PNG Scones

Along with scones many families make bread rolls to sell to make money for school fees etc. Here are some pictures of the bread making process.

The scone recipe below has been reproduced with permission from -- http://www.elca.org/ -- visit the site for more PNG recipes.

To raise money to pay school fees, some families build drum ovens out of 2 empty 200 litre drums, and the women use them to bake bread, cakes and scones (similar to biscuits in USA) to sell in the market place. They usually do well, because not everyone has ovens to bake in and the bakery items are popular. The scone is actually an Australian introduction into the PNG diet, and wheat flour and milk powder must be imported, so this is not a traditional recipe but an acquired one.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil*

• 1 egg

• ¾ cup milk

Method

Combine: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons sugar

Put in a large bowl and make a well in the center.

Combine: 2 tablespoons cooking oil*, 1 egg and ¾ cup milk and beat well

Preheat oven to 450F.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour, and mix well, stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened. Grease your hands slightly, and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 8 to 10 times. Roll the dough out to ½-inch thickness. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. Cut into two-inch rounds and place on an ungreased cooking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold, with butter, honey and jam. Honey bees are kept in the highlands of PNG, another European import.

* Scones usually are made by cutting butter into the flour, but in PNG many homes would have oil but not butter.

Serve
Hot topped with cream or butter and jam unless you are in a PNG village then just eat and enjoy!