Recipe courtesy of Nourishing Nosh
Inspired by Lady Flo Bjelke Peterson’s pumpkin scones. Lady Flo, former Premier Jo Bjelkle Peterson was famous for her pumpkin scones which were credited for keeping her infamous husband in office for so long.
Makes 20 x 4cm diameter
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 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. 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, or you will end up with tough scones.
Lime leaf curd
4 organic egg yolks
32g / 2 tablespoons sugar
100ml cooked, reduced Ruby Rise Papaya* cooled
10 fresh crumpled makrut lime leaves
100g butter
Juice 1 lime
For the Papaya Curd
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Add crumpled lime leaves.
Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves, then occasionally until mixture is pale and thickens (about 10 minutes). Stir in the Papaya as above for about 10 minutes.
Add butter, piece by piece, stirring continuously until each piece has melted. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and coats the back of wooden spoon or thicker. Be careful not to overheat it.
Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice to taste and to thin to desired consistency.
Cool to room temperature and store in a sterilized jar for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
