SCONES
MARY RECIPE Over the past 50-odd years, Mary has written many scone recipes. When a dish is this simple, the ingredients matter, but even as recently as 2013 she recommends margarine. After the shortbread saga, I ignored her and used butter instead and was rewarded with a light, crumbly scone. Her recipe is thorough, with little assumed knowledge, and she advises on what size and shape of cutter to use and how twisting the cutter to release the dough will mean less of a rise. We loved these.
EASE 4/5 TASTE 5/5 PRUE RECIPE Wow. These scones were god-like. Tall, bronzed and beautiful with the best rise of any scones I’ve made. They contained more baking powder than most recipes and needed to be rolled an inch thick. They were the kind you dream of eating, hot from the oven slathered with jam and cream. Prue also washed them with beaten egg – as opposed to Berry’s milk – which gave them a sheen. My daughters preferred the taste of Mary’s and said Prue’s were a bit bready. EASE 4/5 TASTE 4/5 WINNER Mary. Small but tasty.