What better thing to do on a wet and chilly Sunday morning than whip up a batch of these delicious scones, and then spend the rest of the day by the fire with a book and a cuppa?
For the scone mixture:
1 ½ cups chopped dates
3 cups self raising flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cream or milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
½ cup lemonade, soda water or just plain old water
½ cup Dunford Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 egg
¼ cup crystallised ginger chopped
To finish:
¾ cup icing sugar juice of ½ a lemon and some extra chopped ginger to finish
Place the dates in a heat proof bowl; pour over boiling water to just cover. Set aside to soak for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 200 deg C. Cover a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper.
Measure the flour, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and ground ginger into a large bowl. Whisk to combine and aerate. Make a well in the centre.
Pour the cream or milk into a separate bowl and add the cider vinegar. Leave for a minute to sour, then whisk in the egg followed by the olive oil. Whisk well.
Drain the dates and place in the flour, add the chopped ginger and pour over the olive oil egg mixture. Lastly add the lemonade and stir to combine, try not to over mix, this is quite a wet mix.
Tip the dough out onto the prepared baking paper and using a spatula pat out into a large circle. Cut into 8 wedges using a wet knife and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Drop the temperature to 180 deg C for another 5-10 minutes. The cooked scone should sound hollow when lightly tapped. Slide onto a cooling rack to cool while you prepare the glaze.
Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and enough boiling water to make a thin icing. Drizzle over with a spoon or place in a paper cone, cut the tip off and drizzle over the scones. Sprinkle with additional chopped ginger.
Makes 8 large scones.