The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

How do I make light and fluffy scones?

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Rising star: The secret to light scones is to avoid over-mixing.
Rising star: The secret to light scones is to avoid over-mixing.Marina Oliphant

My scones are too tough. A. Pilley

Light and fluffy scones that pull apart to reveal layers of snowy white dough are a true joy and an art to be mastered. In old-fashioned matters such as these I defer to Mrs Dorothy Floate. She was the 1950s Australian version of Nigella Lawson, except that her vice was Tuckfields Ty-nee Tips tea. In her books Mrs Floate suggests using milk at room temperature and simply bringing the dough together and never over-mixing it. Over-mixing starts forming gluten strands that make the scone more bread-like in consistency. Mrs Floate would never flour the tray, instead simply lubricating it with butter. "Now about your oven," she wrote. "Every woman understands her own oven. As you know you need a quick oven for baking scones but care should be taken not to have it too hot."

How do I work out which is the best table in a restaurant? V. Pascoe

Many, many years ago I spent some time touring the beautiful old towns of the Yorke Peninsula with my great uncle. He took me to one of those great two-storey limestone and red brick pubs, pointed to the balcony and said, "This is where my brother, your great uncle, jumped over the edge, shimmied down the drainpipe, jumped on his horse and rode to Adelaide," he said. "He had been seeing another man's missus and the bloke was coming up the stairs with a shotgun to sort it out." Although I am never expecting trouble, I always find it comfortable to sit facing the restaurant entrance. There is something primal about being able to have one eye on who's coming into the room. I avoid sitting under speakers and choose a table that is secluded a little for privacy yet in plain sight of the wait staff. Tables near toilets and the kitchen will have more foot traffic from fellow patrons and staff, respectively, and a table near the front door can lead to blasts of cold air unless the designer has sensibly included a vestibule. If you're in for a quick bite, and the menu is offered at the bar, consider pulling up a stool as service tends to be fast and attentive. If you're not happy with your table, ask to be moved.

Advertisement

In baking, when the ratio of liquid to flour is so essential, why don't recipe books state the gram size of eggs to be used? J. Morrison

Until animal geneticists develop the mechanical oviduct and cloaca, chickens are going to produce eggs of different sizes. After a particularly nasty thunderstorm, one of our backyard hens emitted a squawk and an egg about the size of a cherry. Eggs are described according to their weight, with an egg weighing between 42g and 49.9g described as "Medium" and is sold by total weight for a dozen (labelled 500g). Large eggs (50g-58.2g) are labelled 600g a dozen; Extra Large (58.3g-66.6g) are 700g a dozen; Jumbo (66.7g-70g) are 800g a dozen and King Size (70g-78g) are 860g a dozen. Yet for bureaucratic reason, size descriptors such as "Large" can't be printed next to the total weight. The good news is that by convention most Australian recipes, unless stated otherwise, are tested with large eggs.

My girlfriend gets annoyed when I leave my mobile phone on the table during meals. What's the etiquette? K. Gogle

When I was growing up, telephones were large, hard-wired into the wall and stood on a shelf, under which was a copy of the White Pages and a handout from the local fire brigade about what to do in case of fire. The phone was ignored at mealtimes and, sometimes, taken off the hook. Etiquette experts such as Debrett's suggest that nothing be put on the table that is not directly involved in eating. So mobile phones, contents of pockets, laptop computers and bags of shopping should not be placed on the table when dining – it's a meal, not show-and-tell.

Email your vexing culinary conundrums to brainfood@richardcornish.com.au or tweet to @Foodcornish

The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.

Sign up
Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement