Braai scones with strawberry jam and cream

Turn your braai into an oven and bake these easy scones. Our afternoon tea is a little different with high tea fare cooked on a braai, but still as delicious.

High Tea

Originating in the mid-1700s, this meal was originally for working men and was served standing or on high stools, hence the word ‘high’ added to tea. (It would seem that high tea was the original street food.) High tea is meant to break up the long time between lunch and dinner, and is traditionally served at around 3 or 4pm. This traditional meal was tea served with cakes, scones or even cheese on toast. It later became the indulgent ‘High Tea’ taken by ladies and gentlemen of leisure in the late 1800s, and today it’s a treat of pretty cakes and mini morsels as well as the customary cucumber sandwiches.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour
3 tablespoons caster sugar
Pinch salt
1 egg
½ cup cream
½ cup milk

Method:

Sift flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan until just warmed (not boiling). Add an egg to a bowl and whisk, then whisk in the warm cream/milk mix. Pour most into the bowl with the flour, leaving a few tablespoons to brush the top of the scones. Cut the liquid into the flour with a butter knife.

Once mixed in, bring the mixture together lightly with your fingers – don’t over-work the mixture. Place on a floured surface and pat down until it’s about 2cm thick. Use a cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour to cut circles of dough. Place on a sheet of baking paper in a metal dish. Leave the scones to rise slightly for 10 minutes and then brush with the leftover cream mix.

Cook on a braai with a lid, making sure the coals are away from the base of the metal dish. Cover and cook for 12 – 15 minutes until cooked through. Break open and serve with jam and cream.

Makes 6.