When I was growing up, my nan Pauline was a feeder and her mum, my great-grandmother Lilly, was an award-winning baker (back in the 1920s and 30s, Woman’s Own magazine used to run cookery competitions...). It took Lilly’s death for me to find out about the awards she won. You know how it is: once they’re gone you have a mountain of regrets and ask the millions of questions you should have when they were still with you. As I was going through the belongings she left, my heart broke all over again thinking of the many baking recipes and skills I could have learned directly from her.
So I took action. Now, every single time my nan bakes or is within scribbling distance of me, I ask her for her recipes – such as this one for her magic scones with a chewy, lemony top. I lived in London for nearly a decade and the first thing she would make for me on my visits home to Australia were these scones, always with her own apricot jam and freshly whipped cream.