Seems like a school cafe may be happening in the new future. I’m really excited! Can’t wait to develop the menu and get creative. I know it’s hard for the more health-conscious students in SMU to find nutritious, clean meals, so we will definitely incorporate that into the menu. But of course, THERE WILL BE DESSERT. My favourite.

Had some time on my hands, so I decided to try out something new. I have never made scones before, so here’s my maiden attempt. All photos taken on my spanking new Canon EOS 700D!

Orange Cranberry Scones – Makes 6

Ingredients:

1 cup self-raising flour (or do as I did: 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/4 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt), plus more for dusting

50g butter, cold (I used salted)

1 tbsp white sugar or caster sugar

1 tsp orange zest

Dried/fresh cranberries or any other berries

1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/8 cup fresh milk

Jam, clotted cream, kaya, Nutella, or anything you wish, to serve

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Start by sifting flour – baking powder and salt if making your own self-raising flour, into a bowl. Cut chilled butter into cubes and rub in with fingers until the resulting mixture looks like fine crumbs.

 Add sugar and orange zest and combine. I only decided to make these with cranberries at the last minute. You should probably add the cranberries in now!

Make a well in the middle of the combined mixture, and add in the orange juice and milk. Use a spoon to combine, until you get a dough. My dough was too sticky, so keep some additional flour nearby and add until you get the right texture.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. My tip here is to flour your hands before kneading, just in case the dough is too sticky and sticks to your hands too. What a mess!

With a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 2cm thick and use a cookie cutter or, like me, a glass, to shape the scones. 

In the oven they go! (If you want shiny tops, use an egg wash!)

Bake for 20 minutes, or until scones are golden on top.

I made my scones mini, but feel free to cut them bigger or thicker. Not the most kick ass scones in the world, but I like the texture of it. Not too cakey, a little dry and more like a biscuit with its crusty exterior. I ate mine with bitter marmalade, but my mum always insists on clotted cream with jam. An easy-peasy recipe. Go ahead, give it a go!