Plaited scones

Ingredients
Original recipe by Dean Brettschneider

Sweet filling

• 100g dates, pitted and chopped
• 25ml dark rum
• 25g butter, softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Savoury filling

• 75g tasty cheese, grated
• 1/2 small egg
• 15g red onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 15g red capsicum, finely chopped
• 15g green capsicum, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 30g pitted olives, chopped
• 1.2 tsp smoked ground paprika

Scone dough

• 400g plain flour
• 20g caster sugar
• 25g baking powder
• good pinch of salt
• 705 butter, softened
• 1 1/2 eggs (use other half for above - savoury filing)
• 200ml milk
• 1 tbsp. water
• additional flour, for dusting

Method
Sweet filing: mix all ingredients together in a bowl, ensuring that the dates are broken down a little; cover and set aside for a few hours or overnight, then mix again. You will notice that the dates will break up easier as they soften, so the longer the soaking time the better.

Savoury filling: mix all ingredients together in a bowl to form a rough, spreadable paste. Cover and set aside until ready to use.

Pre-heat oven to 190-200C.

Dough: sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and rub in, using your fingertips and thumbs, to form coarse crumbs. Whisk 1 egg and the milk together and pour into the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, mix together to form a soft dough. Tip dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 to 20 seconds - be careful not to over knead otherwise the dough becomes too elastic.

Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces and share into squares. Using the rolling pin, roll out each dough piece on a floured surface to a 25cm square.

Whisk the 1.2 egg and water together to make an egg wash.

Evenly spread one dough square with the sweet filing and the other with the savoury filing, leaving about 1 cm fee along one edge of each. Brush egg wash along that edge.

Working towards the edge painted with egg wash, firmly roll up each dough sheet to achieve a Swiss roll or log share. Using a large knife, make a single lengthways cut along the middle of each log, right the way through.

For each log, take one strand in each hand, with the cut side of each strand facing towards you, and twist the strands around each other. Press the ends together firmly to make sure they don't unwind during the baking process. Place the twists on a baking tray lined with baking paper, keeping them well apart so they don't join together during baking. Brush the twists with the remaining egg wash and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Halfway through the baking time, turn the tray to ensure an even colour. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

What they learned
If the dough is to soft then curl it up like a croissant. If you love baking then you should start with these because they are the easiest to master.

For fun
Make your own cool patterns.