[light music]
- It's tea time in Ireland,
and I'm excited to learn
how to make
the perfect scone
at the Ballyknocken
Cookery School.
Let's go.
[light music]
- Catherine, hi.
- Hi, Mary.
- So nice to meet you.
- It's so good
to have you here.
Welcome to
Ballyknocken Cookery School.
- Thank you.
- Come on.
So, Mary, this is
where all the action is.
- I'm so ready.
- So a really good scone
should be crusty on the top,
crispy underneath.
And we open it up.
In the center,
it should be
like cotton wool.
So we're making scones,
not stones.
- Got it, got it.
- Just saying.
- Scones, not stones.
I can handle that.
- Here's our flour.
So you can see,
this is our unbleached.
We call this cream flour.
- Okay.
- First thing we need to do is
we're going with baking powder.
Two nice, heaped teaspoons.
So that pinch of salt goes in.
It's only a pinch.
This is important.
This is called caster sugar.
- Okay.
- And we're on
to tablespoons now.
We're going to the big spoons.
- Okay.
- Hands in--We did was
our hands beforehand.
So we pop our hands in,
and we go like this.
I'm kind of
a lazy cook in that sense.
You could sift this,
but I like to do it this way,
because I actually
like to touch the ingredients
and get a feel for them.
- Mm-hmm.
- So I'm sorry now
that you've got
a flour mouth
coming at you.
Yeah, sorry about that.
so this is
our beautiful butter.
- Such a beautiful
color of yellow.
- We have this great
bit of rain in Ireland.
- Yes.
- Mixed with sunshine.
That means our animals
are outside all the time.
And it gives us
beautiful beef,
beautiful lamb,
but great dairy product.
- Ah.
- Uh-huh.
You just slice,
slice, slice.
Everybody has
a different technique,
but this is the one
I learned from my grandmother.
And actually
where we're standing,
this is the old
milking parlor.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
So we're sheep farmers now.
so when guests come,
they can see
the beautiful sheep
in the fields
- I know,
I saw them.
- They're so cute.
- They're adorable.
- So now, you just
stir around like that,
and you just keep putting in
another little drop of milk,
bit by bit,
until your dough
comes together.
It goes out onto
your work surface like that.
Hands straight out.
Spin the dough.
Tidy up the edges.
- You see?
- Okay.
- Palm on Palm.
Press down.
Spin.
Like a Jane Fonda workout,
isn't it? Press.
There we go.
And you cut right on the edge.
One right beside the other.
Keep going
all the way around.
There we go.
Last one.
- These look great.
- In they go.
We've got to wait
about 15 minutes,
so would you like a little
walk around our gardens?
I'd love to show you
what we've got.
Mary, look at our pears.
- [gasps]
They're gorgeous.
- This one here, Mary,
you'll never need.
It's called feverfew.
It's for hangovers.
[laughter]
It is coming
to the end of the season now,
but you recognize
the purple sage, the dark sage.
And then over here, then,
we would have--
What you say oreg-ano,
we say ore-gano.
- Didn't know that.
Oreg-ano, ore-gano.
Tomato, tom-ah-to.
- I know! [laughs]
- So this is Ireland
for you.
[light music]
- I cannot wait to try
one of these scones.
- Will we have a look?
- Yes.
[gasps]
Oh, my goodness,
they are beautiful.
Just in time.
Gorgeous.
- Let's get them out.
Let's cool them off.
So you pop them out here.
Do you want
to break one open?
- [gasps]
Oh.
- [laughs]
- The smell is so amazing.
- What do you think?
Will that get us going?
So I thought we'd have
our lovely scones here.
You sit yourself
down there.
- Oh, with a spot of tea?
- This is our signature
rhubarb and ginger jam.
- Beautiful.
- So we have to pop that on.
Cheers, Mary.
- Cheers to that.
Amazing. Thank you so much
for showing me how to make
the perfect scone.
- You're very welcome.
- It's been the perfect day
with the perfect scone,
and I'm so excited
to share this recipe
with my family
and friends back home.
