Few things catapault me back to childhood quite so quickly and comprehensively as fresh baked scones with jam and cream. Frogs , and carrots, but I can’t think of anything else, and that’s more of a one-off memory than a childhood favourite. Yes, I know it’s an odd combination but it’s one of my earliest memories and it has just stuck. My sister and I had snuck into the kitchen garden to eat carrots and I just have this really clear image of washing the red Rhodesian (Zimbabwe today) mud off them under the garden tap and a huge frog jumping over our feet. Now either it was actually a toad (yes it was that big) or our feet were just really little (I was 3, my sister 5), but I clearly recall being worried about whether we would be struck down by a plague of warts, and if so, how were we going to explain to my mother that it was as a result of our clandestine carrot crunching.

However, that, as I’ve said was a one-off, while scones were an integral part of my formative years. Sundays were always a treat day. Other families would stop at the sweet shop after church, but we would hurry home and try to maintain our ‘best behaviour’ mode, until my mother would disappear into the kitchen, secure in the knowledge that all was right in her world. When my mom’s happy she bakes, and many a peaceful Sunday was spent sprawled under the loquat tree (in summer) or sprawled over the scrabble board (in winter), picnicking greedily on one of my mother’s vanielje scented offerings.

Sometimes it was fresh chocolate cake, sometimes cheese & poppy seed muffins, once I clearly remember some perfect little madeleines. But gratifyingly often it was these incredibly simple, and moreish scones, with homemade jam and fresh whipped cream.

Years later when my mother opened her restaurant, she became famous for her scones and cream. In 20 years sharing her table, her passion for food and her recipes with anyone who was interested (and believe me, there were many), this is the one recipe she never gave out. Luckily, I know the chef, so here it is. Making its world debut, the one and only, fantastic, Jonkershuis Scone Recipe.

Now they are not your average, garden variety, easy to work with scones. Like all stars, they are a little temperamental. But they are, and I quote thousands here “the best scones I have ever eaten” so persevere and you will be rewarded. Once you have the hang of it they are incredibly quick to make and you can go from ‘no scones’ to ‘no scones left’ in under an hour.

Recipe Journal

The Jonkershuis Scones

Sift:

• 3 1/2 cups (875ml) self raising flour
• 1 flat t (5ml) baking powder
• a pinch of salt

In a separate bowl mix well:

• 3 large free range eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar ( I use granulated from my vanilla pod jar)
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1 cup milk

Reserve a quarter cup of this mix as an egg wash
Make a well in the centre of the flour and mix the egg in. Work quickly, gently and thoroughly.
Scrape your hands off with a plastic dough scraper (or the back of a butter knife) and turn the mix out onto a moderately well floured surface.
Gently flatten the dough out slightly and then fold over so it is doubled.
With a well floured cutter cut straight down.
Lift the cutter straight up and the scone should be clinging precariously to it. Gently coax it out (If you have floured your cutter enough you should not have too much of a problem) and place it upside down on a well buttered baking tray. ( I always use a Swiss roll tin so that the scones have some side support. The scones in the middle lean companionably against each other.)
When your tray is full, brush lightly with the egg wash, trying to brush away any excess flour. Pop into a preheated oven (200*C) and bake for 20 minutes or until just turning golden brown.

TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS
A few handy hints and a little practise and you’ll be churning these out like a pro.

• Once you mix the wet and dry ingredients, work quickly as they are already rising.
• Try and keep one hand clean to handle the scones as the mix is quite sticky. I use my right to mix, fold and cut, and my left to place the scones on the tray.
• Don’t overwork the dough and try to handle as little and as lightly as possible, or you will have a tough and rubbery scone.
• Folding over gives the distinctive Jonkershuis double decker look to your scones, and gives it a natural waist which breaks apart easily when eating. But you have to work quickly because if you leave them hanging around they start to lurch sideways like so many drunken debutantes.

Serve warm with fresh cream, strawberry jam and butter. Oh, and plenty of serviettes.

These are best eaten on the day but if you do have any leftovers, wrap them lightly in a cloth napkin to store, and reheat ona baking sheet at 180*c for a few minutes the next day. Don’t even think of putting them in the microwave, they’ll be rendered inedible.

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