Mascarpone and Brown Sugar Scones

Regular readers will know that scones are not my forte.  Rock cakes I can produce in abundance, even with a light touch, but a nice fluffy, well risen scone has always been an elusive beast ... although I am a bit of a dab hand at a scone cake if I do say so myself, but not so sure that counts!  At the weekend Hubby and I decided to take a walk along to the harbour (I got a lovely tuna steak from Welch's which was promptly Soy Glazed and cooked on the barbie for dinner!) and then we ended up popping into a book shop!  This is generally a fatal mistake and Saturday was no different!  I ended up walking out with the River Cottage Preserves Handbook, The Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days and Lorraine Pascale's Baking made Easy which I had been lusting after ever since seeing the series on TV.  Its not as  bad as it sounds though, two of them were half price and I had vouchers so I was a good girl really ... tis my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Anyhoo, lets move this story along! I was feeling a bit guilt ridden over yesterday's dessert, my Mother in Law has been in hospital for over 2 weeks now and originally we thought she would be out in time to join us for Sunday lunch.  When that didn't happen I thought I would make her up her own tiramisu and we could take it in for her at evening visiting hours.  Then I read the footnote that advised as it has raw egg it shouldn't be eaten by the young, elderly or those with an immune issue.  Bugger!

Then I remembered her saying that the tea trolley never had scones on it and my mind flicked to a recipe I had spotted in Lorraine's book so I took the plunge and gave them a go.  And they worked a treat, best scones I've ever made!  (You can tell my modesty went out the window at the success of these scones, my ego swelled as I sat on the kitchen floor and watched them rise through the oven door)!  The mixture is obviously very forgiving and they taste divine too, Hubby and I shared a couple of leftovers for supper. 

Mascarpone and Brown Sugar Scones
340g SR flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
80g butter, cold and cubed
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
80g mascarpone
about 90ml milk (I only needed about 80ml)
1 egg lightly beaten, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 210C.  Dust a large baking tray with flour.

Put the flour, baking powder, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the mascarpone, then pulse again for 3 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a large bowl and make a well in the centre, then pour in enough milk to make a soft dough with a knife.  Use both hands to bring the mixture together, and squeeze, making sure any dry bits get picked up.  Keep squeezing the mixture, it will eventually come together.  Knead lightly for a few seconds just to make the dough smooth and then roll out quickly on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thick.

Cut out rounds using a 6cm round cutter and place them on the prepared baking tray.  Don't twist the cutter when cutting the scone shapes otherwise they won;t rise evenly.  Re roll the leftover dough and cut out more scones.

Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake for 10-12 mins, or until the scones are nicely risen, firm and golden brown.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little on the tray. 

Makes 9 (I got 12 out of the mixture even when rolled to the generous side of 2cm!)
Taken from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale

Lorraine suggests serving these with lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam but I suggest a bit more mascarpone and either some Rhubarb and Ginger Jam or my favourite Lime Curd.  What ever your preferred topping though, please give this recipe a try the next time you are in the mood for afternoon tea.  I can't recommend these highly enough!