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You are here: Home / Recipes / Baking (sweet) / Mamma’s no-recipe oil scones

Mamma’s no-recipe oil scones

by Jeanne Horak on January 31, 2008 26 Comments in Baking (sweet), Recipes, South African, Vegetarian

Scones with jam

What do you do when you miss somebody that you’ll never see again?  When your head is full of questions that you still want to ask them, questions that hadn’t even been formulated when you said goodbye?  When your arms ache to be around them?  When your ears strain to catch the memory of their voice; your nose, the memory of their scent?

I’m afraid I’m not the burning bush and I don’t have the answers.  All I can tell you is what I do, and that’s to haul out my mom’s index book of recipes.  It bears an alarming resemblance to my own, with some recipes written in her confident hand, some pasted in and others stuffed in higgeldy-piggeldy – torn from magazines, snipped from the back of cartons or scribbled on the back of meeting minutes.  As I page through the recipes, each one brings back a memory – the person who gave her the recipe (like Evelyn’s nutty wheat bread), the occasion when it was made (like Black Forest trifle for a party) or how we used to make it together (mmmmm, chocolate fudge).  And at the back are her weekly budgets, complete with copies of the invoices sent by the Chinese-owned grocery store Harris who, in those days, delivered to your door after you’d phoned in your order.  I remember visiting the store sometimes too, where I referred to the owner as die tannie met die laggesig – the lady with the laughing face.  What a wonderful world view a child has!

But one of the recipes that we made the most and the first recipe I successfully replicated outside our house won’t be found in that book.  I fact, I don’t think it’s written down anywhere.  It lived in Mamma’s head and, like her ample hips and slim wrists, she seems to have passed it on to me like a genetic imprint.

One way or another, scones had been a part of our family weekend routine for as long as I can remember.  Some Sundays when the sun was shining, my dad would announce that we were going out for breakfast.  This was always a source of great excitement to me, even though we always went to the same place.  In those days, there was a little tearoom and a big open patio attached to Port Elizabeth’s premier tourist attraction, the Oceanarium.  It was nothing fancy – just wooden picnic tables and chairs and a collection of middle-aged ladies serving teas (were they from a charity??).  But on your right, if you were lucky, you could catch a glimpse of the dolphins leaping high out of their pool during a show, and on your left you had an uninterrupted view out over the shimmering ocean in Algoa Bay.  Invariably, our family would order a big pot of tea and four sets of scones with cream.  I used to relish not only the big bowl of whipped cream that came with the hot scones, but also the fact that they came with strawberry jam.  At home it was always apricot jam, so strawberry jam added to the sense of occasion 🙂

 

Scones with strawberry jam

 

Even on Sunday mornings when the family stayed home, scones often featured.  The division of labour in our house for as long As I can remember was that my dad would get us up in the morning on weekdays, make breakfast and get us to school; but on weekends, the roles were reversed.  My mom and dad would wake up and have their early morning espresso (I still marvel at what exotic beasts they must have been in the Port Elizabeth of the 1970s!) and then while my dad shaved, my mom would go through to the kitchen to start breakfast.  Often I’d go with her, and often she’d bake scones.   She never seemed to use a recipe – it was something she had made so many times before that the recipe came as naturally as breathing.  And when she taught me, I also learned by doing, rather than by reading a recipe.  In fact, I was quite disconcerted the first time I made these away from home and without my mom’s measuring jug.  I’d never learned the exact quantities, just up to which mark on the jug you should pour!  Luckily I knew what consistency the dough had to be and my first attempt to make these at a friend’s house, aged about 10, was a roaring success.

Both the old glass measuring jug and my mom are no more.  One met a fatal accident when my father decided to heat milk in it… on the stove.  And the other met with an incurable and equally fatal kidney disease.  But the recipe, it seems, is imprinted in my DNA and when I miss my mom the most, I make these scones and let the taste and the smell carry me away to another time.

