Sundays mean scones to me. In my childhood, my Mum would often whip up a batch of fluffy scones for morning or afternoon tea on a Sunday, and they would be served hot, the batch wrapped up in a tea towel to stay that way, with whipped cream and jam. I learned how to make scones at my Mum's side, so it's been one of the recipes that I've always understood how it works, and how to put it together. I've never managed to have a flat, hard rock instead of a scone (instead of that one time that I put in plain flour and forgot the baking powder required to make it self-raising, but this is the last time that I shall mention this!). To me, a scone is made with flour & butter & milk, not flour and lemonade and something else. It puzzles me that there are recipes that include a fizzy liquid, however I can understand them. I've had family members that couldn't make a scone to save their life, and their results are hard enough to bounce off the floor and stay in one piece.
The feathery texture of scones are reliant on rubbing the butter in to the flour well, and not over-mixing or kneading the dough. However, it's not a disaster if you do - simply let the mixture sit for a while. Wrap it in plastic and pop it into the fridge, then let it come back to room temperature after 15 minutes or so. It's also a recipe that you perfect if you make it often enough. You wont need a recipe for them. My Mum doesn't need her recipe for them, and whilst my recipe is very water stained and flour covered, I now am almost at the stage of not needing the recipe either. And I am definitely AT the stage of knowing the mixture well enough - how it mixes, and comes together - to know how to add things. In fact, my excels-at-scone-making Mum now calls me for my Spinach & Cheese Scone recipe!
For a recent themed competition on another site, I produced these scones. The theme was cheese, and as soon as I saw it, I thought "Ooooh what an excuse to make cheesey scones!!" And they're so good. By themselves spread with butter than melts when they're still warm from the oven, or slightly toasted and eaten with soup the next day, you can't go past Cheese and Chive Scones!
