Mrs Bailey’s Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
Afternoon tea, the Crater School way…
Afternoon tea is very much a thing at the Crater School, but here are no dainty sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Mrs Bailey has to tend to the appetites of growing girls, and a great many of them.
Scones are one of her staples, and this is one of her favourite recipes — acquired, of course, from an American pupil, for Mrs B is ever on the qui vive for food from other countries and cultures. Happily, blueberries thrive in the Martian climate, and buttermilk of course is everywhere.
250g all-purpose flour
40g granulated sugar
two heaped teaspoons baking powder
100g chilled grated butter
one carton fresh blueberries
112g buttermilk
one egg
vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Put the flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl, and mix them together. Add the grated butter (in the US, that’s one stick, minus the little you dursen’t grate for fear of grating your fingers). Mix again, tip in the blueberries and mix again.
Beat the egg with the buttermilk and a dash of vanilla extract. Working quickly and casually, mix that into the dry stuff, then tip it all out and knead it briefly into a rough dough, or ruff duff. As soon as it holds together, shape it into a round and cut into wedgie scone-shapes.
Lay them on parchment paper or a Silpat silicon sheet on a baking tray, brush with more buttermilk and scatter with more sugar.
Bake for twenty-five minutes or so, until golden brown and yummy.
Let cool a little if you can, before eating.
For more of Mrs Bailey’s recipes, see here:
