Recipes and images by Seonie Robst
Words by Michelle Shearer
Words by Michelle Shearer
Seonie is one of our longstanding and beloved MamaBakers. She is an avid gardener and sends us in photos of her beautiful homegrown heirloom produce as she harvests. We love it!
Seonie’s homegrown heirloom tomatoes
Drying heirloom cherry tomatoes and preserving them in olive oil and herbs – all fresh from Seonie’s garden.
Seonie’s cherry tomatoes bottled up in olive oil
Heirloom potatoes
Pumpkins ready for a roasting
On to the scones that she made recently for homework club at her kids’ school. She made two big batches, each making 40 scones: Lemon and Sultana and Herby Cheese and Carrot. These would be a perfect offering at any MamaBake session.
Sultana and Lemon Scones
Ingredients
8 cups self raising flour,
4 tablespoons soft brown sugar
3 cups milk
2 cups sultanas (soaked in 1.5 cups of lemon juice & the whole lemon’s zest.)
120g butter, cold and cubed
1 cup water
2 tspns salt.
4 tablespoons soft brown sugar
3 cups milk
2 cups sultanas (soaked in 1.5 cups of lemon juice & the whole lemon’s zest.)
120g butter, cold and cubed
1 cup water
2 tspns salt.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 250C and grease a baking tray.
- Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Make a well in the flour and pour in the milk and water. Mix it all together quickly then turn out on to floured surface and knead lightly.
- Roll the dough out to 2 cm thickness; and using an oiled glass (or cookie cutter) cut the dough into rounds. Pop the scone dough rounds close together on baking tray and brush tops with milk.
- Bake the scones for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Herby Cheese and Carrot Scones
Ingredients
8 cups self raising flour,
3 cups milk
1 carrot, grated,
1 cup cheese, grated
Chives and coriander, small handful, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
120g butter, cold and cubed
1 cup water
2 tspns salt.
3 cups milk
1 carrot, grated,
1 cup cheese, grated
Chives and coriander, small handful, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
120g butter, cold and cubed
1 cup water
2 tspns salt.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 250C and grease a baking tray.
- Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix in the herbs, carrot, cumin and cheese. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Make a well in the flour and pour in the milk and water. Mix it all together quickly then turn out on to floured surface and knead lightly.
- Roll the dough out to 2 cm thickness; and using an oiled glass (or cookie cutter) cut the dough into rounds. Pop the scone dough rounds close together on baking tray and brush tops with milk.
- Bake the scones for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
*These recipes adapted from the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Seonie! A woman after my own heart! I am second-generation Italian-Australian, and love the whole idea of growing, cooking and of course eating more the traditional way. Also, I’m sure you’d agree the importance of using heirloom seeds / unadulterated seeds (such as available via the Diggers Club) not only for growing produce, but also to keep for our children and their children. Your recipes have reinspired me! Thank you xxx
BTW – preparing beautiful food for our families is such an act of love (although the daily cooking grind does get a bit much at times). Thank you to MamaBake for inspiring cooking from scratch.