🍓 Cooking School #004 - Old Fashioned Scones
Happy Mother's Day, Cooking Class & Wellness Retreat
A Happy Mother’s Day to you all and to all the beautiful, gorgeous souls in your life. Hope you have a wonderful weekend celebrating all the women who make your life special.
Autumn has truly set in here in Sydney; there is even a sprinkling of snow in a couple of the states. A great sign for a nice, cold winter if that is something that makes you happy. It really makes me joyous!
A Vegetarian Cooking & Wellness Retreat With Me
Speaking of snow and cold weather and mountains, I am thrilled to be partnering with the world-famous, beautiful Aro-Ha Wellness Retreat & Spa to bring you a 7-Day Wellness Retreat - The Alchemy of Food & Wellbeing, featuring daily interactive cooking classes, tasting sessions and an in-depth exploration of modern vegetarian Indian cooking through the ancient principles of Ayurveda. Bookmark the dates! Aug 30 - Sep 5, 2026 🍃
Read More & Sign Up At This Page To Register Your Interest
Imagine a vacation of a lifetime, nestled in the beautiful Southern Alps at the multi-award-winning wellness retreat Aro Ha! Wellness meets luxury at this stunning retreat in Glenorchy, just 45 minutes from Queenstown, New Zealand.
I absolutely love Aro-Ha’s ethos. With over 40 global awards, 10 years of experience, a dedicated team and small groups to foster curiosity, conversation and connection, this is a haven where you make lasting change for yourself. They offer evidence-based adventures that transform your state of wellbeing through mindfulness, sub-alpine hikes, constant hydrotherapy, daily massages, breathwork and of course – beautiful, delicious, plant-based food. 🥦
And this is where I come in – Come experience this special Alchemy Of Food & Wellbeing Retreat with me. Over the course of the week, you will enjoy interactive hands-on cooking classes with me, thought-provoking tasting sessions, food wisdom through storytelling, discussion and dialogue about exploring our own food orientation and discovering what our bodies need to
thrive.
With my rich background in Ayurvedic cooking, I will teach you the art of using food to restore rhythm and balance to your bodies through exclusive, heirloom recipes passed down through generations. I will also share intimate knowledge on using spices for healing, eating through the seasons for balance, cooking and eating to nourish our Agni - digestive fire.
If you would like to know more about this program and be the first in line when tickets are released, please register your interest/sign up at the link below
1 Week To Go For The Sourdough Workshop
This would make a great last-minute Mother’s Day Gift Idea for your mum or yourself. Few Spots remain for this May 15, 2026, workshop.
4 Hours / $225
Hands-on learning, fun, relaxed atmosphere, morning tea and lunch provided along with take-home sourdough starter and goodie bag. Learn to make
Sourdough Spiced Buns
Sourdough Bagels
Sourdough Pizza Crackers
Cooking School - Old Fashioned Scones
It’s been a while since I shared a Cooking School post. Although usually for paid members, today’s special Cooking School post on Old-Fashioned Scones is free for everyone to read and cook from, in honour of Mother’s Day. Perhaps, something you can make for her on Sunday morning?
A little tea-house tucked away in a narrow street in Cameron Highlands, a quaint mountain town in Malaysia, was where I first had scones. Small, round Devonshire scones, flaky and warm and tall. Served with fresh strawberry jam made from strawberries at the farm just across the road, where we had spent most of our morning picking our own. And a generous dollop of whipped cream and English breakfast tea served in vintage, gold-rimmed teacups. They were delicious, but what I absolutely loved was that they symbolised ritual. And so I brought that ritual back with me to Sydney and integrated it into my own life.
A special morning tea with family, an afternoon tea with friends, and most recently, a midnight session of scones and tea for the British F1 Grand Prix with my boys. A great way to come together in the dead of night (July is winter here in Sydney), watching the cars go around Silverstone as we sit huddled inside our blankets, sipping on hot tea and enjoying our scones warm from the oven.
I have made many scones over the last couple of decades. Cranberry Scones and Pinwheel Jam Scones and Lemonade Sheet Scones (in my cookbook - Tasy Express). But my favourite are old-fashioned scones. Just the most beautiful alchemy of flour, butter, sugar and milk washed with egg and baked to lofty heights - like the ones you would find at a good bakery.
“ There is a secret to making scones that are light and fluffy (not doughy and stodgy). And it lies in your hands. You need a light hand to do the following,
Rubbing butter into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs (gentle, slow, meditative - you want to do this over 8-10 minutes)
Mixing the liquid into the breadcrumb-flour mixture (light, quick, barely there swirly motion)
Bringing the dough together until it is just combined, still sticky and wet (Again, you want to be light, almost like flicking sand off your body after a dunk in the ocean at the beach)
Shaping the dough into a tall, chunky rectangle (Feel the weight in your hand, bring it up to your shoulder, don’t let it bleed out through your fingers. There should be no pressing of the dough)
Cutting the dough into 8 pieces using a dough cutter (Deft, quick cuts. One swift chopping motion, down and then up and out. This creates those magnificent flaky layers)
Separating the scones on the tray (Gentle does it, just slide them with a finger. No holding or pressing unless you feel you have light hands with the precision of a surgeon)
Brushing the scones with the egg wash (The pastry brush should barely kiss the surface of the scone with no trace of the brush hair left behind. Only brush the tops)
recipe»
Old Fashioned Scones
Makes 8
for scones
600 g (4 cups) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting and handling dough
2 tablespoons raw sugar
125g (1/2 cup) cold salted butter, cut into small cubes
375 ml (1.5 cups) milk
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup strawberry jam, to serve
for Chantilly cream
300ml thickened cream
2 tablespoons sifted icing sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
To make the Chantilly cream, put all ingredients in a bowl and whip using a hand blender until it forms soft peaks. Spoon into a serving bowl and keep chilled until ready to serve.
To make the scones, add flour, butter and sugar to a bowl. Rub the mixture with your fingertips for 8-10 minutes until it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and mix it lightly with a fork. The mixture should be wet and sticky and just combined.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface (pastry board, stone countertop or stainless steel countertop are ideal). Gather the straggly bits and bring them together. Knead it very gently with floured hands until smooth for about 30 seconds.
Place the dough on a large rectangular sheet of baking paper. Shape the block of dough into a 24cm X 14cm rectangle about 5cm high. Using a dough cutter, lightly press against the edges to tidy up the shape of the rectangle. Lift the baking paper along with the dough and place it on a large baking tray.
Using a deft, quick, single cutting motion, cut the rectangle into 8 even pieces with the dough cutter. Slide them away from each other, placing them 4-5cm apart.
Glaze the top of the scones with the egg wash (made by mixing egg yolk and water). Ensure you glaze them lightly but well. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden on top. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15-20 minutes.
Serve with strawberry jam and Chantilly cream.
If you can, I would love for you to support my work. It helps keep the newsletter going. A paid subscription gives you instant access to
A delicious archive of over 140+ ongoing recipes (printable and downloadable)
An archive of detailed 1-2 Hr Meal Prep Sessions with all recipes and meal prep run sheets (printable and downloadable)
Exclusive Discounts to Cooking Sessions/Classes
Access Full Recipe Archive and Meal Prep Sessions. Happy Cooking!!