Banana Scones with Whipped Honey Butter

My love of scones is well-documented. But one thing has always irked me about my homemade scones; they're not very photogenic. In fact, the lumpiness and uneven shape of my original CWA scone post makes me cringe so much that I keep wanted to redo the photos. But then I made this batch of Banana Scones with Whipped Honey Butter, and I realised that all my scones look pretty lumpy and uneven. It's my fault, I'm terrified of over-working the dough because there is nothing worse than a tough, rock-hard scone. I want my scones to be fluffy clouds of deliciousness. So I guess I still have a way to go before I improve the look of my scones to the level that you see from the CWA ladies.

So I may not be 100% happy with how these look, but I do love how they taste. It's a great way to use up those bananas that are too ripe, and that extra cream you might have in your fridge (I always have extra cream but that's me). The scones are super soft and light, and they are really meant to be served with some kind of sweet topping, like the whipped honey butter and strawberry jam, or cream & jam. The scones themselves are not sweet at all, so you'll have to add some icing sugar and spices to the scone mixture if you plan on eating them on their own.

Originally I was planning to make some honeycomb butter to go with these scones, but I was too lazy to make my own sugar honeycomb, and I managed to eat the two Crunchie bars that I bought for it. Chocolate bars do not last very long in my house. But this fluffy honey butter works just as well with the banana scones, with the added sweetness and just a hint of cinnamon. It's so good melted on a warm, freshly baked scone.

My favourite part about making these scones was opening up my oven to be greeted with the smell of the warm banana in these scones. It smells amazing! Because the scones are so light the flavour is not super intense, but it's definitely noticeable. I'm quite happy to eat these for breakfast, brunch, tea or dessert. In fact I've been slowly making my way through a batch over the last day, zapping them in the microwave until they're piping hot, slathering them with the honey butter and strawberry jam and enjoying them with a giant steaming mug of tea.

Banana Scones with Whipped Honey Butter

(makes 9-10 scones, adapted from my plain scone recipe)

300g (about 2 1/3 US cups flour, closer to 2 metric cups) self-raising flour, sifted

1 over-ripe medium banana, well mashed (about 1/3 cup)

1/4 tsp salt

100ml (about 1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp) pure/pouring cream (min 35% fat, heavy whipping cream in the US)

160ml (about 2/3 cup) milk

Note: if you are not planning to make the butter or to serve with jam, I recommend you add about 2 tbsp sifted icing sugar and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon to the flour mixture

For the butter: (Alternatively you could make Bill's honeycomb butter)

115g (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room-temperature

4 tbsp honey

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

To serve: strawberry (or any other flavoured) jam, can replace butter with clotted cream

Remove the butter ahead of time to allow it to soften. Preheat oven to 230°C (445°F), 220 °C (430°F) fan-forced. Sift flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre, place the mashed banana in the centre. Gradually pouring the cream into the bowl, begin to cut cream and banana into dry ingredients with a flat bladed knife so that it starts to come together, then gradually add milk (using the same cutting motion with the knife to combine the ingredients) until there is enough to form a soft dough. (I usually save a small amount of milk to brush the tops of the scones)

Working quickly and gently, gather dough together on a floured bench. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, using lightly floured hands to stop dough sticking to you, and pat the dough into a rectangle about 3-3.5cm thick. You can lightly knead the dough with your hands for a smoother appearance but overknead it and your scones will be tough and hard. 

Cut out round using a 5-6cm scone cutter (push the cutter into the dough, don't twist) and place next to each other in a lined/greased heavy based baking dish that has sides (scones baked close together will rise higher and thus be lighter). I usually manage to cut about 5-6 scones, then I pat the scraps together and cut out another 2 and finally pat the scraps from that together into a ball to form the final scone. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with some extra milk using a pastry brush.

