Baking up a tray of scones

Thank you all for the wonderful ideas that came rolling in yesterday about lunches. Reading what you wrote set me on the right path - I need to cook beforehand, portion it up and freeze. That will work well here. And now I have that in mind, I don't know why it wasn't clear to me before, because that is what I do with my baking. BTW Lis,  have you tried giving your teenagers wraps?  They take the same fillings, you'd just need to make or buy some tortillas or pita bread. It's worth a try.

I baked a few scones on the weekend. A large batch that I could divide up and freeze for later in the week. Hanno loves having a scone, slice or piece of cake with his coffee. I did about two-thirds mixed fruit scones and the other third with dates.  I LOVE date scones.  Scones are one of those things that our gramdmas would have said you need a "light hand" for. That just means that they're better if you don't handle the dough too much. Just mix, a quick shaping and cut - and Bob's your uncle. This batch of scones would have cost me about four dollars, had I left out the dried fruit, they would have cost about two dollars.

Scones are delicious hot, straight from the oven, but they also freeze well. I divided our batch up into four - we ate one lot fresh, and three went into the freezer. You can either defrost them on the kitchen bench or microwave them to get that just cooked warmth and when you spread some butter, it melts a tiny bit and runs over the side.  (Cough. Cough. Ahem.)

This is the way I make scones, it makes about 8 small scones. Double or treble the recipe if you want a couple of batches of scones to freeze.

• 2 cups self raising flour OR plain/all purpose flour with one teaspoon of baking powder for each cup
• Pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 30g (1 oz) butter chopped
• 1 cup buttermilk or plain milk or half milk and half yoghurt

Plain scones, that you have with jam and cream or just with a little butter, are made using the ingredients above. If you want fruit scones like these, add an extra tablespoon of sugar, plus a cup of chopped and pitted dates or a cup of mixed dried fruit that you've soaked for at least an hour. Soaking the fruit in fresh orange juice gives a fantastic extra dimension.

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to hot, 200C. Get your tray ready by greasing it or adding baking paper.
2. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add butter and rub in lightly with your fingers, until it looks like breadcrumbs.
3. If you're going to add fruit, do it now.
4. Pour in milk and mix in using a butter knife. You want a soft and sticky dough.
5. OVER MIXING at this point will result in tough scones.
6. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly for 15 seconds and shape the dough to about 2cm (1 inch) thickness. Cut into rounds using a cutter or floured wine glass. 

To make a large batch for a big group, you'll need 2 kg (5 lb) of SR flour, 125g (1 stick) butter to make up 50 scones.

For savoury scones, add grated cheese and chopped ham, cheese and chives or chopped up semi-dried tomato with basil.

Serve the scones hot from the oven, or rewarmed in the microwave, with a dab of butter, or with jam and a dab of cream. They don't store well so if you have any left over, store them in the freezer for later in the week.