What an interesting world we live in when an online video of a 92-year-old Australian woman making scones, inspires my afternoon baking. Such a simple treat, but one that has been a staple of comfort and nourishment for centuries around the world. My interpretation of this Australian Scone recipe will be your new favorite comfort treat.
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The delightful simplicity of this recipe is only outdone by the secret ingredient… fizzy lemonade! A household staple of carbonated sugariness in the UK and Australia, and in the US I’m guessing 7-Up or Sprite might do the trick just fine. Having tried my hand at baking scones with various recipes over the years, this is the first time I felt I actually got it ‘right’, a real British scone out of my oven. The ingredient amounts except for flour were lacking in her video, so I did some guesstimations with the rest and it resulted in a delicious baking miracle. I added dried cranberries and raisins but you could also add chocolate chips or nuts as well.
The home-baked inspiration was a lady named Muriel and she is a proud member of the Australian CWA (Country Women’s Association). An organization with over 44,000 women that has educated, equipped and entertained rural women in Australia for nearly 100 years. You’ll find other CWA groups all over the world, affiliates of the Associated Country Women of the World, 9 million members strong in over 70 countries. The CWA has a long tradition of selling cookbooks for fundraising as well as the Australian New South Wales CWA scone recipe is their #1 item purchased at their fundraising booth at the Annual Sydney Royal Easter Show, selling over 50,000 scones each year!
Since the show had been canceled this year, the group decided to sell a “virtual” rendition of their famous crowd-pleasing recipes online for a $5 donation. If you’d like to show some home-baked love to this fabulous Women’s Organization go to their website Australian New South Wales CWA and purchase a ‘virtual scone’. They also have some fabulous looking cookbooks in the online shop. See Muriel in the video below my recipe! ****At the time of posting this, their website wouldn’t process my payment from the US but I sent an email and maybe soon their ‘virtual scones’ will be ‘sold’ worldwide!
Australian Scones
Ingredients
- 5 cups flour level measures
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp OPTIONAL: white sugar not necessary but i like mine sweeter!
- 1 1/2 cup cream
- 1 1/2 cup fizzy lemonade, or sprite
- 2 cups OPTIONAL: raisins, cranberries
- 1/4 cup flour, extra for shaping scones
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425
- Sift a total of 3 times, the 5 level measure cups of flour into a large bowl, add the salt on the last sift. Also add in the optional sugar at this time.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mix and add the cream and fizzy lemonade.
- Using a butter knife or an icing knife as your stiring spoon, mix the ingredient well but don't over mix. The batter will be very sticky (don't be discouraged). I know it's odd to use a knife, but trust me, there is some sort of old fashioned kitchen magic in this method!
- Flour your counter and dump the sticky scone batter out. Flour your hands a bit and 'fold' the batter a few times, lightly flouring the surface each time.
- Shape the dough into a rectangle or square about 2" tall and then cut into squares with your knife.
- Flour your baking sheet and place the scones onto the sheet, not touching but close. I use a floured spatula to scoop my scones from the counter to the baking tray.
- Brush the tops of the scones with cream or milk, then bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and best eaten warm, but will keep for a few days in an air tight container.
Notes
If you’re looking for another tea-time treat that’s simply delicious check out my Tipsy Apple Tart recipe!