Bake for 10-15 mins, until scones are cooked through and tops are lightly browned. While scones are baking, prepare the butter; chop the softened butter into small cubes. Place the butter, cinnamon and honey in a large mixing bowl and beat well on high speed with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Place in a serving dish and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep scones soft, serve immediately with honey butter. Strawberry jam is also a great addition to the butter. You can substitute the butter with clotted cream. Store leftover scones in an airtight container, warm up in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Best eaten on the same day but scones can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

Sweet Potato & Brown Butter Scones

Scones and I, we go way back. They hold a special place in my heart. Everytime I bake them it brings back memories of lazy Sunday afternoons, girly high teas and family gatherings. Nowadays I don't stray too far from my plain scone recipe, it's so easy and delightfully fluffy. But every now and then I get the urge to mix it up a little. This time it led me to these Sweet Potato & Brown Butter Scones.

I've mentioned before that I've been desperately trying to find balance in my life. The last few months have been exhausting and non-stop hectic but I do feel like I'm finally starting to get into a good rhythm. For one thing I've been restricting my baking to about once a week, which is great because I don't have to wake up an hour earlier on a weekday to run around taking photos of things before work, just as the sun is rising. But it does mean that when I'm super busy on the weekend I sometimes don't find time to bake at all. And while this is good for my waistline, it's not so good for the blog.

This is one of the many reasons why I love scones. They are so damn easy. I was on my way back from lunch on Sunday and started daydreaming about scones. A quick trip to the supermarket for ingredients including some extremely cheap and very sweet strawberries and I was home at 3.30pm. The scones were mixed up, baked, photographed and eaten by 5pm.

Even though I am usually a scone purist, this flavour is pretty spectacular. I've used sweet potato in a cake before but never in a scone. It's pretty similar to a pumpkin scone, but I definitely prefer the sweeter flavour of this one over one made with pumpkin. Add to that the magic of brown butter...Oh brown butter, how I love thee. The colour, the richness and that slight nuttiness works so very well in this scone. There's also the added convenience of being able to mix melted butter into the scone mixture, rather than having to rub cold butter in to the flour. Avoiding this step is one of the many reasons why I usually prefer cream scones, but this is one butter scone that manages to match the convenience and lightness of a cream scone.

I was really surprised by how light and fluffy these scones turned out. I was expecting a certain amount of denseness due to the starch from the sweet potato, but they were so soft and airy. The dough is very soft and a tad sticky so don't be afraid to dust your surfaces, your hands and the outside of the dough very well to stop it from sticking while cutting your scones. The browned butter and sweet potato gave the scones this beautiful golden orange colour and an sweet, inviting, buttery smell. The addition of a little brown sugar means that these scones taste pretty great on their own, maybe with a dab of butter but I served them with some clotted cream and thin slices of fresh strawberries and it was utter bliss. And so pretty!

Sweet Potato & Brown Butter Scones
(adapted from this recipe, makes about 10)
1 3/4 cups (245 g) plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup (250 g) cooked, mashed orange sweet potato
60g unsalted butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk (I used skim)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp brown sugar
To serve: Clotted cream & fresh strawberries, maybe a drizzle of maple syrup

Prepare your sweet potato first. I boiled mine until very tender, mashed and then set aside to cool. Place butter in a small saucepan on low heat and brown, swirling the mixture regularly so it heats evenly. Set aside. Preheat oven to 210°C (410°C). Sift flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg into a small bowl. Stir together sweet potato, browned butter, milk, egg and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Cut flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a flat bladed knife until just evenly moistened.

Turn dough out onto a well floured work surface. With floured hands, gently pat (don't knead!) out to a 2-3cm-thick round (I like them thick, so I do 3cm). Cut into rounds with a 6 cm biscuit/scone cutter. Place rounds on a baking tray about 2.5 cm apart. Gather up remaining dough. Pat into a circle; cut out remaining scones. Brush tops of the scones with some extra milk using a pastry brush. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes, cover with a clean tea towel once out of the oven to keep them soft. Serve warm with clotted cream and sliced fresh strawberries and maybe a little maple syrup if you wish.

CWA Scones Take 2!

