Shetland Scones
If you are fond of the taste of caraway and fancy something a little different, then these scones might be just the thing for you. Perhaps you are slightly wary of caraway? Please be assured that the flavour is not in the least bit overwhelming, just a subtle, but delicious background note.
This recipe is based on one found in The Little Book of Cooking, a delightful publication aimed at teenage girls, dating from the 1930’s. As you can see from the inscription, lucky Valerie Goldfinch received this book on Christmas Day in 1939. Judging by the abundant use of butter, sugar and eggs throughout, rationing had not yet kicked in at the time of publication. I do hope that Valerie got to try at least some of the recipes free from the constraints of rationing, because there are some good ones.
Makes 8 scones
Ingredients
340g plain flour
85g butter
1½ teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1½ teaspoons caraway seeds
85g caster sugar
Approx. 170ml milk
Pre-heat your oven to 220˚C (200˚C fan oven) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Weigh out the flour and mix in the baking powder, salt and caraway seeds. Cut the butter into small chunks and rub it into the flour mixture, either by hand or in a food processor. When it resembles fine breadcrumbs, mix in the sugar. Next, add enough milk to form a soft dough.
Gently roll out the dough on a floured surface to a depth of about 3cm and using a 6cm cutter, stamp out your scones. A good tip is to dunk the cutter in flour each time to prevent the dough from sticking to it. Re-roll and stamp out again until you have used it all up.
Pop your scones onto the prepared baking sheet and into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they may need turning towards the end of the cooking time, to ensure even browning. Serve fresh.
These scones are extremely versatile. They are delicious plain and simply buttered. Whilst writing this, I had a couple for my lunch, accompanied by a particularly crisp Braeburn apple and some Bavarian Smoked Cheese (my guilty pleasure). It was absolutely heavenly. I am firmly of the belief that these little beauties would comport themselves extremely well in a full cream tea setting too.