It’s the kind of day in Melbourne that feels borrowed from a Christchurch winter. It’s November, but there’s rain, hail and a howling wind, the sky is a single, endless grey. Days like this always take me back to Mum in the kitchen, pulling the Edmonds Cookbook out of the drawer. Every New Zealand household had an Edmonds Cookbook; its spine was cracked, its pages dusted with flour. She’d mix up girdle scones and cook them straight on the stovetop in the cast iron frying pan. We’d eat them hot, split open and soaked in butter and honey. The smell filled the house while the windows fogged and the gutters overflowed.
Now, when it’s cold and I take Mum out of Aged Care for a walk along the seaside or around the small park, I have to help Mum into her coat and do up the zip for her. She has forgotten a lot, but she might remember the scones if I mention them; the Edmonds Cookbook, the smell of butter melting. Maybe that’s enough.
Recipe from the Edmonds Cookbook
Girdle (griddle scones)
Long ago, when domestic ovens were a rarity, it was usual to make scones over the fire on a heated cast iron plate. In Ireland this plate was called a griddle, in Scotland a girdle and in Wales, a bake stone. You can still bake scones this way if you have a heavy-based frying pan.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Edmonds Standard Grade Flour
- 2 tsp Edmonds Baking Powder
- Pinch of salt;
- 1 Tbsp butter (or Olivani Spread)
- 1/2 cup Meadow Fresh milk, approximately
Method
- Place a heavy frying pan or griddle over a low to medium heat.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add enough milk to make a fairly soft dough, mixing with a round-bladed table knife, and roll out to a 1cm thick round on a lightly floured board.
- Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Butter the griddle very lightly and cook the scones for about 5 minutes on each side. They should be dark golden brown and well risen and the sides should be dry to the touch.
- Cool on a rack, covered with a cloth.