There's been a lot of interest in my old CWA scone recipe post, thanks to a Masterchef episode that aired recently where the contestants had to bake a few CWA recipes, including lamingtons, neopolitan cake, fruit cake, and the famous scones with jam. These are the awesome, fluffy scones that they sell at the Easter show, the one recipe I always turn to for plain scones. And let's be honest, the Masterchef contestants made a complete mess of it. It was a total disaster. And then everyone complained about the unfair conditions, the unfamiliar ovens and gusty winds and yadda yadda yadda...Yeah, whatever. Anyway, the episode made me look back at my original post and cringe. Ack, the awful photos taken at night! The messy, uneven scone cutting :( I felt like I had to do the recipe justice.

I was also fortunate enough to get a very lovely, helpful comment on that post from Yvonne, who shared the recipe she uses for CWA functions. It just required a bit of tweaking to the original ratios, but it is essentially the same. I used scone cutters this time, which meant they were much prettier and more uniform in size, so they didn't take a ridiculous long time to bake like last time. The high ratio of cream to flour meant that the scones were even softer and richer. They were so, so good. They had a very thin crust on the outside, and were uber soft and light in the middle. Not the least bit dry, and they smelt amazing! Even better than the previous recipe. Karen helped me wolf down these freshly baked scones with loads of strawberry jam. Those CWA ladies really are the scone masters, I bow down to you!

For me, one of the most important things when making a scone is how you handle the dough. The more you work the dough, the tougher it will be. I was nearly weeping when I watched Aaron knead his scone dough on that train-wreck of a Masterchef challenge. And surprise, surprise they turned out chewy. Please, please, don't knead your dough, pat it together gently! You'll get your best scones from the first rounds you cut out, and they will get tougher each time you have to re-gather and re-pat the dough to cut more rounds, so try to get as many as you can out of that first disk of dough.

CWA Scones
(recipe from Yvonne Dighton, see comments from previous CWA Scones attempt, makes 8-9 scones)
2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
150 ml pouring cream (35% fat)
Approx 2/3 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients and preheat oven to 220-230 degrees C. Begin to cut cream into dry ingredients with a flat bladed knife, then gradually add milk until there is enough to form a soft dough. (I usually save a small amount of milk to brush the tops of the scones)

Working quickly and gently, gather dough together on a floured bench. Try to handle the dough as little as possible, using lightly floured hands to stop dough sticking to you, and pat the dough into a rectangle about 3-3.5cm thick. You can lightly knead the dough with your hands for a smoother appearance but overknead it and your scones will be tough and hard.

Cut out round using a 5-6cm scone cutter (push the cutter into the dough, don't twist) and place next to each other in a lined/greased heavy based baking dish that has sides (scones baked close together will rise higher and thus be lighter). I usually manage to cut about 5-6 scones, then I pat the scraps together and cut out another 2-3 and finally pat the scraps from that together into a ball to form the final scone. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with some extra milk using a pastry brush.

Bake for 10-15 mins, until scones are cooked through and tops are lightly browned. Serve immediately with jam and cream. (I like to cover my waiting scones with a clean tea towel to keep them from going hard) Scones can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

The Tea Room, Gunners' Barracks, Mosman

I've been looking forward to this for a long time. If you have been following my blog long enough, you will know of my love for afternoon teas, in particular my obsession with scones. I very badly wanted to visit Gunners' Barracks for my birthday last year, but unfortunately they were fully booked and we ended up having those horrible, cheesy fail scones at Sir Stamford. So as soon as we could, we were booked in for a table at The Tea Room. I had visited the QVB Tea Room, which was the best high tea I'd had in Sydney so far, so I had a good feeling that these would make up for the last cheesy scones. The location is gorgeous - a popular wedding venue, and with the Royal Albert china, I knew I would like the setting for this afternoon tea.

As we walk in, we can see the other tables enjoying their afternoon teas. The room looks warm, cozy and inviting on this particularly cool day. Unfortunately for us, our table is out on the balcony, exposed to a rather chilly sea breeze. On most other days I would have LOVED to be outside, with the stunning view over the water and sunshine, but unluckily for us the wind was biting and our fingertips were soon icy. The staff were as helpful as they could be, pulling an outdoor heater closer to us, and providing us with these fantastic thick shrugs to wrap around us.

