"You will find real joy in cooking and it will never become monotonous. I want to thank the Gas Company for making this little book, 1935, possible...be an artist at the gas range!"
-excerpts...The Mystery Chef 1935 for the American Gas Company
Scotch scones with a twist Quick and easy to make. Gobbled up with butter, or plant butter, jams, marmalade, honey. I remember years of my mother' scones, made the way her other made them. She made them two ways. One with Cream, and one with sour cream and butter. Presented on the breakfast plate with rashers of bacon, runny eggs, and dollops of creamed honey slathered inside hot scones, fresh from the oven. Heaven.....My grandmother's " Be an Artist at the gas Range 1935" Mystery Chef calls scotch scones " exceedingly delicious and inexpensive to make". because the 1935 recipe does NOT use butter or shortening. Just 1 cup of leftover milk, sweetened or soured. My mother and grandmother cooked the scone squares over a coal wood stove. So, I combined the two recipes with Oat Cream and plant butter to come up with this......baked in a preheated 425 degree oven.
4 cups flour, scant half cup sugar ( very scant), 2 tblsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 3/4 plant butter or margarine, 2 eggs, and 2/3 cup and a tad more of Oat milk Cream .
Combine the 2 eggs with Oat Cream and mix.Mix all
dry ingredients together. Line baking sheet with a silpat baking liner or parchment paper. Do not grease.
Plop cut up pieces of plant butter, or margarine, into dry ingredients, blend with pastry cutter.
Make a well in centre of dry ingredients and dump in egg/oat cream mixture.Combine quickly, as if making pastry. Should just be brought together till it looks barely holding together. Divide into two balls of dough and gently pat into rounds on baking sheet."Wax paper will preserve food. Every kitchen should have a box of wax paper.." -The Mystery Chef, 1935
Sprinkle with a bit of coarse sugar, or a small amount of plain granulated sugar. It's not for flavour but to give interest to the tops.
(John MacPherson, a Scottish chef , came to the US in 1906. He had an interesting life, and in the 1930's started a series of radio shows called 'The Mystery Chef'. He ended up having 63 sponsors and tons of listeners. He believed cooking should be for everyone. His tv cooking show in 1949 lasted only one year. He was the "Mystery Chef' with a secret identity! )Back to the Scones......
Cut the rounds into six triangles. Bake in hot 425 degree oven about 15 minutes. I watch them carefully. Bake another 6 minutes. Put a piece of foil on top. Check the centers. Cut triangles again to separate a little to help them finish baking. Bake about 4 or 5 more minutes until a knife inserted into the scones comes out clean.Cool on a wire rack and then gobble away......Dip into warm creamed honey butter for an extra treat, use plain, as is, as a side to soups, or stews. If you wish, add dried cranberries, raisins or currants to the dough, before baking.
"You are the boss of that dough..." -Julia Child
"Guesswork has been replaced by certainty in the automatic gas range, refrigerator, water heater and house heating unit..." -The Mystery Chef, 1935
Photographs 2025
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