 

MAMMA’S SCONES (makes 8-10)

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour
3.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of oil
2/3 cup of milk
1 egg

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.  Lightly grease or spray a large baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat the egg together with the milk and oil.

Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the liquid into it.  Then mix using a wooden spoon, making cutting motions as if you were drawing a noughts and crosses grid.  Turn the bowl after each grid.

Mix until all the liquid has been absorbed but do not over-mix.  If there is still some dry flour visible, add milk a tablespoon at a time and mix till all the flour is absorbed.  The mixture should be sticky but firm enough to hold its shape when you form the scones on the baking sheet.

Form a rough balls from the dough and place them on the baking sheet, evenly spaced.  You can make them as neat or as free-form as you like but remember they are not going to look like cookie-cutter, egg-washed scones!

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden – test with a toothpick to see if they are done.  They are delicious with sweet or savoury toppings – in the picture, I have gone for butter and red cherry jam.  In the unlikely event that there are any left over from breakfast, slice in half, top with grated cheddar and pop under the grill for a tasty mid-afternoon snack.

I am submitting this post as a (late!) entry into Jeni and Inge’s wonderful Apples and Thyme event celebrating our culinary memories of our mothers and grandmothers.

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  1. Charlotte says

    January 31, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    Thank you for this moving tribute to your Mom, and keeping her memory and tastes alive in this way. I have to admit that you made me weep. In honour of her, I shall have to make her scones.

    Reply
  2. Sue at eLuckypacket says

    January 31, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    This looks like the same recipe as for my mom’s scones. Saturday and Sunday afternoons watching cricket on TV wouldn’t have been the same without them 🙂 BTW, I would love to feature this recipe (and Cook Sister) on eLuckypacket if you don’t mind?

    Reply
  3. Suganya says

    January 31, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Beautiful post. Makes me want to spend time with my mom as much as possible.

    Reply
  4. Mrs.W says

    February 1, 2008 at 1:39 am

    Beautiful post.

    Reply
  5. ejm says

    February 2, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    What a great tribute! Mmmm, scones! (To differentiate scones from baking powder biscuits, our scones always had a bit of nutmeg in them.)
    Your mom’s scones look very similar to my mom’s biscuits to which she sometimes added grated cheddar cheese. And served them for Sunday lunches with salad and cream of tomato soup. How much cheese? “Some” How much is some? “Oh just enough…”
    -Elizabeth

    Reply
  6. Gill says

    February 2, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    What a beautiful post, you brought tears to my eyes. You must have had an incredibly special relationship with your mom.

    Reply
  7. Robert says

    February 2, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    Thank you for your wonderful tribute to your mom. It is wonderful that something as simple as making scones can serve as a link between your past and your present, and evoke such strong memories of time spent with your mom.
    The recipe you have for scones is quite different to the one that I use and I look forward to giving it a go.

    Reply
  8. Bellini Valli says

    February 3, 2008 at 4:32 am

    Scones are my favourite breakfasts next to Greek yogurt and honey. They are a food group of their own. Thanks for sharing your memories of your mom. These scones are your “madelines”.

    Reply
  9. neil says

    February 5, 2008 at 1:20 am

    Your post touched me too. I remember helping my mum to make scones, but sadly, the only thing about the whole process I can recall is the special glass she kept just for cutting them out. Must make scones with my daughter very soon!

    Reply
  10. jeni says

    February 6, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    I was moved to tears by your first paragraph. I, too, have moments of deep longing for my mom and I find baking one of those ways that I feel connected to her. I loved your story and the scones look simply delicious! Thank you for the entry.

    Reply
  11. Kit says

    February 6, 2008 at 7:25 pm

    Such a poignant post, which made me think about what a similar legacy would be from my Dad, since we have been sorting out his things for the last little while. I think for my brother it was playing some of the vinyl LPs that he always played to us as children, while I just kept going through all his paintings that he’d done in the last years of his life – enjoying seeing how good his water-colours had got and wanting to keep every last unfinished sketch.
    That recipe book must be so vibrant with your mother’s spirit, and scones such a great life affirming comfort food. My husband requests them very often at weekends too for tea, so either his sister or I will make them ..and if we don’t he’ll occasionally resort to knocking up a batch himself!

