The recipe that's ruining my life.

And only four ingredients, too.

When we moved out of the city, there were some things I didn’t see coming.

And this is one of them.

My partner Brent - father of my two children, lover of bushwalking, Star Wars and staffies - becoming an award-winning baker.

But here we are.

Brent’s spent much of the Summer baking these “cheat’s scones”. I need to state that this is NOT his recipe. He found it years ago in a ‘three ingredients’ cookbook at an airbnb we were staying in. He’s been fiddling and perfecting it ever since.

So much so that now it has four ingredients.

He entered the scones in our local rural Show, just up the road from the town where we live. And oh how we laughed at the idea of him going up against all the very experienced and capable scone-baking (mostly) women of the neighbourhood. How we joshed about the idea of him dismantling the matriarchy of Show baking.

And then, he won. And the man has been insufferable ever since.

If you’d like to know how he did, it. Here’s how:

Brent's award-winning cheat’s scones. 

15m prep

16m cook time

Makes at least 12 scones

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups self-raising flour

300ml (1 cup) chilled lemonade

300ml thickened cream

Pinch of salt

Dollop cream and jam (for the top, obvs).

Instructions

Preheat oven at 200 degrees C

Place baking tray in oven to heat

Sift flour into a large bowl (Brent: “I do twice for award-winning quality!”)

Make a hole in the flour and pour in the lemonade and cream

Mix the ingredients into a sticky dough with a wooden spoon or your hands

If it feels too sticky, add some more flour

Roll the dough into a ball

Place dough on a lightly-floured surface

Knead gently for 30 seconds or until just smooth

Press into a 3cm-thick disc

Use a small coffee cup or something similar to cut out the scones

Take out heated tray, place baking paper on it

Place scones on tray and cook for 16 minutes

NB: Scones are best eaten hot - cream first THEN jam.

There you are, then.

I’ve spent a portion of this week looking into the world of the Trad Wife. On Mamamia Out Loud on Monday we talked about Ballerina Farm, who, if you don’t already know, is a woman with millions of followers who lives on a farm in Utah, makes her butter from scratch and just entered a beauty pageant immediately after having her eighth child. I’m writing about her for a piece on Mamamia that will be out next week.

I don’t think Brent has ever heard of Ballerina Farm and yet I can’t help feeling that… maybe a beauty pageant is next?

Happy scone-eating, friends xx