Scones

Hot out of the oven!

Adapted and Translated from Doña Lola: El arte de la mesa by Lola P. De Pietranera

Scones are a staple of the classic English tea. In my family, they mean Sunday high tea. We have been making these scones for as long as I can remember. They have just the right hint of sweetness for you to add the jam or topping you like. They are easy and pretty quick to make.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 150 g butter (cut into small squares for easier mixing)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (176C)
2. Mix together the dry ingredients.
3. Here comes the fun part: add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix them together by hand until well blended.
4. Beat the egg with a wire whisk in the cup you used to measure the flour. Fill to the 1-cup mark with milk. Add the egg and milk to the previous mixture.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1-centimeter thickness. With a 5-centimeter (2-inch) round cookie cutter, cut out scones (I get about 32). Arrange them on a greased cookie sheet. Leave some space between the scones.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. They should be slightly golden; if they still seem pale, take them out of the oven and check for lightly browned bottoms.

 

Comments: These are best served hot out of the oven. To keep them warm, we have always wrapped them in a dishtowel in a basket. Traditionally, scones are eaten with butter or clotted cream and jam. However, in my sincere and very Argentine opinion, there is nothing better than scones (or crumpets, for that matter) with dulce de leche. (La Salamandra is the best dulce de leche brand, followed by San Ignacio. Don’t eat La Lechera, that isn’t the real stuff.)

Ready to bake

Scone with dulce de leche