As I play “Raindrops Races” with my daughter, I feel the need to do some comfort food cooking…..you know….the sort of stuff that makes the house smell all warm and cosy.

Pumpkin scones rate high on my list of comfort foods. Perhaps because I associate them with my (surrogate) grandmother Stella. She lived across the road from my childhood home and taught our family all about the treasures of Australian desserts ranging from vanilla slices to fluffy sponge cake with cream. Every once in a while, she would appear at our doorstep with home made goodies…. and my Italian mother would reciprocate with lasagna, home made ravioli etc etc. It was multiculturalism at it’s finest.

Here is my recipe for Pumpkin scones.

NOTE** I cook the pumpkin one day ahead, mash it and leave it in a strainer overnight. This allows the excess water to drain away, intensifying the flavor of the pumpkin and making the dough easier to work with.

You will need:

55g butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mashed pumpkin (see note)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

 How to prepare:

Using and electric beater or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and beat for a minute. Then add the pumpkin and cinnamon.

Place the flour, egg mixture and milk into a large bowl. Use a plastic scraper (pictured) to combine the dough.

 

Do not overwork the dough, or expect all of the flour to be amalgamated. Endeavour to be light handed with the mixture, otherwise you may end up with golf balls instead of scones.

You can expect the dough to be very sticky and quite soft.

Turn the dough onto a generously floured surface and pat it gently, so that it is about 4cm high.

Dip your scone cutter into some flour and cut out the scones. Keep your hands floured to avoid the dough sticking.

Arrange onto a tray lined with baking paper, leaving a 2 centimeter gap between the scones.

Bake at 200’celcius for 20 minutes

Enjoy with lashings of butter and jam.