    Reply
  12. Super Sarah says

    February 16, 2008 at 9:32 am

    I know I am late commenting but this is such a lovely tribute that I had to leave a little message! Those shared memories are so special, I always spend time going through my mum’s recipe binder when I am home in Joburg, I am lucky enough to still have my Mum to go through it with me and now my own binder is full of copies of her copies and hastily scribbled recipes copied from her books. I hope this will be something my own daughter will treasure one day.

    Reply
  13. jay says

    February 20, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    lovely

    Reply
  14. Clare says

    February 23, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    Hi
    I was just browsing the web and came across your site. I absolutely LOVE it !!!!
    We have a similar site at http://www.granniesunited.com/ .
    We have started posted various special occasion recipes which other grannies have sent in.
    It would be wonderful if you wanted to share any of your recipes and post a webpage on our site. If not, no problem, and keep up the great work !!!
    Best wishes
    Clare
    [email protected]
    http://www.granniesunited.com/

    Reply
  15. denise says

    April 14, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    it was loveley reading your letteres my daughter emigrated 4 weeks ago to australia and i dont think we will be seing here again so i no how it feels to not see one any more and i love making scones but mine dont seem to turn out right love d xxx

    Reply
  16. Lorissa says

    June 8, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    Lovely post. I bookmarked this awhile ago and now I think next weekend I need to finally attempt to make these delicious looking scones.

    Reply
  17. Rosalind Billson says

    August 13, 2008 at 9:17 am

    I loved your Mother’s scones especially as I was born in Port Elizabeth and also often had tea and scones at the tearoom next to the Oceanarium. I remember how wonderful that little place was and it was run I think by the Rotary ladies. You have evoked wonderful memories for me.
    Reards
    Ros

    Reply
  18. Sam says

    December 29, 2008 at 8:23 pm

    Jeanne,
    This is a wonderful entry, one that I really relate to. One of my most precious possessions is my collection of my mom’s recipe books, especially her handwritten/magazine cut-out/back of envelope/food-splashed ones. It is how I remember her, smiling, laughing and presiding over her kitchen like a cuddly, and very down to earth domestic goddess. Cooking out of her books, or just inspired by her style (ie take any recipe and add extra cream & butter!) and then eating it all with great enjoyment, keeps her memory alive.
    Thanks for a great blog.

    Reply
  19. Zarina says

    February 10, 2009 at 9:32 am

    I find the last sentence deeply moving. And I’m motivated to try these scones just so to know how they taste. PLus..it’s so simple!