I had been planning to use this outing as an excuse to try out my borrowed DSLR for the first time, but annoyingly I forgot it so you will have to put up with the usual point & shoot photos. We quickly decided what teas we wanted from their wide selection, eager to get something steamy and hot to drink. The service was wonderful, efficient and friendly and it doesn't take long for our tea, plates and tiers of food to be whisked over to our table.

The three tiers of sweets elicits the expected coos and squeals from the girls. Because we are quite a large table, the sandwiches, scones and warm savouries come out on separate plates. I'm pleasantly surprised by the serving sizes - there's definitely more food than what I had at the QVB tea room.

Blueberry Muffin Tea

The cold weather is quickly forgotten once the tea and food arrives. It didn't take me long to pick my tea, how could I choose anything else after seeing they had a blueberry muffin flavoured tea?! It was lovely, it really did smell like freshly baked blueberry muffins without being too sweet or artificial and I finished my first pot quickly. The staff were more than happy to top up our emptied tea pots with more hot water.

Finger Sandwiches - Roast Beef, Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon

Excuse me if I'm a little vague on the descriptions of all the food we ate, we never actually had anyone explain exactly what we were served. But it wasn't too hard to guess, the sandwiches were quite large for finger sandwiches. So large that I only managed to eat one of the three that I was given. The one I ate was tasty, with moist roast beef and nice slathering as horseradish cream. Though I do kind of wish they had my favourite cucumber sandwiches on offer.

Samosas with yoghurt dipping sauce and asparagus puff pastry tartlets (behind)

The warm savoury food was quite nice, better than many of the savouries I've had at other high teas. The samosas had a nice big sprinkling of sea salt on top which went with with the lightly fragrant filling. The bite sized puff pastry was light and flaky, with a nice asparagus filling.

Scones

The most important measure of a good high tea, the scones. The were HUGE!! Though they were as beautifully golden and crunchy on the outside and fluffy and soft in the middle, I kind of wish they were a little bit smaller like their QVB cousins. They filled me up so much that I could barely finish mine and it stopped me from eating other things.

The scones came served with cream and blueberry jam. It was interesting to see them serving something other than strawberry jam, and though this might have bothered me any other day, it went well with my blueberry muffin tea so I was happy. The scones went cold very quickly thanks to the wind, but there was not much anyone could do about that :(

Cheesecake and glazed apricot cakes

After a short break to recover my appetite, I eagerly tucked into the sweets that sat prettily on the three tiered stand. The cheesecake was quite nice, the base was a little soggy but the filling was soft and fluffy. I think it may have been mascarpone, which went well with the slice of glazed strawberry on top. We weren't sure what the little cakes were, at first glance they almost looked like profiteroles sitting inside patty cake cases, but they were actually these gorgeous buttery peach cakes and I gobbled mine up.

Chocolate and orange macaron and a layered chocolate sponge cake

The little chocolate gateau sounded like it tasted delicious, apparently with coffee and chocolate but there were also nuts in one of the layers so I had to give it a miss. Though I tend to avoid eating macarons these days since I make them often enough to be sick of them, this was one macaron that I could not skip. It was perfectly baked, not cloyingly sweet like many macarons thanks to the orange flavour and a rich chocolate ganache. It was perfect to nibble on while sipping at my tea. I've had issues with getting the temperature right in my oven while making macs recently and I was wishing I could make mine this well.

Without knowing it, we had saved the best part for last. Sitting on the top of our trays were these adorable little ramekins full of silky smooth mango pudding and sago. The mango pudding was so moreish, with a good punch of mango flavour. The light, smooth pudding went perfectly with the little bubbles of tapioca, and I was scraping my ramekin to get every last morsel.

