toppings. Clotted cream layered with jam and or fresh fruit come to mind … Or very thick whipped cream sprinkled with chocolate chunks and crispy freeze dried raspberries. You could even go savory with cheese and caramelized onions garnished with finely sliced scallions. Whatever you choose the day is yours!
Stone House Mouse 