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Scotch Scones
1/3 cup shortening 1 cup mashed potato 1 1/2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg, beaten Add one-half of shortening to warm mashed potato. Sift dry ingredients together and add remaining shortening. Add potato mixture with beaten egg so as to make a soft dough; add a little milk if necessary. Roll out lightly about 1 inch, cut in small biscuits and bake in a hot oven 375 degrees F., for 20 minutes. Currants may be added before mixing with egg. Yield 1 dozen.
A potato scone rich enough to stand in for a biscuit, and the potato is the whole point: it must be warm and smooth when the fat goes in, or the dough turns heavy.
- The mashed potatoUse plain mashed potato with no milk, butter, or seasoning beyond salt already worked in, and mash or rice it while hot so there are no lumps. One cup is roughly one large russet, about 8 oz raw. Cold, gluey leftover mash will not absorb the shortening and gives a dense scone.
- Why the shortening is splitHalf goes into the warm potato, where it melts; the other half goes into the sifted dry ingredients, where it stays solid and is presumably meant to work like the fat in a biscuit. Follow the order given rather than adding it all in one place.
- Shortening choicePeriod shortening means lard or a hydrogenated vegetable fat. Butter works and tastes better here; keep the portion cut into the flour cold and firm.
- Oven temperatureThe text calls 375F a hot oven, which is at the low end for the term; period tables generally put 'hot' somewhere around 400-450F. Take the number, not the adjective: 375F for 20 minutes suits a scone this thick and this high in potato, which browns quickly.
- Rolling thicknessThe text says about one inch, which is thick for a cut biscuit; there is no way to tell whether that is intended or a slip, so follow it as printed. Handle the dough as little as possible, pat rather than roll if it feels slack, and press the cutter straight down without twisting so the sides can rise.
- Milk to adjustPotato varies in moisture, so the dough may need anywhere from nothing to a few tablespoons. Aim for a soft dough that just holds together and still shows a little tackiness.
- CurrantsDried currants, not fresh. The recipe only says they may be added before mixing with egg, so stir them in at that stage; the quantity is left to the cook.
- Yield and servingTwelve small scones, best split and buttered soon after baking; they reheat well in a dry pan.