Mango pudding with tapioca

We didn't stick around too long after, since the warmth from the tea and scones was wearing off and the wind was still rather gusty. I didn't realise they had a weekend surcharge, so our afternoon tea ended up costing $44 per person, which is pretty darn expensive for afternoon tea in Sydney. But you are paying for the quality and the location, and I was quite happy to pay it. It was a shame that it had been so windy, otherwise I would have definitely enjoyed the view a lot more and would have not wanted to be indoors. I think next time I will have to come on a warmer day, or specifically try to get a table inside. If you are going to visit Gunners' Barracks, make sure you book well ahead of time to avoid disappointment, they are always booked up. Even though nothing can beat a freshly baked homemade scone, the scones served up at both the Tea Rooms are probably the best you'll find around Sydney, and the desserts at Gunners' Barracks are some of the best I've had at an afternoon tea.

Ooh sailboats!

The Tea Room Gunners' Barracks
End of Suakin Drive,
Off Middle Head Road,
Georges Heights, NSW 2088

(02)8962 5900
Morning tea served daily from 11am-12pm
Afternoon tea served daily from 11am

Hot Cross Scones

I decided very early this year that I wasn't going to bake hot cross buns. I made them successfully last year, which was rather exciting since it was my first time using yeast, but I didn't have the energy to do it this year. Plus I just got my itch to bake bread out of the way. But I still wanted to do something similar and this was the perfect cheat's version of a hot cross bun. You'll be burning your tongue as you impatiently taste test these straight out of the oven, because they smell so good while they're baking!

I have waxed lyrical about scones and how easy they are to make, and these babies are no different. Super moist straight out of the oven with a hint of spices and lots of juicy sultanas, they are as close as you're going to get to a hot cross bun in scone form. And there's no yeast, so no long waiting times for proving, and no kneading. These even got the tick of approval from the boy, who tends to find scones completely dull.

I tried a couple of different experiments while coming up with this recipe. My first attempt was a variation of the CWA scone recipe that I love, but the texture of the cream scones didn't produce a hot cross scone I was satisfied with - it was too fluffy and not buttery and crumbly enough. So I went with a butter & milk combination (and buttermilk to make them super moist), and they turned out just right, with a pretty golden surface. The crosses are made from white chocolate, which give it a lovely richness. I even spread some of the leftover chocolate over the scones while I ate one, which was totally evil (and totally awesome). But they taste great on their own, fresh out of the oven.

I know there's nothing quite like a fresh, fluffy traditional hot cross bun, trust me I am a HUGE fan of them. But these weren't a bad substitute for someone who was far too lazy to knead bread and just wanted to whip up something quickly for brunch. I will definitely be making them again. I hope everyone has a great Easter break, I will be spending mine celebrating A's birthday, with plans to construct a slightly insane cake that will probably end in disaster. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Hot Cross Scones
(makes about 6 large scones)
220g self raising flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice (if you don't have it, substitute with more cinnamon)
75g butter, softened
70g caster sugar
70g sultanas or currants
1 large egg
2 tbsp (40ml) buttermilk
100g white chocolate

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Sift flour, salt, cinnamon and allspice into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and sultanas.

Lightly beat the egg and the buttermilk together in a small bowl. Using a palette or butter knife, gradually pour the egg mixture into the mixing bowl, gently cutting into the mixture until it starts to come together. Use your hands to bring the dough together into a ball and then turn out on to a lightly floured surface.

Pat the dough into a flat disc about 4cm thick and use a scone cutter (or a round glass dusted with flour) to cut out your scones. (Mine is around 5cm diameter) Carefully pat any scraps together into a ball and use cutter to form scone with remaining dough. Brush the tops of the scones with the leftover buttermilk.

Place scones on a lined baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Time will vary depending on the size of your scones and your oven. When ready, remove from oven and place immediately on a wire rack to cool.

While the scones are baking melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl either over a double boiler or carefully in a microwave. Place in a piping bag and when the scones have been out of the oven for a few minutes, pipe a white chocolate cross over the top of each scone.

Serve immediately with butter or (if you want to be a bit naughty) some leftover melted white chocolate. But don't use too much or it will overpower the flavour of the scone. Scones can be stored in an airtight container and warmed up in the microwave but are best eaten when fresh.