Food & Wine
Lady Lou's papaya scones
This recipe is inspired by Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen’s pumpkin scones. Lady Flo, the wife of former Queensland Premier Jo Bjelkle Petersen, was famous for her pumpkin scones which were credited for keeping her infamous husband in office for so long.
Recipe by Lou Edney for Ruby Rise Papaya
Ingredients:
- 40g butter
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt flakes
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of cooked reduced Ruby Rise Red Papaya* (cooled)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup plain flour - 1 tablespoon (next time add 1 T back in)
- 1 cup plain wholemeal flour
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- 2 tablespoons plain flour for the bench
- 1 large Ruby Rise Red Papaya
Method:
For the papaya reduction:
- Cut the papaya in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds.
- Peel the papaya and puree it in a food processor.
- Weigh a large saucepan and record its weight.
- Transfer the papaya to the saucepan and weigh it. Record the weight of the Papaya
- Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until the papaya has reduced by over half (~45 minutes). 1kg fresh papaya will yield around 450g reduced.
For the scones:
- Preheat your oven to 230°C (fan forced).
- Beat together butter, sugar and salt in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add egg, beat well.
- Add papaya and beat well.
- Combine flours, baking powder and spices and stir into the batter by hand, being careful not to overmix.
- The dough is quite sticky but that is fine. Flour your hands. Turn dough onto a floured bench and lightly press into 2cm high slab.
- Cut into circles (4cm in diameter) with a floured cookie cutter.
- Place on a lightly floured tray on the top shelf of a hot oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little and serve with butter or papaya curd and cream.
Note:
As with all scone dough, it is important not to overmix this or you will end up with tough scones. Keep your touch light, knead it as little as possible, and only work it enough to just bring it together. When you have cut your scone rounds out, you can recombine the leftover dough to make more scones, but again, don't overwork the dough.