    Reply
  20. Pierre Verwey says

    January 10, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    Jeanne, I bought an oven about a year ago, having had nothing of the sort in my kitchen here in BKK. Part of the longing of living life as an expat, is making comfort food. It is the very best cure for being homesick. The first thing I made in the new oven was my mom’s scones. She wrote it down for me about 5 years ago, together with all my favourite recipes of things I loved as a child. She has passed away since, and we make her scones almost every Sunday afternoon as a tribute to her, and enjoy the scones with a nice pot of Joko tea. (Whenever friends come to visit, they bring Joko, so we are well stocked!) Even though I know the recipe off by heart, I still read it every time. Because she wrote it in her hand, and she wrote with all her love, and she did it especially for me. When I make them, its like I have a dialogue with her. Its perhaps the same as putting flowers on a grave. Somehow, every Sunday afternoon, it is as if she is with us when we make them. When baking them, the feelings and memories are so strong and the experience exceptionally vivid – its as if she is milling about in the kitchen. The experience is very strong, stronger than feelings I would have when I have a dream of her, but weaker without the familiar smells and images. I so can relate to your beautiful post. In fact I was thinking of writing a similar post on my blog. What is even more uncanny is that I also wanted to relate the scones to memories of the Oceanarium and that quaint little ‘picnic restaurant’ you described… I remember we used to go there often with my parents, and later with friends and lovers, just to enjoy their remarkable scones and tea. The kitchen was small and I am wondering whether they actually made anything other than their scones. The purple rinsed English ladies, often dressed for church, would be milling around in the background, and it would always be the best R1.50 I spent with my measly weekly student allowance ! As I recall it was either the Lions Club or Rosa Munch – not sure, but it was definitely some charitable organisation. I remember the scones being almost the size of an espresso saucer, and they were more than generous with the cream and jam. And of course the pots of tea. …and the crashing waves and afternoon sunshine and seabreeze (sometimes a frisky one, alla PE), to finish off the memory. Sitting there on Sunday afternoons having their tea and scones were always mingled with mixed feelings. The nostalgic weekend visit to my parents gone by, (they lived in Uitenhage) and the excitement of being back in the city for a week of university life. After spending a lazy hour before heading to my apartment, the lasting feeling was always that I felt rich. That feeling I would often have over the coming years, particularly when experiencing something extraordinary. Like seeing a favourite painting in real life or visiting a famous ancient site. Sometimes the feeling would wash over me, frozen in a moment, when spending time with special friends, or even just enjoying a meal of unsurpassed quality. It is a feeling which envelops one like a like a warm fluffy blanket. Wow, your write up brings back so many memories. It is so affirming, and unusual, to have a stranger share such a unique memory – both of the scones and our mothers gone, and a restaurant which bind bygone times. As the poet Breytenbach once remarked about a memory (of a family stroll along Hermanus Beach) : ” Onthou jy nog? Onthou tog goed, anders moet ek vir twee onthou. ” Even though the picnic restaurant, the scones with the melting cream and jam, the dignified English Ladies in their cement kitchen, like my mom, have all gone, the memories of it all will remain with me forever…
    And the most wonderful of it is, that it is all with me, halfway across the world, every time I pull out my recipe book and open the page to my Moms ‘Vinnige Skons’ page. For the next 40mins she is right there and if I were blind, I would swear Id be able to touch her.
    I cannot deny that I miss her the most on a Sunday afternoon, when we clear the table and put the empty cups and crumb filled plates into the dishwasher and I realise anew that she is no longer there…

    Reply
  21. Lesley says

    February 22, 2010 at 8:58 am

    Hi when was the section on Olive posted and up-dated? with regards to the Tapeande Olive Shop @ Cresta and the Trophy winners. Top of the page says January 2010? Is that correct? Regards,

    Reply
  22. Sam says

    May 17, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    What a lovely post. I miss the PE Oceanarium now – I hear it is no more either! I also have a recipe that I just inherited from my late Mom without paper or measurements – bread and butter pudding. Going to try these out tonight. 🙂

    Reply
  23. Brenda says

    March 24, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    Thank you, for your memories of your Mom and for the scone recipe, I grew up in Mtubatuba and we used to get our milk in churns, delivered by the farmer. Mom used to skim off the thick layer of cream and make our own butter, but on Fridays and Saturdays the cream was kept for Sunday afternoon tea. We had scones with homemade jam, with preserves, with fresh fruit and CREAM. I have just tried your recipe and it tastes just like my Mom’s. I now live on the Garden Route and all cream is now ‘skinny’ no body at all, unless you have a farmer friend. Once again thanks for sharing. Regards
    Caketroll

    Reply
  24. Debra Lucock says

    March 26, 2017 at 10:58 am

    Dear Jeanne, I came across your post while checking my memory of my Mom’s scone recipe, the thing I find most amazing is how these recipes circled the world without email, social media, cell phones etc. Her recipe wasn’t written either. 2 cups flour, 4 tsp BP, 1/4 tsp salt, sift together.
    In a cup measure pour 1/4 cup of oil, break in one egg, fill with milk, beat with a fork….etc. Lovely to share these memories.

