Hebrides Cruises is a proper family business. Rob Barlow is Owner and Skipper; daughter Emma is Sales, Marketing and Shore Manager, her husband Peter works on the cruises in a variety of roles, including Skipper and Engineer. Not to be forgotten is Granny Mary, a vital person in the business, providing the scones for the guests arriving on the boat for their cruise which are always much appreciated! Here is the recipe - with a few extra tips. There is definitely a knack to getting the lightest of scones and guests agree that Granny Mary has that touch! If you want to try one for yourself, come aboard our Open Day on April 22nd at Dunstaffnage Marina - from noon till 4pm.
Granny Mary Scone Recipe: Makes 12 Scones
Ingredients
1Ib Self Raising Flour
4oz Granulated Sugar
4oz Soft Margarine
2 Level teaspoon Baking Powder
8-10oz Milk
Method
Preheat your oven to 220oc or 210fan.
Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar & baking powder) together in a bowl. Add the soft margarine to this and mix all together with your hands (Wee Tip: Make sure you have cold hands!) Whilst mixing make sure you lift the mixture high to allow the air through it.
Once the mixture resembles a crumbly consistency you can add the milk, small amounts at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon until mixture has blended. Keep the mixture as dry as possible making sure its still bonds.
Transfer the mixture onto a floured board. Shape the mixture into a circle about 1” thick with your hands, handling as little as possible.
Cut out mixture with scone cutter. Then place on a floured scone tray then dust lightly with flour before popping in the oven to bake.
After 20mins, take out of the oven, leave to cool on a wire tray.
Take a scone, cut in half and fill it with yummy jam and/or cream and have with a nice wee cup of tea!
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We’re just back from a superb 10-night cruise aboard Elizabeth G. It’s our latest trip with Rob and his crew. With en-suite cabins now it’s even more of a luxury trip. Not that we spent much time in the cabin - instead we were generally found on the top observation deck, watching shearwaters dance across the waves, fulmars shoot past effortlessly, gannets flying in squadron-formation and panicky puffins duck beneath our wake. We’re enticed down for two reasons: bow-riding dolphins, when we hang over the bow sharing the excitement and energy of this spectacle with our fellow guests, and food: Mags was our cook preparing fabulous meals with local ingredients, including scallops hand-dived by our skipper, Rob. It was at dinner each evening that Rob would discuss the next day’s itinerary, balancing our wishes with the weather and his incredible knowledge of the most picturesque anchorages. Each day saw us exploring a new island with the help of Nigel our wildlife guide, taken ashore by Rob and Bosun Craig in the tender. And we even got to St Kilda. St Kilda is a unique place with a magical atmosphere; an atmosphere that lingers in part because of its remoteness. Rob found the weather window to allow a 2-night stay and it was here, on our trip round the stacs, that guests and crew came together on the front deck to gaze in awe at the thousands of seabirds around us. As we disembarked, a little sadly, in Oban on our last day I couldn’t help wonder how soon we’ll get the urge to return...
Catrin Lester: 24 June 2019St Kilda and the isles of the Outer Hebrides