Scottish Apple Scones

Huzzah! As you know, for the month of March we will be taking a look at the traditional foods of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, and England. Why? Why not! As we continue on with our tour of foods from our Atlantic neighbors, we take a stop at Scotland. While hunting and researching, we discovered an entire variety of traditional recipes which made narrowing down what we should try that much more difficult. So many things to try and not enough time or kitchen space. 

Apple Scones
One medium cooking apple 
8 oz (250g or two cups) self raising flour (all-purpose flour with baking powder) 
½ teaspoon salt 
Level teaspoon baking powder 
2 oz (60g or ½ stick) butter 
2 oz (60g or ¼ cup) castor (fine granulated) sugar 
Up to ¼ pint (150ml or half cup) milk
Ingredients for glaze: 
A little milk 
1oz demerara (light brown) sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F or Gas Mark 6). 
2. Peel and core the apple and then finely chop. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Then rub in the butter followed by the sugar and chopped apple and mix. Add milk until you have a soft but not sticky dough. 
3. Roll out on a floured surface to about ¼" thick and 8" round and mark into 8 wedges. Place on a greased baking sheet, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with the demerara (light brown) sugar. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 200°C (400°F or Gas Mark 6) for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

~ The Artist ~

Originally I was a bit puzzled by the measurements that were given for the flour. Not because the recipe was obviously European but the fact that it seemed so indecisive. Going on a hunch, I went with the 2 cups of self raising flour. During the baking process, I did not expect for the round of scones to spread as much as as they did. The size went from 8" round to about 12" round. However even with this, the crust became a golden brown once it was done baking. The inside was soft and slightly crumbly. With a light and faintly sweet flavor, it was a perfect pairing with a cup of tea. The only moment of disappointment that I had was that I was hoping for more of an apple flavor but I would need to experiment a little in the future when creating the dough.