    Reply
  25. Jill Ruane nee Bruce says

    November 14, 2019 at 11:07 am

    OMG what memories were evoked by this recipe and story and it is identical to my late mother’s. I have just got it out – although it is in my hand as my mum had it in her memory – and was checking on Google to see what oil was used and up came this. I am making scones this weekend for a family gathering to celebrate the life of my late husband. I was born and brought up in PE and fondly remember the special outings to the Oceanarium and the silver-haired brigade of ladies who served us. I do believe it was the WA (Women’s Auxiliary) who ran it as I know my mother used to help out, as did I as a teenager. I now live in the UK, and when my mum used to visit many years ago now, she always ‘knocked up’ a batch of scones should we have an unexpected visitor, and they went down a storm. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I now feel so homesick!

    Reply
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💩 You can visit the building on monthly open days - the next one is Sun 20 Feb. Book at www.crossness.org.uk

💩  It was only in 1856, after 3 major cholera outbreaks in 30 years and the Big Stink when the stench of London's sewage finally reached Parliament, that construction of an intercepting sewer system for the city was approved.  The system (parts of which are still in use today) was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of London's Board of Metropolitan Works at the time.

💩  At Crossness, all London's sewage from south of the river was was raised by 9-12 metres to large reservoirs so that gravity would cause it to flow further east and into the Thames estuary. (Yes, until the 1880s, raw sewage was simply pumped into the Thames!)

💩 The incoming liquid was raised by the four enormous steam driven pumps, built to Joseph Bazalgette's design. The pumps were named Victoria, Prince Consort, Albert Edward, and Alexandra. They are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world, with 52-ton flywheels and 47-ton beams. 

💩 The pumping station was decommissioned and abandoned in the 1950s but declared a listed building in 1970.  Although all 4 beam engines remain in place, they were so damaged that today (thanks to the efforts of the Crossness Engines Trust) only Prince Consort has been restored to working condition and can be seen in action on open days.

💩 The exuberant and colourful wrought ironwork inside is the amazing work of architect Charles Henry Driver. My favourite detail is the fact that the pillars in the central atrium are topped with stylised figs and senna pods... two of nature's greatest natural laxatives 🤣
*NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta ch *NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts

Ever noticed how you are affected by colours? 🌈

Maybe some colours make you agitated and some make you relaxed. Or maybe you find yourself inexplicably attracted to a particular colour (oh, hi teal and aqua!💙). On the basis that all colours have a wavelength, and that those outside the visible spectrum can affect us, it makes sense that the colours we see can affect our mood or even our physiology. Did you know for instance that exposure to red light can increase your blood pressure and heart rate? Are there any colours that you find yourself particularly attracted to or affected by?

The pretty colours of these roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts will be the first things that attract you to this dish - but it is the delicious combination of flavours and textures that will keep you coming back for more!

The recipe (and more about how colour affects us mentally and physically) is now live on my blog - click the live link in my profile and remember to like and bookmark this post to see more Cooksister in your Instagram feed ❤️
Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something.

Perspective is the one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has given us plenty of. It has certainly made us re-evaluate what is truly important, and also what we did and didn't enjoy about our lives  before the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. It made me appreciate how much happiness my house, my job, my friends, my own company and my running bring to my life (and how fortunate I am to have all these things). But it also brought home how much I enjoy and miss travel, the theatre, and the luxury of reataurant visits at the drop of a hat. I don't think words can describe my joy at sipping the first coffee purchased from a coffee shop in summer 2020 as lockdown eased. It's the little things...

One of the things I have enjoyed and will not miss as the world creeps back to normality is the absence of crowds in what is usually a crowded city. On the occasions that I have been in central London since the start of the pandemic, streets have been blissfully empty and it has felt as if I were discovering my city anew. This glorious perspective (hah!) of St Paul's Cathedral normally requires a long wait while a queue of tourists and "influencers" ahead of you pose for photos - but on this glorious day last Spring it was almost deserted. I will miss that...

Is there anything you will miss as Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted?
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

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